Coming Back to America: Day 40

23 July Thursday
We left Colorado Springs on the 12th of June and now, 42 days later we are returning.
Had a lovely Irish breakfast and talked to the congenial Lourda who owned the College House B&B where we stayed. She was quite the talker and filled us in on Ireland's financial woes....which mimicked the United States as well. I drank tea this morning instead of my usual coffee and now at the Dublin airport I'm drinking an Americano..

We made it to the airport and dropped off our car In record time but it took almost 1 1/2 hours to check in, go to the VAT tax area, U.S. Pre-Clearance, security, and get to our gate.
Now I am contemplating what this journey meant: what I learned about myself, about Mackenzie, about life and about grieving. I don't know what my friends and family thought about this adventure...mostly I got good wishes and lots of love. I just knew I had to do this and I have absolutely no regrets. I want to read back through my blogs to see where we've been, what we've done, and most importantly how my feelings have changed...how I've grown. I know that I've changed and that I'm stronger both physically and mentally. That doesn't mean that I won't break down and lose it now and again...that's a given. But, my mind feels more clear and my thoughts less sad. I still think of Jim on a daily basis..he really was the love of my life and I thank God that I had him as my husband and partner for 33 years.
Now I must go home and face reality...I've got four doctor appointments in the next week to check up on my previous cancer...breast five years prior and the recent anal less than a year ago. I will continue to ask for prayers for that and for my family as we try to figure out what our new life will look like, what kind of job Marguerite will have in her future, Mackenzie's career as a waiter actor, Madeleine and Jesse's marriage, careers, and future.
Thanks to those of you who followed this sometimes crazy blog...we've enjoyed writing it and it will come in handy when I take the 10,000 photos we took and make them into an album.
We've been thinking about the top ten things that we used in our travels that we couldn't have done without and this is what we've decided:
1. My #REI Rain Jacket (Mackenzie's Eddie Bauer's did not make the grade)
2. My #AHNU Hiking Boots (Most comfortable ever, waterproof, and not bulky so I could wear them with my leggings and dresses)

3. Portable WIFI: came in handy everywhere in Ireland except Northern Ireland
4. #MapsMe App: worked without wifi or cellular once the country' map is downloaded.
5. Leggings with skirts or dresses...the best way to travel especially in Italy where women really don't wear shorts.
6. Lipstick: of course we both learned this fro my mom, Pat Messick
7. #ChaseSapphire no foreign transaction fee card: just be sure it's a newer card with the chip. It was accepted everywhere....and I will admit that I'm a little worried about checking the balance!
8. iPhone 6 with 64 gig a bites: amazing how many videos and photos it can hold
9. Small #Luminix #Panasonic travel camera with GPS and wifi...takes great pictures and HD videos. I only missed my Nikkon on a few occasions and would take this camera again on any trip. (Went though one 32 bit SD card and almost two 16 bit SD cards.)
10. #Rick Steeves. Not him exactly, but his useful and accurate travel info he offers on his website https://www.ricksteves.com
It was wonderful to spend time with Mackenzie and we promised each other that we would not talk about anything negative about this trip because we both realize through our answered prayers that sometimes crap happens, but it isn't necessarily a bad thing (not that anything really bad happened on our adventure and we really do get along famously! We are just the right balance!). We both are looking at the good in everything as humanly possible as we can otherwise I think this world and stuff that happens can become depressing and overwhelming...and after all, God is in charge! Can I hear an AMEN!?
 We are excited to be home soon and get back to some routine, although I've never been a routine person so traveling suits me well. I do want to hug my family waiting for me in Colorado: my Mom and Dad, Marguerite, Madeleine, and Jesse, and to see my friends...to many to type here.
Cheers and Peace,
The Traveling Women
Tip of the day: life is too short not to travel...you can't take it with you.

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Doin' Dublin: Day 39

22 July Wednesday

 

Our last day, so obviously we go out with a bang.

