Day 7 – Dublin to L’derry

We were meant to get up early this morning to get as much done as possible… it didn’t quite go to plan though. The alarm did go off at 7am and my bf did get up to have a shower but after his shower he crawled back into bed for another few hours. It was approaching 11am when we eventually got up and got ready. We woke up our friend to tell him we were going to head off soon. However, he persuaded us to stay for another hour to go to Grafton street for a Micky D’s (McDonald’s for those over 40). I ordered a double cheeseburger and chips (classic) and they both ordered a McChicken sandwich, 2 double cheeseburgers and chips each… maybe the summer bodies will be ready for next years holiday, preferably somewhere hotter than Ireland.

Trim Castle was our first stop of the day – Ireland’s largest Anglo- Norman castle. It was alright I guess but wasn’t anything special. Next was Slane Castle, famous for the huge concerts and festivals held on the grounds. It was a tad more impressive, however, I think I’ve came to the conclusion that I don’t want to see another castle for a while unless I own it… I’ll put a Castle on my Christmas list and hope for the best. Daddy, have I mentioned how slim and full haired you are looking these days?

As I said, today hadn’t got off to the best start and there weren’t any signs of it getting better. When we arrived at Bru na boine all the tickets were blooming sold out. Using our initiative we looked from afar and told each other some facts off Wikipedia. Who needs tours when you’ve got the internet…

Just joking. Seeing everything in real life adds so much more to the experience and therefore we splashed 3 Euro to check out our next stop, the Battle of the Boyne site and museum. The museum had a mini cinema which gave a brief overview of the battle and I learnt more here than I did during history class at school, so I guess it was a successful visit.

We drove in the direction of Enniskillen, stopping for an ice cream and chicken sandwich before crossing the border back into the north. Irish ice cream really is so much better than the in the UK…. maybe brexit wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all.

It was nearly half 7 but we still wanted to stop at Cuilcagh legnabrocky board walk. When we arrived, we walked for 20 mins in the direction we thought it was but we couldn’t seem to see it and the heavy rain and wall of cows helped us make the decision to leave it and come back another day. We got some cool pictures though so it was worth it.

Our original plan was to stay one last night in the tent, but both our families told us that there were warnings of heavy rain and it would be best to come back a night early. As “parents are always right”, we listened to them and headed home, passing Belcoo to see the bridge,which was always on the news recently, covered in cushions signifying a soft border. They must love their ice cream too.

The last part of the journey was extremely wet. When we reached Strabane, a town about half an hour from home, things began to take a turn for the worst. I’m usually quite brave when it comes to thunder and lightning but I could have done with a thunder buddy tonight. Most of the street lights had been struck off and heavy droplets bounced off the car… fair play to my bf for continuing driving as I may have just pulled over and called it quits.

Approaching L’derry was crazy, there were literal rivers flowing along the roads. After being forced to come home, my dad kindly texted to inform us that most roads into the city had been closed due to the water and weren’t likely to open until the morning. We decided to risk it and tried a few back country roads but the cars in front had to be towed from the water by rescue services so had second thoughts on that. The police told us the only option we had was to either go stay in the local community centre (luckily we had our sleeping bags) or stay with a reachable friend. I definitely wasn’t sleeping in close proximity to some smelly man in a community centre so our only option was to call a friend. The only person we knew who lived close by was the same friend who we stayed with in Dublin in their other home, but only his mum was in… she just couldn’t get rid of us. Very kindly she took us in, gave us a strong gin and tonic (essential) and showed us our room for the night. It didn’t take us long to fall asleep. I only got to sheep no.16.

In the morning we got up relatively early for our second attempt to get home. Most roads were still closed. However, one had thankfully reopened and we were able to eventually get home. When we arrived home we had some tea and toast (pretty annoyed I wasn’t welcomed back to a fry) and told our families all the craic. I was glad to be home.

It wasn’t and will never be my first choice of holiday but it was surprisingly enjoyable and I’d actually recommend it to those who haven’t seen much of Ireland before. I’m glad it’s been ticked off my bucket list. However, Australia, Barbados & Bali are still on it…

Over & out xo