EIRE

I noticed Michelle has yet to post a blog about her adventures in Chicago...hopefully she will soon cause I'm sure she's got some good stories for you.

My trip started out with 4 days in Donegal....in Derry County, staying on the Peoples farm in Shroove in Greencastle. It was absolutely magnificant. From the kitchen window in John and Jessica's home you could see across to Northern Ireland, to your left Scotland, and to you right the Bay. It was so delightful to wake up every morning to the countryside and have it be so quiet. I enjoy living in a city but the break from the noises of the city was wonderful.

We spent the 4 days exploring Derry County. We saw Portadoris, which is a hidden bay back along the coast of Derry. We got to walk along a narrow trail on the hills through overgrown ferns to reach Portadoris. There's a rock beach when you enter the bay with the best stones to skip rocks on the water. After seeing Portadoris, we drove around Greencastle to see the fishing docks, boats and the Maritime Museum. The Maritime Museum has a library where it keeps records of those who left Ireland for North America. I stopped in to see if my great-grandfather would be listed but found out that a few years back the records were moved to another maritime museum further south. I was quite bummed but the lady at the museum told me that he most likely left out of Donegal because a lot of pepple from Mayo traveled North to leave--so maybe there is a chance that he did leave from Donegal.

One of the coolest parts of Derry, besides the scenery, is all the history. There are a lot of WWII forts left standing that the Irish occupied to protect themselves during WWII and when they fought the Brisith for their independence. On each side of the bay, there are forts parallel from each other so the Irish could destroy the British ships as the came into the port and used for protection during WWII. We traveled further North the Malin Head. Malin Head is the northern most point in Ireland. The Irish painted stones white and spelt out EIRE with the stones so that planes flying overhead wouldn't bomb Ireland during WWII. There are two forts left standing that the Irish used for protection.

Another favorite spot from this trip is 5-finger strand. It's a beach by Malin head and across from it the land cuts out in 5 places,r esembling a hand. This beach wraps around to the 5-finger strand and dumps out into the Atlantic up north. It also has great rocks for skipping and the softest sand ever. It's a very peaceful and lovely beach.

After Malin Head, we ate dinner in the town of Malin and listened to traditional Irish music played by the dad and sons of the family who own the bar. In Malin, we also saw some traditional Irish houses with the thatched roofs still intact and also some old famine houses. The Irish definitly built things to last. About 1-2 feet below the ground is rock. So, the Irish would dig until they hit rock and use the rock they could get to make bricks for their homes. They would also haul back the pebbles from the beaches that appeared from the water erroding away and grind them together to make bricks. You don't see much siding on the houses around Ireland.

Spending time in Donegal was the best way to start off my trip...when I left I wished I had more time to spend there...walking about in such a beautiful place was rejunvenating and peaceful. I'll be back to Ireland on Sunday though...

I'll write about London and Paris at a later time.