Mack here, mom's in the shower and wanted me to write this 39th entry. (This is me in italics, out of the shower)

Today we woke up to ANOTHER Irish breakfast, two pieces of bacon, two sausage, one egg, a thousands pieces of toast, weak coffee, and too much butter, oh and blood pudding (my favorite...) Being the adventurous people we are we went ... ALL the WAY back up to our room where I fell asleep for another hour. I am sure my mother did something productive during this time, but I enjoyed my nap. I slept too, but don't tell Mackenzie)

We put some lipstick on and our stylish walking boots (which are pretty worn by now) (by that we mean they stink) and walked 3 miles into the heart of Dublin. First stop, Starbucks (is my american showing?). Typical, they did not have my venti-light-ice-coffee-2-pumps-cinammnon-2-pumps-vanilla-and-breve drink, so I settled for their version of iced coffee. While sitting in the Star of Bucks, we bought our Guiness tour tickets online, because they were 10% off, if purchased online.

Before I go any further, I am shamelessly going admit: I LOVE THE BACHELORETTE. It's my jam. I have no shame. Judge me. Whatever. (my mom does too even though she pretends she thinks it's horrible, please note it was also my father's favorite show... I guess it just runs in my genes.) (I only watch it because Jim liked it so much) Ma and I watched an episode last night, the one where they go to Dublin. We carefully watched everywhere they went, while getting our trashy reality tv show in.

Back on the streets of Dublin, we walk along looking at all the cute shops and odd people and crossed the bridge over the river. The same bridge all the contestants from the Bachelorette stood, obvi, mom snapped a photo of me. Also please note, my mother takes pictures of everything. (I do not!) I always am walking and will turn to talk to her and she is always a few feet behind me, taking a photo. Typical tourist. Just kidding, love you mom. (whatever)

At a quick stop to look at Dublin Castle we looked up my mother's maiden name, Cofiell and found, Cofell and Caufiell...those names are families from Cork and we looked up Breeden and found that it is actually an Irish name! Sorry Mack, you are more Irish than Scottish!

We walked another 3ish miles to the Guinness Storehouse. Toured the museum and learned how to taste Guinness and then finally got our FREE PINT. We walked up to the Gravity Bar and toasted to our last day overlooking the city of Dublin. We even got to put our faces in old Guinness advertisments. (The tour started out a little dull since we already learned about brewing from Todd from #Redlegbrewing, but it got better with each floor we climbed.)

We also shared a delicious beef and Guinness pie, with mash-potatoes. Our new diet of potatoes is going great since we got to Ireland.

Also please note, the bachelorette also went here to the Guinness storehouse. (not that I care)

Walked another thousand miles to Saint Patrick's Cathedral, (also on the bachelorette, where they made out in the church! disgusting, we prayed over it, don't worry). Oh but I forgot to mention, we only made it to the doors of the church because they charge you to go into the CHURCH...6 Euros! I don't think Jesus would be very happy with this, and I totally agree. Can I hear an Amen?

Wandering the streets of Dublin, we came to the expensive shopping strip. But along the way we took a wee wee in the Radisson Blue (where they stayed in the bacholrette, WHY DO I KNOW THIS)? Jim always said to use hotels if you had to go and just act like you belong.

Seeing a cute, totally random pub called McDaid's, mom and I popped in. Okay just kidding it was not random, it was the pub the bachelorette and Nick (ew) went on their date. I sat in her seat, not that I care. The bartender said fortunately he was not working that day. Yeah, ugh fortunately, totally. (He also said that is was digusting that St. Patrick's made people pay to enter. He blamed it on the protestants....as far as he knew we were Roman Catholic!)

We had some local beer, Franciscan Well Red Rebel Ale, and then wandered into a beautiful store...where I saw a dress. (okay this is actually really embarrassing, you can now judge) It was the dress that the Bachelorette wore on her date! Mom basically forced me to try it on and I did and I liked it so it was purchased. (Yes, I totally begged her to try it on...does anyone really believe this story she is telling?)

