Ireland 2014: Donegal Town

If you were to tell me that I could only visit one county in Ireland for the rest of my life, no questions asked, I would pick Donegal. I don't have any family that lives there, there's no 'big' tourist destination to recommend, it's just a beautiful county and worth the effort to visit. My original love for Donegal started with family trips in the 80s and 90s to the Bunbeg/Gweedore area, but a trip to Donegal Town on my own in 2011 renewed my love for the area. And it was in no way influenced by finding a great restaurant and a fun pub.

After settling into the hostel, we headed back into town to visit the Friary ruins before supper. The ruins sit just at the edge of town on Donegal Bay and the grounds now house a cemetery. (Note: this is often referred to as the Abbey, however, historical records call it a friary, the sign posted outside of it calls it a friary, and the Franciscan order that once occupied it calls it a friary. It's a friary!)

The friary was founded in 1473. In 1588, the site was taken over by English forces and turned into a fort. When it was taken back by English forces a few years later, it once again functioned as a friary until 1601 when the powder kegs in the basement blew up during a siege by English forces.

Efforts to rebuild the friary were abandoned in 1607 after the Flight of Earls. The friars, then moved to various other friaries in the surrounding counties, most notably in Co. Sligo.

We played a quick game of Hide-and-take-a-picture to work up our appetites for the lamb shank dinner I had been talking about for three years and then walked up to the Olde Castle Bar only to learn that they were out of the lamb shank.

*sigh*

We order an appy to split, fresh Donegal Bay mussels in a white wine sauce. I'm not someone who takes pictures of food I've ordered in a restaurant because I'm usually too busy stuffing it in my mouth, but these mussels were so good. I may have groaned after I ate the first one.

Heaven in a bowl right there!

These were some of the best mussels I have ever had in my life. Thank goodness they give a slice of bread with the meal to sop up the broth because otherwise I would have licked that bowl. I can't remember what I order for dinner that night (I think it was the chicken with colcannon) but those mussels... I'm drooling just thinking about them!

After dinner and a stroll, we wandered over to the Reel Inn for some live music and a few drinks. That night, the music was Frankie on vocals and guitar with John (the owner) on the accordion. I remembered them from last time I was there and at the end of the night, Katie and I got to talking with Frankie. He wasn't playing the next night but he would be playing our last night in town, and yes, he would play the song that I requested.

Frankie (guitar and vocals) and John (accordion)

I awoke the next morning to find Katie barely able to breathe she was coughing so much. When she did stop coughing, she had to whisper as she had no voice. Linda's husband, Andy, kindly drove Katie to the clinic so she could get checked out while I lazed about writing postcards. I wandered into town to meet Katie at our appointed time and after a bite to eat, we set out trying to organise a tour for the next day. I don't think I have ever found friendlier or more helpful staff than we did at the Donegal Tourist Office. We did some shopping for souvenirs, stocked up on snacks, tried to find a internet cafe that apparently doesn't exist anymore, then walked back to the hostel for a nap. What can I say? Our late nights were starting to catch up with us.

As we were heading back into town for dinner, Linda (hostel owner) asked if we knew about the path along the water so we didn't have to walk along the road. Um, no. We didn't. She gave us directions and what should have been a 10 min stroll along the roadside, ended up taking close to 30 mins because we had to keep stopping to take pictures. We were almost too late to order dinner at the restaurant because of our picture taking!

Walking along the path it quickly became very apparent why we never saw locals walking along the road.

The next day was our tour out to Slieve League and Glencolmcille - I'm saving that part of the day for its own post - before we found ourselves back to the Old Castle Bar for that lamb shank I had been craving for the last three years. So, indulge me, Katie took a picture for me to remember it by.

We also played with our drinks.

I love you Guinness!

We rounded out the night with another stop at the Reel Inn and ended the night seated at a table with Frankie and a few other tourists singing songs and exchanging stories before Frankie gave us a lift to the hostel.

The next morning was breakfast at the Blueberry Cafe where I used very inappropriate language in front of children and we thought we were hilarious by staging it to appear as if our bags were eating breakfast.

