WE MORE OR LESS PICKED LILLIKOI B&B FROM a hat. It’s brand new and doesn’t yet have a review on booking. com. But it will - and ours will be glowing. It sits on a hill overlooking the River Foyle, less than ten miles from Londonderry. Everything sparkles, the rooms are large and comfortable, breakfast is wonderful and the garden is to die for.
The intrepid Della, Race of Your Life
It’s a busy weekend in Derry. The final leg of the round-the-world Race of Your Life clipper ship regatta gives the harbor an extra bit of excitement. This isn’t a “professional” race like the America’s Cup but welcomes inexperienced sailors - for a fee, a large fee. Della, one of the staff this year, has crewed twice in the past, spent some time explaining how it works and what’s expected of the crew. It sounded interesting but we’ll keep our feet on terra firma all the same. Della, by the way, is also the daughter of one of the producer of BBC’s Planet Earth.
Free Derry mural
Londonderry is a cute place with a 17th Century wall surrounding the original Protestant center. Just outside, Catholic Bogside, is Republican which explains the troubles here during the Troubles. It is quiet now but pro-Republic murals in Bogside can easily be seen from the walls.
Donnegal Cottage
As we were driving north on Saturday I noticed that the speed limit changed from MPH to KPH and the petrol prices were in Euros, not Pounds. Suddenly we were no longer in Northern Ireland but in north Ireland, if you get my meaning. Donnegal to be specific, a part of the Emerald Isle that few tourists visit. Well, since we were already over the line, as it were, we continued on to Malin Head, the northernmost part of Ireland and what I expected the country to look like. The weather was absolutely perfect, almost unheard of in this part of the country.
View from Malin Head
Not all of the sites mentioned in the brochures are easy to find. It took assistance from a British Telephone lineman to find the Auglich Stone Circles. He swore they exisited because he installed some telephone poles there once. Now only the sheep know about this Neolithic site. The Dark Hedges aren’t signposted either but were a little easier to find. These overhanging beech trees look like something from Tolkein’s Mirkwood and on an overcast night could send shivers through the bravest soul.
Dark Hedge