Basically our day in Dublin was our "Bachelorette Tour of Dublin." I did not mind.

Wandering again, we went to Temple Bar, listened to some great music for a while and then went and got Italian for dinner. We figured we started in Italy, mind as well end with Italy. We sadly ate our pizza, more like stuffing our faces, because it was our last day of our grand adventure. We just couldn't handle any more potatoes!

Just as we started our days with coffee, we end with it too. Takeway coffee in hand, we ventured 5 miles back to our home, through the busy streets of Dublin, music filling the air, drunk people crossing the road, full stomachs, and a happy heart.

Ireland, you have been good.

Cheers,

The Traveling Women

Tip of the Day: Reality shows can increase the excitement of visiting a new city.

 

 

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Heading to Dublin: day 38

21 July Tuesday

Suzanne and her family were nowhere to be seen as we left her home about 10:00 a.m. The entire Air B&B system amazes me still. Strangers in your home when the owner isn't home. Wierd. But, the owner does have the right to refuse people. And, as an Air B&B traveler, we not only give reviews about our hosts, but they review us as well. So far we've fooled them all and have gotten great reviews!

Our first stop, again, Caffè Nero, for our latte and our mocha, paired today with porridge for me and yogurt for Mackenzie. Okay, okay, we did split a chocolate croissant. And, now it was time to head for Dublin with only one stop in mind...The Boyne Valley in County Meath Ireland, where we were to visit #Newgrange and #Knowth.

Newgrange is a Stone Age monument in the Boyne Valley, County Meath, Ireland. Newgrange was constructed over 5,000 years ago (about 3,200 B.C.) during the Neolithic period, which makes it older than Stonehenge and Great Pyramids of Giza. Newgrange is a large circular mound with a stone passageway and chambers inside. The mound is ringed by 97 large kerbstones.

Source: http://www.newgrange.com

Newgrange and Knowth...also an ancient mound were high on my list...another Pompeii dream. Just think, I would get to stand in an underground mound that was build with huge boulders, much like the Navajo Hogans are built with wood...but with BOUDLERS! And, I haven't been to the Giza Pryamids, but these mounds were EVEN OLDER! Mackenzie was just as excited as I!

We got to the Bru na Boinne visitor center around 12:45. The only way to gain access to these mounds are through the visitor center and via a bus and then a tour. The next tour for Knowth was at 3:15 and then for Newgrange at 4:45! We didn't care, we really wanted to visit so we toured the exhibition to gain a little more knowledge and then sat down for a salad. That's where we lost our minds and totally forgot that a 'salad' in Ireland doesn't involve lettuce. Our 'salad' consisted of peas, potatoes, beets, and couscous. We were so dissapointed and literally our bodies were saying "Stop putting all of this meat, potatoes, bread and butter into me!" I'm getting my bloodwork done on Friday and I am going to have to apologize to my onocologist in advance! Good thing we are grabbing healthy foods during the day from the grocery stores!

Our bellies full of salad and coffee, we set out on the bus for our tours...first Knowth and then Newgrange. Going through that small area to the center of the mound was mind blowing and I felt like a 10 year old...I think all of the adults did. All I could think was...my nephews Nate and Josh would LOVE this and Madeleine would want to draw it! The carvings and art work on the stones were fascinating. Look it up if you want to know more. But seriously, they are older than the pyramids by 500 years and older than Stonehenge by 1000 years...and I thought Stonehenge was amazing! At Newgrange there is the famous triple circular symbol that is found only at Newgrange and only in two places...one outside the dome and one inside, behind a rock...Mackenzie touched that one...there was no sign that said not to! This dome is famous because in December for 6 days, at sunrise, the light reaches into the darkest recesses for the interior! But, in the year 2000...the light did not shine! Creepy!

