The M1


I came down to the hotel dining room early in the morning so I could write. Makaila was still asleep and I wanted tea and a quiet place.
The hotel desk attendant was gracious in welcoming me to the room and even fixed me some tea.
He asked why I was up so early and I told him I wanted to write.
He asked what I did and I told him.
He told me that he had been in 48 of the 50 states.
He then went on to give me the exact details of his latest trip to North America that began in Montreal and included Michigan and Ohio and Illinois and somehow included Utah and west Texas and then he declared that he would never travel in the summer again because it was too hot.
Well...yeah...."Ohio with its humidity in July and Texas with its heat!" I exclaimed.
He didn't hear me for he was deep into the details of an encounter with something in Arkansas and a flat tire in Omaha.

           
(The watchtowers of North Ireland...built in the early 1800's to warn of Napoleon's fleet...should it come to support the Irish against the occupying British)
    
The greatest delight about this part of Ireland has been the huge expanse of openness around the sea. It's a lot different than the south where there are fewer mountains and of course, the sea and its inlets provide immense beauty.

              

We drove out of the Sligo area and headed to Donegal, then turned left....we were going around the Donegal Mountains on the road. The local Road Commission must have been working overtime to name it....which was...and I'm not making this up....."The Around the Donegal Mountains Road"...with that immense task completed I'm sure they all retreated to the nearest Pub.


Drive on thru more and more narrow roads and towns like, Dunkineely, Killybegs until you arrive at an excellent parking lot, a big gate and a paved path up the mountain and to...what we presumed to be a lookout point.

It was and it was worth the drive. We walked the final mile but we soon realized that you could open and shut the gate (to keep the grazing sheep in) and drive right out to the actual end. No matter.

                       

The drive was worth the time and effort. The road kept narrowing but we were driving at 9 am on a Saturday morning and Donegal had barely awoken (though they were slammin' by 1 pm when we returned.) The best part was that we totally missed the huge tour buses as they were out later in the morning. Imagine the lane beside our church with two way traffic....and a 65 mph speed limit and a few dozen hairpin turns.....if you can do that.....you can imagine what we faced. Oh, and you are driving on the left, using a stick shift with your left hand.
Good times.

              

Someday I will figure out what these modern day statues or whatever actually are.

                            

This is an Irish Linen area. There are factories around and Donegal seems to be the center of the trade. We walked into a linen shop with fine sweaters and coats and hats. Apparently the tour buses stop and the shops do a great business. Makaila was looking and I talked to the fellow at the jewelry counter about Ohio....he seemed to want to know all about it

                 

It was time to leave Ireland...or at least, Ireland, Ireland.....we drove clear across the top of Ireland and crossed the border into Northern Ireland and then drove clear across the width of Northern Ireland to Belfast.

                  

That international journey across two nations took about two and a half hours...or approximately what it takes for me to commute home from the church in a Friday afternoon rush hour. If you don't know the difference between The Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, I invite you to do a bit of studying. It is worth your time.

             

We found the Irish wonderfully friendly and open. We could not have had better hospitality wherever we went. They are quite interested in America and its role in the world and are very knowledgeable about our current politics. And as most people around the world do...they note our toxic politics and yet retain a curiosity and interest in individual Americans. They never asked pointed questions, that would be rude....but they understood the short term and long term implications of a divided America for the rest of the world

                       

We landed in Belfast on a Saturday night and the first restaurant we went to did not have room due to "reservations only" on Saturday night. As we walked the Main Street of our area we realized that our small hotel was in the university district...Queens College to be exact. It felt very much like the region around OSU...and the Tribal Burger was quick and fantastic and I sat there at the outside table and watched the college students go by and it seemed like I was at the corner of Neil and 10th on the OSU campus and it was 1971 again.

             

We wandered the area after our supper and found a corner with three huge churches. One was shuttered...another was, perhaps shuttered.....and the other massive church had obviously gone out of business or moved to the suburbs and sold to the Guiding Light Covenant Church. It's another world out there. The University itself is impressive...with sort of an Ivy League look about it...though an OSU/every-USA-college-town look about it. We also noted that the bouncers in front of the bars were about the size of OSU linebackers.

Tell Urban to take a scouting trip to University Road in Belfast. He'll be the envy of every other team in the Big 10

                             

                       Peace,  Bob

            











        


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