Top pic- Northern Ireland near the 'border'
Bottom pic- Lucia's backyard

Ireland- Day 5

We slept late until 9:30 AM. We left the Harborhouse by 10:00 AM with no chance to check our e-mail as there were folks using the computer and we did not want to wait around. It would be a longer journey to Lucia’s from Sligo to Castlerock, Co. Derry. We left Sligo and followed the coastal route along Donegal Bay. After we left that area we noticed the landscape was changing. The many stone walls and abandoned stone famine type houses were disappearing from the landscape. It was drizzly all day which made for a good driving day. We missed the turnoff for Knock, the Pilgrimage site and felt a little bad about that. However, we did not know how long the drive would be. [For all my New England friends, it is like estimating how long it takes to drive from Maine to Vermont. The roads are narrow and winding through the mountains. What would normally be a 2 ½ hour drive @60 mph takes 4 hours @ 35 mph no matter which route you travel.] 
             We then noticed signs as we had passed Yeats grave. After passing this area we drove through Bundoran and Ballyshannon. We then followed N15 towards Donegal town. One we arrived we pulled into a parking lot with a huge ship’s anchor. We parked there and visited the chamber of commerce. Then we walked around looking for a place to grab a bite of food. My O’Donnell clan was from this area. I could see the resemblances of the townspeople as odd as that may seem. We saw O’Donnell’s Pub, went inside and were told that they serve no food. That was a shame, as I wanted to say I ate at O’Donnell’s. At least I did take a photo. We walked around the town area and took some photos and visited some little shops. They were lovely with an assortment of souvenirs. We meandered into a little courtyard area and found a small sign pointing to a coffee/wine bar at the edge of the square. We followed the stairs and found ourselves in a neat little restaurant/bar called the Milltown Wine & Coffee Shop. We had some difficulty understanding the dialect of our hostess, but we managed nicely. The food was excellent, with a nice presentation, though we only had lunch menu. The chocolate torte was a very rich and a nice dessert to have with my coffee.
             When we finished we walked to the town square area where we saw a payphone. I called my cousin Lucia who gave me very quick directions. She must’ve sensed I was taking notes as she is a world traveler. She told me not to worry that it was well marked. My main concern was whether or not we would have to go through a border into Northern Ireland. Lucia said there is no more border crossing. A few differences are that the roads are better, the currency changes and the kilometers change to miles. Along the route we passed two rotaries that each had large signage with pictures of eight men, reminding the passersby of Bobby Sands and the men who died of hunger strike 25 years ago. This year was the anniversaries of their deaths. I remember when it happened, but it was not fresh in my mind. I was much younger then and preoccupied with the self absorbed thoughts of my youth. These interested me to see the faces as we drove through the rotaries.
             Debbie and I spoke of the landscape and how it bore similarities to Maine with its pine forests. The stone walls dividing the fields in the South were replaced with neatly trimmed hedgerows which served the same purpose, to divide fields. I am told that the people give each field a name. It was the same for my ancestors in Westbrook, Maine who also had fondly named areas of their land, toiling their whole lives to care for their land as it was their sustenance. Years ago people were really tied to their land, unlike today. Driving through Letterkenny was beautiful but until we reached the town of Downhill, we had not seen such a dramatic landscape. It followed the coastal area and at one point along our route, we witnessed a very beautiful waterfall high in the mountains to our right. We drove past a temple on our left that was stark white against the backdrop of the ocean edge. It was named Mussenden Temple. There had been an extravagant palace there many years ago, but all that remained was this beautiful mosque like design of a temple which had been a library for the original palace. Supposedly it was an exact replica of a Roman Temple. After a distance of ten miles, we realized we must have passed my cousin’s home. We turned around and finally managed to find our way. We drove into an area we thought may be her neighborhood. It was a cul-de-sac and we drove to one end and turned around to head in the other direction. I was looking for numbers on the houses but saw none. I saw my cousin in the dooryard on the telephone waving frantically. She had a big smile on her face. We pulled into her driveway, got out of our rental car and she said that she had just called her neighbor. She asked her neighbor if there was a girl in the car wearing glasses as she was expecting her Yank cousin. The neighbor confirmed it. Shortly after we arrived, her husband arrived on his motorbike having traveled in the rain. He was all dressed in his sporty gear on a hot red motorcycle. Lucia was cute as she ran to greet him as he drove into their garage. Their boys were young, age 8 and 10. They were glad to see dad too. It was a great year as we had been corresponding since age 15 and this was the second time in one year that we met. I felt like I knew her my whole life anyhow. Her boys met my sons when they visited the States a few months back and my son JT introduced them to skateboarding. None of their Irish friends skateboard, at least at their young age. While in the States, they were outfitted in all their skateboard gear with JT helping to get them what they needed. JT would be happy to know they were still at it. Introductions were made and we all sat at the table to chat. Lucia prepared homemade quiche, and French fries and made a pastry, for a blueberry apple tart which we would have for dessert.
                 She gave a little tour of her home, all new, and showed us where we would be sleeping. I was most interested in the design, all one level as that is the law to have it handicapped accessible to accommodate for old age. All the light switches were very low, and outlets raised higher, door handles with lever handles and bathrooms that can also accommodate most situations considered handicapped accessible. They don’t have a nursing home every mile like in the USA. Also of interest were her floors, all with coils underneath to heat her floors. There was a great deal of tile in her home. The fireplace was polished granite. After dinner, we took a long walk down by the ocean which is near the country club there. It was beautiful and great fun to just chat along the way. We came back into the kitchen to make coffee and tea and have a few bits of chocolate. We talked for a while, as our laundry was washing in those great washing machines they have in Europe. These machines are expensive but their performance is superior to the machines we have in America. We went to bed by 12:30AM and as usual, Debbie and I wrote postcards and I wrote in my journal.



Picture by Debbie Weeks- Suzan and Lucia at the Giant's Causeway