Time to move on. The weather had been good, just a little drizzly, but good. We made it to our Dublin B&B, The College House, that sits right across from St. Patrick's Cathedral and we headed out to Fagan's for a salad (honestly we did). We ordered Caesar Salads, the only salad on the menu, one with Salmon and one with Chicken. We sipped on an O'Hara's pale ale while we waited, and waited, for our salads...50 minutes! And, they looked like piles of chicken and salmon with about 10 romaine leaves underneath. In truth, they were delicious!

We were craving chocolate after all of that healthy food so we we went into the local grocery store that was infested with the local college kids choosing their midnight snacks and then headed back to our B&B. Then, we discovered that we could download the BACHELORETTE! So we did and watched to episodes while overdosing on chocolate...and with only 4 miles walking today!

Time for bed...ready for our last day in Ireland.

Peace from Dublin,

The Traveling Women

Tip of the Day: As your holiday comes to an end...thoughts of all the stuff you have to do at home begin to invade your consciousness...don't let it!!!!

 

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Spending the day in Belfast: day 37

20 July Monday

There was no breakfast served at Suzanne's house so we got up about 9:00 and took our time getting ready to walk the 10 minute walk to #CaffeNeros which I had loved in London last year. I had a regular latte, which comes with 2 shots of expresso (take note Starbuck's) and Mackenzie had a Cafe Mocha...the best she has ever had! We split a free range egg salad sandwich and headed into Belfast. We were at the City Center withing 30 minutes and then found the 'Lagan River Walk' and walked downtown and over a train bridge to the Titantic Museum.

We were tired from our almost 1 hour walk so we stopped in 'The Dock Cafe' next to the Titanic for another coffee and some food. 'The Dock Cafe was something we have never experience before. It is a cafe with a sign out front that says to 'come in and rest your wee weary feet' and when you walk in it is a place filled with comfortable sofas and chairs and a 'no pay' policy...only donations. It is run by local churches and they only serve tea, coffee, sweets, and soup and you don't pay! Just donate what you feel you need to. After a cup of veggie soup (we are craving veggies), a piece of bread and two cups of Earl Grey Blue Flower tea and a M&M Cookie (you would have loved this cookie #Evilypurple12) we left 8 British Pounds in the honesty slot and headed to the Titantic Museum.

Tip: buying your tickets online will save about 5% off admission and get you right in without the lines. This Titantic exibit was an amazing history lesson on Belfast and its rise from small city to mogal giant with shipbuilding and linen production. Needless to say we were most curious about the Titantic itself, but everybit of the 14,000 foot exhibition center was worthwhile. Mackenzie is so curious about absolutely everything that we were in the center for 4 hours on a 1 hour and 45 minute recommendation. We even walked the length of the Titantic outsitde where it was built.

By now we were exhausted so we looked across the channel and there before us was a movie house! Time for another movie...this time...'Ant Man'! The 3D movie, large popcorn and large coke cost us about $23...much cheaper than in the USA. The popcorn was sans the Irish butter...which they don't even put on!

The movie was funny and we left and walked the one hour trip back to our little home stopping at a place called Rocket and Relish...http://rocketandrelish.com where we enjoyed Inish Mac Saint Beer and a chicken burger and two sliders with goat cheese and jalapeños and one with blue cheese and bacon. We really wanted salad, and they advertised different house salads, but when we asked they had: Cole Slaw, Cheese Salad, Meat Salad, and Beet Salad (lettuce was not involved) At least there was some arugula on the chicken burger...which we fought over.

We sat and talked to a great couple on a four month trip through Europe. They were from Northern California and the woman's 95 year old aunt gave them the money to do it. Cool beans! We also were served by Blake Davis. Who is Blake you ask? He is a young man working on his graduate degree in Ireland and he is from Towson Maryland. Susan Jones...can you do some research for us? He was delightful and we talked about all of the British Flags hung around for the 12th July holiday and how animosity between the protestants and catholics still exists. (we had talked about this with Carole and Muireann as well and they had both said that it still existed).

