It went from the sublime to the ridiculous. After Sunday night's battle to get near the candidate, the press pack and Prof Mary McAleese were squeezed into a garden shed on wheels. We were pulled around by tractor on the Aran Island of Inisheer.
The McAleese roadshow went island-hopping yesterday. By the time we reached the shed, painted to look like an Irish cottage with perspex windows and a thatched roof, some of the ice began to melt. A smiling Prof McAleese told the man from RTE that she was enjoying her tour.
Our little cottage seemed a warmer place. Then someone asked if she could read upside down as she read while a reporter scribbled. No, she said, she was just making sure she was speaking at the right speed.
This Irish Times reporter had noted this foible on a previous occasion, she said, and had put a "nasty gloss" on it without checking her motivation. Suddenly there was a nip in the air again.
On Inishmaan, island poet Dara Beag read a poem in her honour. "I like what I've been hearing you say in recent weeks," was the gist of his verse translated from Irish.
"I've been listening attentively to you for a month. I would know from a single look at you if there was any envy or aggression in you."
Dara Beag tore out the small blue sheet and handed it to her, saying that someone could translate it for her. Two primary schools and a secondary school were canvassed. Phonecalls were made from offices and then the candidate's press officer finally announced there would be a press conference.
At the Inishmore heritage centre there was more close contact. With an empty room beside us we were squeezed in with around 30 supporters.
Prof McAleese answered the questions about the weekend reports accompanied by a kind of Greek chorus. There was tutting for the nasty journalists and loud laughter and applause for the candidate when she was seen to win a point.
Bobby Molloy of the Progressive Democrats and Fianna Fail's Eamon O Cuiv sat on chairs on either side of the candidate, while press reporters crouched on the floor to hear.
Babies slept in women's arms and the noisy ones were swiftly removed. All that was missing was the fireplace to complete the picture of a candidate in the bosom of her supporters.
She spoke of luncheon with the queen and formal organised meetings with Gerry Adams. As the interview wore on some of the responses were sharper and the sharpest ones were prefaced with the words, "with the greatest respect . . ."
And then it was over. While the RTE 1 p.m. news was broadcast through the centre, Prof McAleese marched towards the sea "for a breath of fresh air".