Page 128 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL SUMMER 2025 THAILAND

tip of a peninsula in northern Ireland (not
to be confused with Northern Ireland,
though there is no physical border any-
where). It was a spacious sun-filled cottage
on top of a hill. Everywhere in the distance
were stone fences, hedges, fields of sheep
and a 180 degree unobstructed view of the
Atlantic Ocean.
We planned to listen to live music at a
local pub after dinner so I could jam har-
monica with a local band, but we were so
mesmerized by the sunset and afterglow
each evening that we never left the house.
Instead, we watched the bright orange orb
sink into the sea and the sky turn pink and
lavender, then dark purple, and finally
black, the backdrop to a universe of stars.
During the day, we drove leisurely
along the Wild Atlantic Way, stopping to
walk on deserted beaches (twice with an-
cient shipwrecks in the sand). We visited a
small fishing port and had a pub lunch of
hot soup and a toastie (toasted sandwich),
then continued on the narrow country
lanes to explore light houses, castle ruins,
and more beaches. One day in Dun-
fanaghy, we visited a former workhouse
(now a Heritage Center) where 300 desti-
tute people lived under unbearably strict
rules. Irish workhouses, were designed to
provide relief to the destitute, but the con-
ditions were deplorable (to deter reliance
on public assistance). The workhouses,

128 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE SUMMER 2025