Day 12 started out with breakfast at the crappy B&B and then we were out of there as soon as we could get out. We didn’t have much planned – it was mainly a driving day. We needed to get to Derry (northern Ireland) from Sligo and I wanted to stop at a dolmen.
We got to the dolmen area pretty easily but the dolmen itself wasn’t viewable from the road so after asking some locals at the “Dolmen Centre” place building thing they pointed out where we needed to walk. As soon as we got on the private land and trail that the dolmen was on, we were greeted by a black-ish dog that turned out to be our tour guide. He would eventually guide us right to the dolmen but only after we encountered some very deadly horses. The horses were blocking the trail but Amber got them to move. I thought that would be the end of the horses but sadly it wasn’t.
I got to the dolmen first, the Kilclooney Dolmen, and was taking pictures and everything was going fine until the horses flipped out and started charging at us. These horses were crazy and out for blood. Amber enjoyed it greatly as one of the horses pinned me up almost against the dolmen with its deadly feet ready to kick my direction. After some tricky maneuvering, and Amber telling me to just get down, I managed to escape and find my way back to the car but not after a second encounter with a different horse!
After barely escaping the second horses’ charging I was free of these maniacal vermin and could breathe easy once again. Once the others caught up to me (& for some reason they didn’t have any horse troubles) we went in the Dolmen Centre for bathrooms and a postcard. We were then back on our way to Derry.
On our way to Derry we stopped in Balleyfogey for lunch at some Nighthawks Cafe place and then were back on the road.
The drive from the Republic of Ireland into Northern Ireland was quite uneventful and was really only noticed by the speed limit signs changing to MPH and the road names changing. I wanted tanks, troops, demilitarized zones, etc. but there was nothing – just crossing a bridge and noticing license plates changing.
After getting to the B&B in Derry we walked around a bit seeing some of the murals and the area where Bloody Sunday took place and eventually making our way up into the old walled city and walking on the wall for a bit and then going into the Guild Hall (which looks like a big church). It had some awesome stained glass windows – some of the best in Ireland allegedly.
After that we walked around some shopping areas and found a place the B&B guy had recommended for dinner – Badgers. The food was pretty good and I had two pints of Guinness and one Smithwicks Irish Ale. Amber actually liked the Smithwicks, too!
After that it was back to the B&B and time for bed.
Ireland Guinness pint count: 25