Honestly! Can't take me anywhere!

After breakfast, we caught the bus to Galway to continue our adventure.

Ireland 2014: Armagh

We started our Saturday morning visiting one of my uncles and enjoying a good Irish fry before we hopped on a bus and headed to Armagh, Northern Ireland. We had a hour in Monaghan while changing busses. Maybe it was the late night the night before or maybe it was the threatening rain clouds, but we decided to hunker down at the bus station and drink coffee instead of heading into town. Who am I kidding? I'm from the west coast of Canada. Of course, it wasn't the clouds.

On our bus ride out of town, I pointed out the places we went by that held memories for me. Visiting Monaghan is a strange experience as an adult. There's very little family here now so there's no real reason to visit, and it's definitely not a tourist destination so there's really no point in actually staying to 'see the sights', but so many of my memories of Ireland are wrapped up in this town. It's the county I support first and foremost in the GAA but the need to visit it as I get older is waning.

We arrived in Armagh and headed to my uncle's house. The city had hosted the start of the second leg of the Giro d'Italia the weekend before and everywhere you turned, hot pink bicycles and signs caught your eye. Some companies had even gone so far as to paint their buildings.

I'm often surprised that Armagh isn't more of a tourist destination. I know that Northern Ireland in general stayed off the tourist trail for a number of years because of the Troubles, but now that the number of visitors is increasing every year, I'm surprised how little the guidebooks talk about Armagh. It's the ecclesiastical centre for both the Church of Ireland and the Irish Catholic Church, it has two beautiful cathedrals built on opposite hills, it was one of the old seats of the Irish kings, it's where St. Patrick set up shop (hence why it is the ecclesiastical centre), and it's where Brian Boru, the last high king of Ireland, is buried.

Looking from the Catholic Cathedral to the Anglican one

We actually spent our first day 'in Armagh' day tripping back to the south as my aunt had an appointment in Drogheda (Draw-ha-da). While she did her thing, we visited Oliver Plunkett's head. Plunkett was a Catholic priest who was executed in 1681. After two acquittals by Protestant juries in Ireland, his trial was moved to England where he was found guilty and executed.

It's hard to get a good picture through so much glass but that's a head in there.

Drogheda is also famous for being the city closest to the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 and for bearing the brunt of Oliver Cromwell's wrath during his tour of Ireland from 1649 - 1953. If you don't get the sarcasm, Cromwell was a dick to the Irish. For such a small town, it sure has seen some important events!

We drove up the coast to Dundalk to visit another aunt and uncle before stopping for a little shopping at the mall. Of course, the fact that the Co. Tyrone vs. Co. Down Gaelic football match was playing on every TV in the mall had nothing to do with why we stopped. Nope. Nothing at all.

Co Monaghan was to play the winner so the outcome was important!

We returned to Armagh and had a quiet night at home.

Who am I kidding? It was our last night actually with my aunt and uncle (they were heading off on holidays a few days after we left so we skipped out the last night to give them a chance to pack bags, etc) so my cousin and his girlfriend came around and we had a good send off.

After a late start the next day (I have no idea why we had a late start...), we packed ourselves off to the hostel and then headed out to be tourists. The hostel is just behind the Church of Ireland Cathedral so we wandered over there first.

April 2014 marked 1000 years since Brian Boru's death. No one is sure exactly where on the church grounds his heart was buried, just that it was 'on the north side of the church'. In honour of the 1000 anniversary, a wreath had been laid at the plaque. Not surprisingly, a month of laying outside had left the wreath looking a little... dead. I was actually a bit surprised no one had picked it up.

We headed inside the cathedral where we befriended the doorman. Our friendly banter lead to him quoting an entry price which was less than what the post sign right next to him said. Befriending doormen is a very important tourist skill to have!

Most of the large cathedrals have TV monitors and speakers so
everyone can see and hear the service.

Also, Katie learned why you really can't take me anywhere.

I imagine he's judging the wardrobe of everyone who's attending mass.
"Those shoes? with that dress?!?"

Can't leave a statue hanging!

