Bushmills, Dunluce and Donegal, Ireland

Our day started with Kinbane, then Carrick-a-Rede, Giants Causeway and somehow we went on to Bushmills (the town & factory) for a tour. Why? I don't care for whiskey (Scotch is different), my sister's a celiac and can't touch any wheat product.

Although they've been making whiskey since 1675 and it was interesting on how they use bourbon, port and errr, one other type of barrel to age the stuff, and although we got a shot at the end of the tour (I also got my sister's)it was still kind of a waste of time. There really was nothing to take a picture of unless I wanted to do an article on whiskey making (and maybe I should have taken more). But I took no pictures and had my sister shoot this only picture of me in Ireland with the mega bottle of booze.

Ireland 2007--Bushmills, Dunluce Castle and Donegal

So we did the tour, and now it's getting late in the day, about 4:00 and we find our way to Dunluce Castle... to see them locking it up. It was perhaps our biggest regret. If we'd missed the Bushmills tour that we weren't that enthused about we would have had time to explore the castle. And this castle had a cave. How cool is that? Alas we could only peer from the locked gates.

Our last stop was driving on to Donegal town. The pictures of Donegal and the castle are actually from the next day as we arrived with enough time to do our usual. We popped into the Reel Inn, had a drink and asked the bartender to suggest some B&Bs. It also turned out they had live music that night. So we crossed the bridge right outside the door and not believing everything was so close, continued driving up the road, to realize we'd gone too far. We turned around and then found several B&Bs just down the road. We stayed at the Bridges.

These B&Bs are nothing fancy on the outside but quite large houses inside with usually 3-5 bedrooms and a large dining room. Bernie, our host, had two cute little kids (never met the husband) and there was only a common bathroom though many B&Bs have ensuites. My sister and I each had our own room which gave me a reprieve from her snoring. (It's funny that whenever I had to wake her in the middle of the night to try and get her to stop snoring, the first thing out of her mouth, even half asleep, was "I am not." Like I had nothing better to do in the dark of night.)Bernie also washed our clothes for a few Euros each. A very nice place to stay.

So that night we went off to find dinner (quiet on a Monday). Many pubs have dining rooms upstairs. We began to notice that service in Ireland is different than here. They'll serve you but never come back and you have to hunt down the waiter to get your bill or they'll literally let you sit forever. I don't remember the name of the place but I had a mediocre chicken curry with not a speck of vegetables. but true to form it was a huge portion on rice. I ate it all and then they brought me a megasize bowl of French fries! I didn't eat any, being quite full. But there was that Irish thing of potatoes.

We then wandered back to the Reel Inn for the music though we never got farther than a few feet inside the door. I won't relate the tale here again as you'll find it if you go back to the Oct. 2 entry. We staggered into bed, a short walk of a couple minutes from pub to B&B, at 3 am.

Irish Food

We're in Glasgow but haven't really done anything but fly here today. We were wiped so napped on the couch, which means we'll have tomorrow to explore a little bit.

In Ireland, the Irish really do love their potatoes. It will be on the menu for everything; either fries or potatoes. I watched people in a pretty fancy Italian restaurant eat past and fries. Fork a fry and then scoop your pasta and sauce together. Or the ladies that ordered pasta and pizza and a bowl of potatoes on the side.

One night I ordered chicken curry with rice. It came with a large (about two full serving's worth in Vancouver) serving of fries that I was too full to touch. And the portions are more than substantial. Last night I think we ended up in the equivalent of a diner and I had smoked cod and cabbage (with potatoes of course). I ate the cod but couldn't finish the rest.

So even though the prices are high, there is a lot of food and I doubt anyone would be hungry at the end. There's never been room for desert, except one night when I did an early bird menu, which seems to be quite popular in restaurants. You can get two or three courses for prices ranging from 20 to 30 Euros.

So food left an impression on me. We're nearly done. It will be good to get back but sad to leave. I'm sure I'll write a bit more about the Emerald Isle once I'm home.