Exhausted and having walked 10 miles, we headed off to our little house where everyone else was sleeping. I hope we didn't wake them up, but hey, they woke us up this morning at 7:30 a.m....not that we minded. It was great hearing little kids' voices speaking in Irish.

Peace from Belfast,

The Traveling Women

Tip: When the menu in Ireland says 'Salad' don't expect anything with lettuce.

 

 

 

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Ireland's Northern Coastline: day 36

19 July Sunday

Mackenzie and I stayed a wee bit longer talking with Carole in the morning over breakfast since everyone else had vacated the house. She really is a wonderful, sweet, lovely woman and I'd love to spend time with her again.

Our first stop was the bakery that her husband works in "Pappy's Bakery" outside of Ballymoney, where we met his brother and a few other people who seemed to know all about us! I guess in a small town nothing is hidden! We grabbed some of the best donuts we'd ever tasted: A sugar donut sliced in half and spread with jam and cream and topped with chocolate! Oh, my word! So good! Don't judge!

We drove on toward Kinbae on the coast to pick up the Ireland Northern Coastal Road. This place is off the tourist trail and we were able to climb 200 steps down a steep mountain to the old castle ruins. We climbed all over the cliffs that jetted out to the ocean. Mackenzie scaring me a wee bit at one point. (That's okay, because I KNOW I've scared her as well.)

We continued to drive this beautiful route and were able to see two other 'Game of Thrones' sites including Cushendun, to visit the caves in the second season. After a while we became hungry so we just ate the usual lunch: peanuts, oranges, and apples. We stopped alongside a beautiful area and parked in in front of the ocean and took an hour nap in our car listening to the waves roll up on the shore.It just felt right.

We awoke and headed to Carrickfergus to eat dinner at the 'The Swift' where we dined on fish pie and mussels. The fish pie was actually a creamy fish stew with cod, salmon, carrots, beans, and brocolli. Honestly we were so excited to get some greens that we fought over the brocolli, almost ignoring the mashed potatoes on top. But, as I've said, Irish potatoes are amazing! We climbed around Carrickfergus Castle where in 1318, Robert the Bruce attacked.

Time to head to Belfast where we are staying with a young family. Susanne is our contact person and she greated us with the usual, "I'll make you some tea"...although in this instance we made it ourselves. Her house is sweet and on a little side road in a nice part of Belfast that actually looks like it might have been a very prosperous part at one time. We crashed for a while in the living room drinking tea and then took a 2 mile walk around the neighborhood before returning. Mackenzie spied a Starbuck's and almost cried, although the Caffe Nero's in Great Britain is better and we pegged that for tomorrow's coffee stop.

Peace in Belfast,

The Traveling Women

Tip of the Day: Taking naps along the route is a great way to recharge.

 

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The Land of the Giants: day 35

18 July,Saturday

Living with an Irish family like this one is so entertaining. It is a vibrant household filled with love and life! Carole's daughter and husband live in the house across the field and this house is always full of noise and laughter the proximity of family brings.

We woke up around 8:30 and Carole had told us to help ourselves to the fresh eggs from her chickens and of course the bread and butter (main staple in Irish homes...what's not to love?) Mackenzie made the eggs and I the coffee and toast. We sat down and watched, with Carole and her boys, the Irish and American cage fighting bout that had taken place in Las Vegas recently. It really was quite entertaining and we waited until it was finished until we headed out for a day of touring the local sites and more 'Game of Throne' locations. (The Irish fighter won!)