We stopped being tourists long enough to grab a bite to eat and visit with my two step-aunts who live near Armagh. We hit up the carvery at the Armagh City Hotel - I really wish we had more proper carveries in North America - and caught up on all the family gossip.

What better way to work off lunch than walking back across town and up the hill to the Catholic Cathedral?

Every time I see this hill, all I can think is how much fun
it would be to roll down it.

The cathedral was started in 1840 but wasn't completed until 1904. The building was delayed, in part, because of the famine. It was also in part because the entire inside of the cathedral is done in mosaic.

Floor. Wall. ALL mosaic!

The mosaic work continues all the way up to the roof.
It is incredible to actually see up close.

I've seen a lot of churches, cathedrals, minsters, and holy houses in my travels and this Cathedral is one of my favourites.

After a couple of late nights in a row, we decided to grab a bite from the local grocery store - I love you McInerny's - and have a quiet night in. The nice thing about being the only people in the hostel that weekend? Full control of the TV. I hadn't seen Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves in probably 20 years. It hasn't aged well.

My only regret from this trip to Armagh? I didn't buy these flip-flops.

The next morning, we hopped the bus to Donegal Town.

Always With the Random

I didn't mean to just drop off the face of the blogosphere (again) after the last post but remember how many times I've mentioned "I'm busy"?  Yeah. That. Random catch-up post? Yup. Professionally written with logical segues? HA HA HA! Nope.

1. I (finally) finished recapping my trip to Ireland that I took in May. I know. Shocking! I wanted to start posting them once I was done, but I felt like I needed to remind people I had gone to Ireland and I wasn't just randomly posting about Ireland. By the way, you can find the two previous posts of this trip here.

2. Speaking of Ireland, my brother sent me this video:

Just watching that gives me chills!

Investec is the financial backers for the Monaghan GAA, and Gaelic Football is the GAA of note in Monaghan. I always preferred hurling growing up because of reasons, but in the last five years, Gaelic Football has started to grow on me. If you're curious as to what makes Gaelic football different from other versions of football, watch this video.

The poem recited in the video is by Patrick Kavanagh, who came from Monaghan and was the occasional drinking buddy of my granddad. If we ever go drinking, there is a good chance I'll sing Kavanagh's most famous poem, On Raglan Road, to you. It's kind of my drinking thing.

How convenient that my cousin lives close to Raglan Rd!

3. Remember when you wanted to be friends with someone in Grade One, you'd just go up to them on the playground and say do you want to be friends? and then (assuming they say 'yes') you're friends? I wish it was that easy as adults. Never mind having a talk with someone you're dating when you want to start being exclusive, we need to start having talks with acquaintances we want to be friends with. "So, I've been thinking a lot about us and where we're heading as social beings who interact..."

4. One of my favourite ways to unwind after a stressful day is to drink an entire box of wine plan possible vacation itineraries. This way of unwinding does play a part in why I haven't been blogging (as well as the whole leaving-work-at-6pm-every-day-when-I-actually-get-off-at-4) and it also means that I have a lot of tentative itineraries currently sitting on my computer. If you guys are looking for some travel ideas, shoot me a country. Chances are, I have an itinerary for it. I really should have gone into tourism. 

As dorky as Rick Steves is, I am madly jealous that he made travel his life.

5. If you haven't already seen it, you should go see Big Hero 6. And bring some tissues because

Random Post is Random

Busy life means Random Post!

1. Walking down the street after work today I overheard a guy tell his friend that he needed to renew his drivers license except "it's going to cost me $200 because I have an outstanding ticket. Plus there's the $45 renewal fee on top of that so that's like $350. Fuck. And I need my license for my lifestyle, man."

I know I occasionally count on my fingers when I do math, but I'm pretty sure that's not correct.

2. In the living-a-healthier-life department, I have temporarily lifted my monthly weight-loss goal in the sense that I'm still eating healthy, I'm still getting in some activity, but I'm not worrying about exactly how much I'm going down in a month. The point is to go down, and my weekly weigh-ins are doing that with enough regularity that I know I'm heading that way. But with everything going on right now at work, I just need to take a few things off my plate and worrying about hitting a specific number is an easy one to (temporarily) remove. You can fully expect to see it back on my plate after project launch.

