AN ISLAND NINE

Today is a bit of a sad day as we are leaving our beloved Rosapenna, but only to continue our journey, and later this afternoon meet up with Mike and Vivian up north in Ballyliffin……..so lots of fun to look forward to. I just cannot leave without one last MFI, and it is prepared perfectly as always down in the dining room. It seems as though we have acquired a lot of extra belongings since arriving here, but I’m sure we have only bought a few things to bring home………lots of bags heading down to the car this morning.

We have added an extra stop to our itinerary, and will be driving an hour and a half away from Ballyliffin to visit a nine hole course called Cruit Island………because it happens to be on Cruit Island, for real, with a bridge you have to cross to get there, and you would not recognize any of the towns close by even if I could spell or pronounce their names. “Cruit” itself is pronounced “Kritch” and the locals love it when visitors (mostly from the USA) pronounce it “Crew-it”. Giggles all round. I did some research before heading down, so did not suffer this embarrassment. This is billed as a very unique and scenic course, offering “the chance to play arguably the best par 3 in Ireland, if not the World!!” I think the operative word being “arguably” but it is a beauty. A warm greeting awaits us and we have some time to chat with a few of the ladies who are heading out for their round………no solid advice given, but it was noted that it was good that the wind was not too strong out there today………ok folks it was a gale……..I’m not kidding, but apparently it can get a lot worse. I am surprised to find that the first couple of holes are no picnic………hit good drives on both, and still had 3 woods into the green……..I of course selected my hybrid, and came up 20 yards short on both………brilliant…….well played. This is a walking track, and another consistent feature is that you have to hike up a hill to get to the tee boxes, then walk back down…..down…..down……before heading back up…..up…..up……on sloping fairways to reach the greens. What a hike……I’m gassed and only a few holes in. The course is very interesting and not easy at all. Many of the paths have been covered with astro turf making the walk a little easier, and when I started noticing painted lines on some of the turf I realized it was an old soccer pitch that had been cut into strips and was being repurposed on the golf course. There are huge rock features along the shore……basalt blocks I think, just like over at Giants Causeway. The signature Par 3 is a beast of a hole playing into a hurting crosswind off the ocean……..standing on the tee it had bogey or worse written all over it, so when I scored a bogey, I was pretty happy. With our nine holes finished……playing 18 would have been murder……..scores, don’t even ask. I was lucky I picked up some ammo in the pro shop at 1 Euro each because I am more than a few balls lighter in my bag. We jump back in the car and start our journey to Ballyliffin. The only disappointment was there was hardly any swag to buy……..we wanted something with the name on it, but no luck…….zero ladies items on the rack.

My super duper Vodafone SIM GPS now working, it tells me we have two hours on the road ahead of us. Very lucky that my phone has maybe an hour and a half of battery left, and no charging cord that will work in the Skoda Slaboda………who decided to change all the USB plug ins without telling me……..tried two gas stations to find a new USB on one end with an iPhone jack on the other…….no luck, but did happen upon a Currys, which doesn’t sell vegetables, but is more like a small Best Buy……..they have the cord……..35 Euro………whaaaaat! Sold. Beautiful scenery and great skinny roads all day today, and we are in Ballyliffin in record time (F1 training). Checked into the Ballyliffin Lodge & Spa, and headed to the bar for our post round Guinness that was put on hold at Cruit Island because of the drive. We buzzed Mike and Vivian who were in Zombieland after the overnight flight and drive over from Dublin, and troopers as they are, they joined us in the bar. Vivian……..hasn’t had a Guinness before………whaaaat!……..she orders a HALF PINT…….even the waiter said “These shouldn’t be allowed”…….but a few sips later she is into it and enjoying the magic elixir. The boys stay with the pints, and the ladies opt for one of the fine wines normally found in an Irish pub………I believe it was a merlot, and was served in what we call airplane bottles. Apparently more than passable, so that was a win. Everyone is pretty gassed…….me especially……so we hit the sack to rest up for our first big day at Ballyliffin tomorrow.