The Giant Causeway is an area in Northern Ireland that is formed by giant hexagon rocks that jut out in the direction of Scotland, which is about 30 miles away. There is a legend that an Irish Giant King challenged a Scottish Giant King to a dual and built a huge causeway from Ireland to Scotland so that the Scottish Giant King could come over to fight. When the Scottish dude did start to come over, the Irish dude saw how big he was and was frightened and ran to his wife who was quite brilliant. She disquised her husband as a baby and when the Scottish Giant saw how big the Irish Baby was, he figured that the dad must be enormous so he ran back to Scotland tearing up the causeway in his wake. Nice story, huh?

The Giant Causeway's visitor center which is owned by the National Trust, has been under fire recently because of the huge entry fee. It's really a gimmick because although entry to the Giant Causeway is free, the National trust charges 9 British pounds per person to park, gain entry to the visitor center and cafe, and the use of ear phones and ipod as a walking tour of the causeway. Here's the rub. If you don't pay the 9 British pounds, you CANNOT even get into the visitors center or the cafe. Seems as if they might be losing revenue. And, most of the tourists, especially those in the tour busses, don't know this because the 'free' part is written in fine print. Carol and her family warned us of this and in our 'Do as the locals do' concept of traveling they had us park at Port Ballentrae, just 2 miles west of the causeway and we walked a beautiful trail along the cliffs and on the beach and sand dunes for the free entry.

The causeway was amazing and Madeleine and Jesse had both visited and had told us about it's uniqueness. Thanks for the heads up! We climbed all over the rocks dodging the crowds along the way. Lots of buses of people were there making this the most crowded place we've visited so far in Ireland. We stopped in the little train depot and grabbed a cup of coffee and walked back to the car and sat on a stone wall over looking the ocean and ate the ham, cheese, and butter sandwiches Carole made us. (who needs mayonnaise?)

Time to move on...Bushmills Distillery was next. We didn't take a tour because the distillery was on Silent Times...remodeling and not producing any whiskey, so instead we opted for a tasting. Mackenzie and I shared a tasting with three different whiskeys. We sat on black leather sofas and a man about Mackenzie's age sat with us and explained the different whiskeys for about 15 minutes. We didn't understand much of what he said in his thick accent, but he was a pleasant host..

Next stop...the Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge. It's literally a rope bridge in the same location where salmon fisherman used to catch salmon years ago and now it's one of the biggest tourist attractions in Ireland so of course we had to do it. 12 British pounds poorer and over a mile to walk to the bridge, we waited 20 minutes before we could cross it. It was worth it! The bridge moved as you walked and it was about 100 feet above the ocean. When we arrived at the other side, a small island, we both found a large rock and took a little nap before crossing it back to the mainland.

After the rope bridge we went to Larrybane, a wee little town down a one lane road sitting directly next to the ocean. It is a site where Game of Thrones was filmed and a place where the tour buses couldn't go! http://www.discovernorthernireland.com/gameofthrones/ for more info on the Game of Thrones locations.

 

DunLuce castle was our next stop. The Scottish MacDonalds owned this castle and infiltrated Ireland from this point. That explained the local's slightly Scottish brouque. The castle was closed, but we were still able to walk around and even went into the cave underneath the castle. Next stop the church that served the castle. Another cemetery...I've lost count! This one had the oldest tomb so far...1694.

We were hungry, our ham, cheese, and butter sandwich lunch had warn off and we'd walked 10 miles. Portrush, the town where Rick Steeves stays, was our destination, but the rain decided to return and Portrush was PACKED! We drove in and drove out.

Heading back to Ballymoney and our cute little Irish family, we stopped at 'The Hen House' and shared pork nacho appetizer and a chicken and potato special. It was cheap food, but you couldn't beat the potatoes!

Back home we were beat and the family was all together having a farewell dinner for the sons and a friend who were heading out to Bulgaria for holiday the next day. They offered burgers for us, but Carol had already fed us breakfast and lunch, so we declined And we didn't want to intrude, even though they are such kind people. Instead we cuddled and watched 'Taken 3'. Liam Neeson is always good to watch.

It was a full day and I think this is the most tired I've been. It's a good tired. Not a sad, grieving, cancer, tired...but a physical exhaustion one feels after a great day in the outdoors.

