Armagh

Wow, I'm really behind at posting--our visit to Armagh with our friend Arthur was almost two weeks ago! Armagh is a lovely city, the "Christian capital" of Ireland, with two St. Patrick's Cathedrals--one Roman Catholic and one Church of Ireland. It's also in the area known for its apple orchards so, though it's beautiful & green now, I imagine the countryside is incredible at apple blossom time. We're really enjoying the local Bramley apples for pies & applesauce, and the varieties for eating fresh are so full of flavour--if we can manage to find locally grown Golden Delicious, etc. We also made a quick trip into the South to Monaghan, and on the way home stopped at an authentic Irish cottage. It was a wonderful day, and we enjoyed to the full our time with Arthur. He told us wonderful stories of his youth and, when we were talking about how people (at work, etc.) are now able to say things in conversation that just a few years ago would have been strictly forbidden because too dangerous, he mentioned a local proverb that Seamus Heaney used in one of his poems: "Whatever you say, say nothing!"