Strandhill, Slieve League Cliffs

Strandhill...eventually
As we ate breakfast and prepared for our departure from our incredible hotel/castle,  we met a man who happened to be getting married the next day (in the castle of course).  Before we left, he scribbled a few restaurant and café recommendations that he said most tourists didn't know about.   One of those recommendations, a café called "Shells Café, "was located just a few kilometers away in Strandhill. We were headed in that direction, so we decided to check it out.

Only minutes after we reached the freeway, there was a strange noise and the car began to swerve- we got a flat.  Although Colin and Dave managed to remove all of the lug-nuts in less than 10 minutes, the tire was wedged onto the axle and wouldn't budge. Luckily, a burly irishman came to our rescue with a huge metal pole. He was superman.  Unfortunately, by this point, Dave had already started walking towards the closest town in search of a tow. We eventually met up with Dave, and we were on our way once again. Regrettably, I don't have a picture of said man, so you're going to have to use your imagination on this man with a shovel who we met the previous day...

Somewhat rattled by the flat, we reached Strandhill a little after 11:00am.  The beach town is situated on the western base of Knocknarea on the Cúil Irra peninsula, and faces the Atlantic. We easily found Shells Café by asking a few locals, and took a coffee break right on the coast.  I had the most incredible hot chocolate while Colin enjoyed coffee with vanilla bean ice cream. Mom and Dave ordered a chocolate lava cake that was equally amazing.

Shells Café in Strandhill

Love this place

Shells Café was my kind of place because it didn't look or feel like a tourist trap.  Admittedly,  based on the mere fact I was seen taking pictures in a café full of locals,  I am categorizing myself as embarrassingly touristy.  I enjoyed myself nonetheless...

We headed north toward Sligo, then west so that we hit the coast. We stopped at a Tourism Center in Donegal where we were promptly persuaded to see the Slieve League Cliffs, which are roughly 2.5x larger than the Cliffs of Moher.

Hazard of the Road

Dave and his new friend

Trailblazers

If you can believe it, it was even more beautiful in person

So. Pleased.

The gang

Just as we were heading back, the fog cover dropped substantially.  It was by sheer luck that we arrived before the entire view of  the cliffs was buried behind a thick screen of fog.

Onward to Derry and Belfast!