Peace from Ballymoney,

The Traveling Women

Tip of the Day: If the 'National Trust' sponsors anything in Great Britain territory...be prepared to pay dearly, or find a local to show you how to beat the system!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Heading into Northern Ireland: British Territory Day 34

17 July, Friday

 

it is mack.

We left Barbara's house filled up with Irish butter and sausages (BYE Barbara, we love you and your perfect home) and drove toward Northern Ireland, which looks like the Republic of Ireland except there are a ton of British Flags all over the place, damn redcoats, JUST KIDDING. We stopped right off the highway, in the pouring rain to grab some fresh strawberries... we. will.do.anything.for.food.

We jumped back in our car and headed to Ballymoney. We arrived at our next Air B&B with our lovely host Carole. Their house was in the country of a small town, it was so lovely. We had some tea when we arrived and talked with her and her 20 year old son Adam. Her husband was a baker, so we also had some killer scones and cold panacakes with butter. (yeah, I don't know, they eat cold pancakes here, but hey to each his own, right? but give me some hot pancakes please america) Adorable people, thick accents, no idea what they said. But we finally got the hang of it. We drove over to the Dark Hedges, which was used as a location in the Game of Thrones. They were just old trees that lined up a road. Wahooo.Stuffing our faces with strawberries we continued up north to Derry. Before we hit the UK boarder, aka POUNDS (we can't afford this place 1 pound is like $1.50), we stopped at the mall in Ballyfoey and went into the store that is like Ireland's Nordstrom. We spent some time shopping around, I got some pants because we had not done laundry in years and we bought a backpack for all of our touristy souveniers. We went to the bakery and stuffed our face with eclaires and coffee, eecchhhmm, I mean carrots and water. We drove to Derry, a cool town and walked around the 'Wall of Derry,' it's just an old wall with a lot of history all about war, very interesting.

We took some pictures and nearly blew over because the wind is ridiculous here. Using the pound now, we thought "THINK CHEAP" for dinner. Easy for me, being a recent college grad where I currently lived on breakfast burritos and McDonalds Fries I spotted a Food Truck. (sorry mom no more lobster for you) We ordered the biggest thing of fries and chicken strippers (we call them chicken strips because we are america and g-rated, this is ireland, they say chicken strippers and also show very distrubing things on TV) and battered fish. We parked our car in a park and ride and stuffed our faces and rid ourselves of the evidence.

We headed back to our country home where the whole family was there. Carole and Paul had 3 kids, Mckayla who was married to a funny Irish man, Daryl who was 25 and Adam. We all laughed and talked about how I thought Ireland was going to have dirt roads and old men everywhere, turns out they are pretty modern. Mom and I snuck away to allow them to have some family time, and we watched a STUPID movie, yet etertaining (we are desperate for some good movie watching) and snuggled up and fell asleep.

Peace from your favorite girl,

Mack

I mean, Cheers,

the traveling woman

tip of the day: if you can't understand an Irish person just smile and nod

 

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Bike Riding in Donegal County: Day 33

 

16 July, Thursday

It's so great to be in one place for at.least two nights and at Barbara's house we couldn't be happier. She made us a full Irish breakfast, much like the Scottish breakfast but it also included 'vanilla pudding' along with the 'black pudding'. Now,we know that black pudding is made out of blood, but the vanilla pudding threw us off a bit. Again, I overdosed on the Irish butter!