3. Also in the living-a-healthier-life department, I've started running/jogging/occasionally-moving-faster-than-walking. Two of my friends suggested doing the resolution run on January 1st... and because I didn't think about the hangover factor, I thought that sounded like a good idea. I'm an idiot. At any rate, I pulled out one of my old walk-to-run programs then promptly ignored it. I headed out for a walk/run. When I felt like running, I did. When I felt like taking a walking break, I did. It felt great. I always enjoy running once I get into. I'm not going to lie and say that I love it and it's the best thing ever!!, but there's something calming about running. The repetitiveness of it allows me to focus on working through other things in my mind. I don't know why I don't find the same mental clarity when I'm walking, but I just don't. Still, as my oft-halted running attempts can attest to, I'm not the poster child for love-of-running! Who knows? Maybe the eighth time's the charm?

4. The Walking Dead and Supernatural both premiered this week. I LOVE FALL TV!! That is all.

5. I recently watched Band of Brothers, hence the gifs. Watch it. Right now Do it! That is all.

In Case You Don't Own A Calendar, It's Fall!

You know those periods in your life where you think you are the busiest you could ever possibly be then life is all like "ha ha, nope!" and suddenly you're even busier? Yeah, I really wish it would stop doing that. My whole we're-into-the-home-stretch-things-should-be-calmer statement was way off the mark.

But in the midst of all the craziness which sees me working 9.5 hour days and taking work home, I've discovered exactly how much I love my job. While I could do with a return my regular hours of work with no take-home items so I could have a life outside the office, I wouldn't change anything else. So, you know, silver lining and all that jazz.

Downside? What was supposed to be last week's Trivia Tuesday is still sitting on my hard drive only partially finished so instead, you're getting a recipe.

I may have posted a recipe just so I could use this gif

This recipe is for Schnitz und Drunder, which is just a really fancy way of saying "best Fall food ever!". It's a potato, bacon, apple and pear stew-type-thing which is just as fantastic as it sounds. Every Fall, when everyone else is tripping over themselves to get Pumpkin Spice Lattes, I'm planning entire weekends around being able to cook Schnitz und Drunder.

Schnitz und Drunder is a Swiss dish. Traditionally, this dish is made with dried apples and pears but I have recipes which call for both dried and fresh. I use fresh apples and pears because I'm lazy and most of the dried recipes tell you to re-hydrate the dried fruit the night before they're easier to find in grocery stores. Stop judging me.

Ingredients:

- 2 tbsp butter

- 1 onion, chopped

- 1 pear, peeled, cored and sliced

- 1 apple, peeled, cored and sliced

- 1 tbsp sugar (optional)

- 1 lb potatoes, peeled and chopped (doesn't have to be pretty)

- 10 oz piece of double-smoked bacon or ham, chopped into chunks

- salt and pepper to taste

- 2 tbsp cream

Serves:

4 - 6 according to all the recipes I've ever seen. I think that's generous. I've found 3 - 4 is a better estimate.

Instructions:

In a large pot, melt the butter. Soften the onion but don't let it brown. (If you have a really fatty cut of bacon, you can put it in first and use that to soften the onions instead of butter.)

I threw in the ham early because I wasn't paying attention.
LET THIS BE A LESSON, KIDS!

Add in the apple, pear, sugar (if using), the potatoes and enough water to just about cover them.

Toss in the bacon or ham (if you haven't already done so). Salt and pepper to taste, then let the pot simmer uncovered until the water is almost completely evaporated (roughly 30 mins).

It's around this point that I start hopping around yelling "WHY AREN'T YOU DONE YET?"
My apartment smells delicious and I get impatient.

Stir in the cream and serve.

Look at this fantastic meal!

Okay, so it doesn't exactly photograph well because it's essentially a stew, but trust me when I say that it tastes fantastic. 

If I had to sum up fall in one meal, this would be it.

En Guete!

(Beautiful Swiss German for 'Bon Appetit!)