9/27 – Slieve League

9/27 – Slieve League

More pics here.

This next day was ambitious: we would hike Slieve League, the tallest cliffs in Europe and fairly remotely on the south end of the Inishowen Peninsula, then drive 2+hours to our next hotel in the north-western corner of the Peninsula (and country). 

 

Ty’s Slieve League report:

The drive out to Slieve League was uneventful.  The hike, however, was amazing.  See the photos!  It was almost a perfect hike, except the wind was blowing too hard for us to feel safe going across “one man’s pass”.  We returned to our car down the backside of the mountain and walked through the local “town” back to the trailhead. I practiced letting Juliana be right, which added a mile or so to our walk back to the car, at the end of a very long day of hiking. It was the longest mile of the day for sure. [Juliana: it’s true. I am happy to concede when I am wrong. I just wish I’d realized I was wrong way earlier and saved us a mile. Usually though, my sense of direction is much better than Ty’s. Sorry, but it’s true! Uh-oh, argument brewing!]

  

Exhausted and hungry, and worried about car sickness for the long drive ahead, we stopped in Carrick, a tiny town near Slieve League for dinner. Again, the cool service, blank stares from locals, and mediocre food. The Ireland-Romania game was on, which we’d hope would be a peak watching-in-a-pub experience since it was the home team’s moment. Indeed, a good chunk of this tiny town was likely in the pub, and many wearing jerseys. But they watched quietly, if at all, and the mood was not particularly festive (perhaps because the Irish were beating the crap out of Romania, so there was no anticipation). I think that the US could beat Ireland in the sports-fan enthusiasm department! Ireland won and has done very well in the tournament so far, which is fun for us (especially as Ty is now relating to his Irish heritage more), but this element of “watching rugby in the pub with people who also love rugby” really looked different than we expected.

 

[Juliana: Since Ty's a man of few words, I'm going to include a lot of amazing photos in this post as well.]