When we first arrived yesterday we noticed in Barbara's house, a brochure about electric bikes rented by #IrelandbyBike. The one thing on our list that we hadn't done in Ireland was to ride bikes. We thought we'd lost our chance in Westport with their amazing ride out to the peninsula, but here was an opportunity. The weather was a wee bit gloomy, but we were here and so, why not? We drove to a little town called, Carrick, and could not find the place...it was operated from a home. We stopped into the local grocery store and asked, and of course everyone knew everyone and between the clerk and a random man who walked into the store, we found Shamise's home straight away. Everyone knew Shamise who started renting out bikes! http://irelandbybike.com

 

I know, I know, me, a biker, renting an electric bike? Darn tootin! It was so much fun! We giggled the entire first hour laughing at how easy it was to start up and to pedal! We took the 'Ancient Self Tour' and visited ancient burial grounds, which look like piles of rocks strategically placed on top of each other. Silver Strand, was another stop which is a beautiful beach that we had to get to by walking straight down the side of the mountain down some 200 narrow steps (my thighs were burning!)

A little hungry and a wee bit chilled we headed to the Silver Strand Cafe to grab a cup of coffee and to split a tuna wrap, which was delicious, or maybe we were really hungry after biking 10 miles! Surrounding Ireland are towers, built in the 1800s as a way of communicating should enemies attack. All we could think was "The beacon has been lit. Gondor calls for aid. And Rohan will answer!" And, then as we gazed out on the Atlantic and saw the cloud of rain moving inland we thought, "Let's get back our bikes and get back to Carrick!" We only stopped to pet a beautiful dog outside of the cafe and we started riding.

Riding in the rain we have done, but riding in the cold, with gale-force winds, we have not...until now! We stopped and got completely bundled up (thanks, Kathy Langr for the bandana) and pedaled as fast as we could on our electric bikes which really don't go very fast and are still difficult when going uphill. We rode past one of the burial grounds and saw three sheep taking shelter under them. How do they know to do that? We kept riding to our next stop and the rain let up a bit. This stop was just another cliff view, so we pedaled again until we reached the Heritage Center where Mackenzie finally found the perfect ring! She now has 12 rings she wears on her 10 fingers...you heard me right!

The cool thing about this gift shop was that it had an actual standing stone that had been moved from a nearby field that was close to the road and it was in danger of being hit. I laid both hands on it and Mackenzie dramatically started calling "mom! Mom?" As if I'd disappeared. (For all of you Oulander Fans). She was very convincing.

Time to bike on! We road through a beautiful town and then straight up into the highlands of Donegal! Highlands? On electric bikes? Holy moly! It was so difficult! And, it was raining like cats and dogs (why is this a saying!?) anyhow, we were drenced! But, for some reason we loved every minute of it. We laughed the entire time, talked about life, sang, and thanked God that we were riding bikes in Ireland!

Well, we decided that we weren't drenched enough and it had stopped raining so we hopped in Gerard and drove to one of the spots where we didn't ride on our bikes because of the rain: Slieve League. Slieve League are actually cliffs...at 800 feet, the highest in Europe (so why are the cliffs of Moher so popular?) We parked our car at the bottom of the 1.2 mile walk up to the cliffs and began to walk and you guessed it...the rain began again and the gale force winds began...we walked anyway. And, as we walked, cars began to pass us...apparently driving up to the cliffs is allowed (missed that memo and so did about a dozen other people). The view was beautiful even in the rain and we turned around to walk down and I swear the wind picked up. We sorta ran down the hill with the wind pushing us along the way.

Drenched and tired we hurried home to Barbara's delicious tea in her warm sitting room by her fireplace. We actually wanted something to eat and this was our lastnight on the west side of Ireland so we went, on Barbara's recommendation, to the Castle Bar. I splurged on the 20 Euro Lobster special and 2 of Donegal Bay's oysters and Mackenzie had a ceasar salad. We were so tired and prayed for a parking space and for a comfy place in the restaurant and we got a spot right near the restaurant and got a table with padded benches and a really funny waiter. Those small answered prayers are such a blessing!

Home to bed. I actually was asleep for the first time before midnight!

Peace,

The Traveling Women

Tip of the Day: When a truck allows you to pass on the road, blink your hazzards for a few seconds and you will be rewarded with the truck's flashing headlights...it's the code of the road!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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