So today we have checked out of Glebe House, sad to leave the area and the house. It is really a beautiful area, but Leitrim County doesn’t get nearly the credit it derserves, since it isn’t close to the “major” tourist attractions. But it is lovely, and we have met wonderful people there. If you fish, though, this is THE place for you- lakes galore and plenty of B and B’s offer angling packages. Anyway, we’re on a way north to Donegal, the Slieve League Cliffs, and our next B and B, on the Rosguill Peninsula in the very north.
I am sick- again. I think it might be a lack of sleep. I don’t know what’s going on here, but apparently the amount of sleep I am used to at home can not be done here. My body apparently reacts to a lack of sleep here by being violently motion sick.I amblaming it on the TV- this B and B had a tv in the rooms,and if it’s there, I am forced to check it out. Interesting thing about the tv: British/ Irish TV allows A LOT more language and nudity than we do! And their “Big Brother” show? Different than ours- and a national phenomenom- in fact, there are talk shows dedicated to the discussion of this one show! Anyway, I sleep on the way to Donegal.
First stop, Donegal Castle. It’s very nice, with large areas to walk in. We elect to do a self-guided tour, mostly to avoid a very large group of school-kids that would tour with us if we chose the guided one. So anyway, self-guided. It’s less informative to do it this way, so we make pretty quick work of it. Also, because we self-guided and were so quick, I have nothing of value to say about the Castle. I have no idea what the historical significance might be, or the stories behind half of the pictures that I shot. But here it is, at any rate:
This is a church across the street:
And another one, that we actually went in:
So that’s it. After that, we pretty much just walked around in Donegal, stopping here and there. We stopped at the “Offiag an Phoist” (Post Office) so i could mail my 16 postcards and in a few small shops. Then we headed around to the Slieve League Cliffs, stopping in Killeybegs for lunch.
In Killeybegs, I have my first “veg” soup. I don’t know if I’ve said it yet, but really, you can’t stress this enough. No matter where you are in the country, no matter what day it is, no matter what time of day it is- the soup of the day is always, always, always “veg”.Don’t even bother asking. It’s always going to beveg.That’s “vej”, short for vegetable, though if there’s more than one vegetable, I couldn’t find it. It’s essentially a potato broth, and if there are more vegetables, they’ve been blended so fine, you can’t see them. Now, this isn’t to say that veg is bad, it’s just so different than you would expect, that it bears mention. It’s actually quite a nice little lunch, a nice hot bowl of soup served with brown bread, and a spot of tea, but if you’re looking for a tomato based chunky soup, you’re going to bea bit disappointed.
Some other interesting facts for the possible traveller to Ireland:
They say “Are you allright then?” a lot. Store clerks say it when you bring them you’re purchases, waitresses say it when they come to get your order. B&B owners say it when you come in. I don’t know what it means, really, except maybe jsut what it says: “Are you allright?” AS in “Do you need anything?” I mean, I guess that’s it. Although a few times, we said “yes” when asked at a restaurant, and the waitress walked away. So I guess we were allright, then, and didn’t need her to take our order. It only took a few times to figure out that she meant “can I take you order?”.
Also, some people who have travelled overseas before may not find this wierd, but I did- the toilets (notice how comfortable I am now using that word, after seeing it everywhere and having to ask countless times “where’s your toilet?”) are shaped strangely. Not bidet strange (I’m not that backwoods), but just very different than ours. They’re wide at the top, with this very deep, huge bowl, that narrows into almost nothing at the base. And they flush from both directions, from the front and the back, and LOUDLY- scared the bejaysus right out of me the first time.
Oh and paper towels??? Uh-uh. Not here. Coldest friggin water in the whole world and not a stich of a paper towel to be found. They have the air-dryer type of hand dryer, and in the majority of these places, these don’t work.Grrr… If I could have fit a roll of paper towels in my backpack, I totally would have.
posted Monday July 2006