WHIRL2026 Day - 7

The day started quite overcast and with a few spots of rain on the breeze. Grizzly put his waterproof trousers on. As we only had a 20 minute ride to our first stop, I took the risk. It paid off. It was an acceptable 18 degrees and the sky looked fairly bright.

The first stop was at the Doagh Famine Village. It's a collection of old buildings, with thatched roofs, that were inhabited until as recently as the mid 80s. It tells the story of Irish life from the Great Famine through to the present day, using restored homes and exhibits that bring each era to life. The entry fee gets you a free coffee and cake, plus there are guided tours. Our guide Paddy actually lived in one of the cottages up until 1984, when the building was condemned by the council and families forced to move to more modern council accommodation. It's an interesting place but I'd wished there was more from the guide about the famine and those times, rather than having to read about it ourselves. Still, we spent about 2 hours there.

Doagh Famine Village

Next up, Malin Head, the third point of the compass visited, the most northerly point this time. At the top of the steep hill to the point, there are a number of buildings, a tower that was used in times gone by for telecommunications and a number of WWII lookout posts. What I was particularly interested in though, was the white stone markings on the ground, reading 80 EIRE. There are a number of these dotted around the coastline and theyw ere put in place to warn pilots that they were flying over the Republic of Ireland, which was a neutral country during WWII. 

You arte now flying over Eire

With a few snaps taken, we set of towards Lough Foyle and our ferry across to Northern Ireland. Still the weather was holding, though at the ferry port, it was quite windy. This would be reflected on the crossing, where on a couple of occassions water sprayed over the front. As it was a tad choppy, we sat on the bikes, just to be sure they didn't topple over. It's about a 20 minute crossing and seems a bit pricey at €12 per bike/rider.

Lough Foyle Ferry

On the NI side the weather perked up and the temperature climbed to 24 degrees. We made our way across country to the Antrim coast road, which we have done before but is such a delight to ride. Leaving the coast road we made our way towards Belfast, skirting around the city itself to Dunmurry and our home for the next 2 nights. As we pulled into the hotel car park it was full of cars. It turned out there was a wedding reception being held here but luckily there was one space and we dived in it. I don't think there was any other spaces free. 

We seem to have drawn the booking.com  room this time, with the wing our room is in accessed through the restaurant and the room itself at the end of the corridor with the window within 2 feet of a fence!

We decided to eat out and went to a place 100m away called Millies, where I had breaded chicken escalope smothered in parmesan cheese with  garlic skin on potatoes. Beer choice was limited, so we both had a couple of pints of Carlsberg.

Back in the room I am watching England v Panama, well, I have one eye on it whilst I type this, and have very loud music coming through the door. Not sure how close we are to the dance floor but can't be far.

Tomorrow is sightseeing day. We have tickets to the Titanic Museum and have a train to catch at 09:04, which will be a squeeze, as brekkie doesn't start till 08:00. Luckily though the station is only 6 minutes walk away. There's a full day planned, which I'll share tomorrow.

Bye for now.