Railway Carriages and Sea Caves

Dún na nGall is a cool place. You can do stuff like trek over farmland and sand-dunes to find a 2 mile long deserted beach facing Tory island where you can watch the sun set in the sea. Then you can walk back to your hostel, where you can make a midnight dinner, drink some wine, before going to sleep in your railway carriage.

You might not get to climb Mount Errigal or sail to Tory island the next day because of the shocking weather...but sure there's Magheroarty beach to walk, and plenty of bia blasta to fill your belly at Óstán Loch Altan, Gortahork.

You can stay at a small, crazy Dooey hostel in Glen Colmcille, where you might teach some Polish tourists the alternative words of Weile Weile Waile and get given some great new verses (that you might not remember coz of all the Irish coffee you drank...). Then you can rise n shine the next day, get guided to the beach by a dog called Suzy, who, it turns out, has the ulterior motive of lots of bone throwing and wave catching in mind...

And you can check out An Tráigh Bhán...or the Silver Strand...it's a gorgeous sheltered bay where the water is clear and cold...and if you swim out towards the waterfall you'll find a deep dark cave that you can swim through (if you overcome your nerves...).

And then there's Sliabh Liag or Slieve League (meaning Grey Mountain)...here's where you can overheat your 12 year old Vauxhall Astra in an attempt to negotiate a one-track road that has sheer rock on one side and a sheer drop on the other. But once you eventually reach car park, you can take yourself on a hike up Slieve Liag, to get an amazing view of Europe's highest sea cliffs, lots of mad-eyed sheep and scary drops.

Course there's other stuff you can do in Dún na nGall...but this is all I managed in three days...

Broadband. In Donegal. At Last.

So yay I got broadband. At last. And it's weird. Makes Donegal feel like just about anywhere else I work. And instead of doing yoga or walking on the beach, I'm online. At midnight.

I'm sure the novelty will wear off eventually.

So it's the solstice now. Fantastic. The longest day of the year, the shortest night. And the nights are gonna start creeping up longer and longer on us from here on in.

So I'm heading off to the wild North west to climb Mount Errigal and then stay in a railway carriage in Corcreggan mill. This area was apparently a wile important pre-Celtic site, and is the energy centre of the whole of the north-west...which is lucky, as I could be doing with some.

There's beachs up there...empty miles of sand...there's cool islands to explore...and loads of archaeological sites.

But most importantly, there's wee pubs, live music and great Guinness.

Raging Against the Machine

Today I'm in bad form. Bad ould nifter as my Daddy would say. I have a perma-frown dug into my forehead, and no broadband in Donegal.

ARGH!

I applied for broadband in Donegal in January of this year. In late February they got back to me and told me I'd filled out an old application form, and could I please fill out a new one. The difference between the old form and new form was pretty much some coloured ink and a new font.

ARGH!

So I filled out the new form. They confirmed receipt of my application on the 18 March. Of this year. And I've been waiting for an engineer to come out to my house and install it ever since.

ARGH!

A week ago last Friday he was supposed to come out and connect me up. He didn't. Then I was told that he'd definitely be out to me the following Monday. He was sick. So I was assured that he might get to me the next day. But when I rang, they told me that I wouldn't be getting my connection that day, as there were repairs to be made, and 'obviously' repairs take priority

ARGH!

So he didn't turn up the Wednesday, Thursday or Friday of last week. So this week's a new week. I ring them to see if he's gonna turn up. He will definitely. No bother. For sure. My house. Monday. Afternoon. Except that he's having a wee bit of bother with his van.

ARGH!

It's Tuesday today. He's *definitely* coming to install it today. So where's he starting? Downings. Co Donegal. Where's my house? Outside Carndonagh, Co Donegal. Donegal's a big feckin county. And he's having bother with his van.

ARGH!

I am trying not to chew my cheek off in frustration. But it is a battle (like the broadband installation) that I may not win...