Tap tap tap. Tap tap tap.
Neily opens the door. "Macklin, it's about 3:30 now."
I slept in. Late. Adam wasn't up much earlier than I was so when I got downstairs he was making breakfast. Bacon, sausage, eggs, pudding.
Yum.
It's been more than 2 years since I've had pork, but I'm more than willing to have it now.
"Try everything in Europe" people have been telling me, so there's no way I'll be turning down this Irish breakfast.
The food is AMAZING. My two-year celibacy from four-legged animals is over and it's well worth the wait. I finish everything and a few minutes later I'm feeling heavy after the rich food and yesterday's drinking so I head off on a run. Fifteen minutes down the winding road of the countryside and fifteen minutes back. Everything is so green. The mist is thick today, nothing like the warm sunny day we had previously. A dog starts following me about halfway through the run and I'm hoping he's not hungry.
He isn't.
After I get back and clean up we head off to see Cabadooey, the house where my granny lived for some time. It's an old thatched-roof cottage next to a stone house whose roof has fallen in. It's incredible to think of the history here. Years ago, they were making moonshine here. To hide the bottles, they buried them underground out front. When the authorities came, they threw feed for the chickens on top of the hatch in order to cover it better than the sheet metal could on it's own. The authorities never found the 'shine.
After Cabadooey, we headed off around the Inishowen Peninsula (the northernmost in Ireland where Carndonagh and Malin are situated). The mist is thick so it's hard to see much. On a winding road in the hills of Mamore Gap, Neily stops the car and asks me which direction the road is sloping.
We're headed downhill.
He puts the car in neutral and lifts his foot from the brake. The car starts rolling backwards UP the hill.
How bizarre.
"The Electric Bray" he calls it. Neily tries to convince tourists that the sea pulls you up the hill. Others reckon it's the holy well nearby.
We turn 'round and start back to Malin Head. We check out the beaches in the north and then we head off to the northernmost point in the country. We hop out of the car and I look down at the water. People have left some white-washed stone messages on the cliff below. The largest of which reads "EIRE." There's not much farther north than this. Iceland would be one of the few.
I might not ever be this far north in my life ever again.
The thought's almost sad.
We head back towards Carn and we stop in Ireland's northernmost pub, Farren's, to have a pint before going home.
This will probably be the northernmost pint of my life. Sad.
Afterwards we head back to Lily's bar before heading to the house. Neily has a bit of business to attend to before dinner. I look around the bar now that I've not had a full day of drinks in me. I spot a newspaper clipping from Ireland's national newspaper behind the bar. There's Neily Paul's picture, holding an orange on the national news. I read on.
"After Rory McIlroy won the US Open, he took a helicopter to Ballyliffin Golf Club (his home course a few minutes from Carndonagh) where he would be shooting photos for Oakley. When he left the chopper, he had an orange in one hand, trophy in the other, and no spare hand to offer to the directors. He tossed the orange in the rough behind the helipad when he stepped off the helicopter. Everyone swarmed Rory to take pictures. Neily went 'round the chopper to find the orange. It took five minutes, but he surfaced with it. He'll never part with it."
I turned to Adam to ask how long it finally took Neily to throw the orange away. Adam tells me he never did.
"It's right up there you see."
Sure enough, Neily Paul had put the orange in a jar with a preservative, high above the top-shelf spirits.
An Irish trophy.
After I die from laughter and admire other odd collections around the bar, we head to the house and have dinner. Pork, ratatouille, Neily's mashed potatoes of course, salad, and wine. It's delicious.
Why did I give up red meat for two years??
Dinner is fantastic and afterwards I'm thoroughly exhausted. I head up to bed and fall asleep.
Neily opens the door. "Macklin, it's about 3:30 now."
I slept in. Late. Adam wasn't up much earlier than I was so when I got downstairs he was making breakfast. Bacon, sausage, eggs, pudding.
Yum.
It's been more than 2 years since I've had pork, but I'm more than willing to have it now.
"Try everything in Europe" people have been telling me, so there's no way I'll be turning down this Irish breakfast.
The food is AMAZING. My two-year celibacy from four-legged animals is over and it's well worth the wait. I finish everything and a few minutes later I'm feeling heavy after the rich food and yesterday's drinking so I head off on a run. Fifteen minutes down the winding road of the countryside and fifteen minutes back. Everything is so green. The mist is thick today, nothing like the warm sunny day we had previously. A dog starts following me about halfway through the run and I'm hoping he's not hungry.
He isn't.
After I get back and clean up we head off to see Cabadooey, the house where my granny lived for some time. It's an old thatched-roof cottage next to a stone house whose roof has fallen in. It's incredible to think of the history here. Years ago, they were making moonshine here. To hide the bottles, they buried them underground out front. When the authorities came, they threw feed for the chickens on top of the hatch in order to cover it better than the sheet metal could on it's own. The authorities never found the 'shine.
After Cabadooey, we headed off around the Inishowen Peninsula (the northernmost in Ireland where Carndonagh and Malin are situated). The mist is thick so it's hard to see much. On a winding road in the hills of Mamore Gap, Neily stops the car and asks me which direction the road is sloping.
We're headed downhill.
He puts the car in neutral and lifts his foot from the brake. The car starts rolling backwards UP the hill.
How bizarre.
"The Electric Bray" he calls it. Neily tries to convince tourists that the sea pulls you up the hill. Others reckon it's the holy well nearby.
We turn 'round and start back to Malin Head. We check out the beaches in the north and then we head off to the northernmost point in the country. We hop out of the car and I look down at the water. People have left some white-washed stone messages on the cliff below. The largest of which reads "EIRE." There's not much farther north than this. Iceland would be one of the few.
I might not ever be this far north in my life ever again.
The thought's almost sad.
We head back towards Carn and we stop in Ireland's northernmost pub, Farren's, to have a pint before going home.
This will probably be the northernmost pint of my life. Sad.
Afterwards we head back to Lily's bar before heading to the house. Neily has a bit of business to attend to before dinner. I look around the bar now that I've not had a full day of drinks in me. I spot a newspaper clipping from Ireland's national newspaper behind the bar. There's Neily Paul's picture, holding an orange on the national news. I read on.
"After Rory McIlroy won the US Open, he took a helicopter to Ballyliffin Golf Club (his home course a few minutes from Carndonagh) where he would be shooting photos for Oakley. When he left the chopper, he had an orange in one hand, trophy in the other, and no spare hand to offer to the directors. He tossed the orange in the rough behind the helipad when he stepped off the helicopter. Everyone swarmed Rory to take pictures. Neily went 'round the chopper to find the orange. It took five minutes, but he surfaced with it. He'll never part with it."
I turned to Adam to ask how long it finally took Neily to throw the orange away. Adam tells me he never did.
"It's right up there you see."
Sure enough, Neily Paul had put the orange in a jar with a preservative, high above the top-shelf spirits.
An Irish trophy.
After I die from laughter and admire other odd collections around the bar, we head to the house and have dinner. Pork, ratatouille, Neily's mashed potatoes of course, salad, and wine. It's delicious.
Why did I give up red meat for two years??
Dinner is fantastic and afterwards I'm thoroughly exhausted. I head up to bed and fall asleep.
OMG, I remember the Electric Bray!!!! So crazy!
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