We drove to Lisburn to have a tour of a Linen Museum. Ireland used to produce a lot of linen, but most if not all of the linen factories have shut down and outsourced to China. Linen is made out of flax plants and it is a really time consuming process. Our tour guide started out a little scatter-brained, but she got better as the tour progressed. One thing that I have noticed about Ireland is that the tour guides are not as good as they are in America and there doesn't seem to be any pressure for them to be good. Along with that the service in America is way better. Here you do not get free refills on anything and the waitress is not as attentive, and you always feel like you are inconveniencing the staff. After the tour we made felt out of sheep's wool, it was fun. We then drove to Hillsborough Park where we met Hadden and had lunch out on blankets while basking in the sun. It was a really nice day, bordering hot out.
We walked through the park to a small castle, which we couldn't go in, but had a look around in the courtyard. Another short walk took us to Hillsborough Parish where the Queen goes when she is in town.
It was a very old church with boxed seats so that the worshipers would be warmer. We then walked into the town of Hillsborough and toured the cold courthouse. I sat in the prosecutors section, it is set up very different from the American courts.
Behind the courthouse is the Hillsborough Castle where the Queen stays when she is in N. Ireland because is is heavily fortified and very safe. It is almost impossible to get a tour, so we just looked through the gates. Hopefully I will get pictures up, my camera was full this day, but not broken yet.
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