Day three in Ireland got off to a scary start for me when I swung out of bed, shook the hair out of my face and promptly got a bad attack of vertigo! I've had little vertigo episodes before, but this was bad and I couldn't stand upright, so I fell back into bed and everything spun for a few minutes. I imagined myself having to spend the rest of the trip laying in the back of the bus or something. Mother quick got online and reviewed a few maneuvers that are supposed to help, so I tried one out and things improved.
I gingerly got dressed while trying to stay upright and not make any sudden moves, and we headed to the main house for a delicious breakfast of fresh scrambled eggs, smoked salmon, toast and assorted homemade jams, and lots of coffee. By the time breakfast was over I was feeling back to normal and didn't have any issues the rest of the day, thank goodness.
We left the guesthouse around 11 and drove through little villages and tiny twisty roads around the Cooley Peninsula and up over the Mourne Mountains. We made several stops at different scenic overlooks for photo ops, and then had a late lunch at a nice little restaurant that used to be a church. We also walked to a little park called the fairy glen and enjoyed talking with the locals and their dogs, and trying to spot some Irish fairies.
After lunch we hiked up the Mourne Mountain and enjoyed the beautiful views. This area was the inspiration for CS Lewis's Narnia books, and he said that the very spot we were at was his idea of what Narnia looked like. After our tough hike up the mountain we all plopped down on the grass and Samuel Chestnutt read to us about Lewis and Narnia.
We then went and saw where Samuel Chestnutt grew up in the town of Kilkeel, and he took us for a spur of the moment visit to see his Dad, who was busy mowing the grass. He climbed unto the bus and obligingly said hello to all of us gaping tourists though.
We then drove a short distance to where we're staying for the next two nights - a group of 16th century cottages called Hannah's Close. I have mixed feelings about this whole cottage experience. On one hand it's very uniquely Irish and will be something memorable for sure. On the other hand, I like my creature comforts. We're sharing our cottage with another couple, and we all looked askance at the tiny rooms (ours has bunkbeds...say what?), the kitchen stocked with bacon and eggs (we have to make our own breakfast???) and the low ceilings and uneven floors and high potential for spiders and mice. So yeah....
When faced with all this, I took to my bunkbed for a mental health nap and felt a little better after that. We met in a large cottage for dinner. A friend of Samuel Chestnutts made an enormous pot of Irish stew and brown bread and butter, and it was delecious. Dessert was pavlova with berries, which is a very popular dessert in Ireland apparently. Mother had three helpings, she liked it so much. Afterwords we sang by the fire, and Samuel Chestnutt told some Irish folktales, and we had a chance to talk about our favorite part of the day.
Now, mother and I are tucked into our bunks and trying to figure out who's going to get stuck cooking breakfast tomorrow..
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