We were ready nice and early, having slept right next to the cliffs of Sliabh Liag. The Lonely Planet suggested to drive to the upper car park and then walk for about 500m to get some nice views. That sounded like a short stop with a great photo op. However, when we got there, the upper car park was closed off. The wardens told us that it’s a 2km walk to the upper car park or we could wait until 10am and take up the first shuttle bus. Waiting till 10am wasn’t an option and Flo was against taking the bus anyway.

The Agent of Entropy was carried in the baby carrier, Number 3 walked and we “hiked” up to the upper car park. It wasn’t too bad except for the fact that hiking on asphalt isn’t the greatest kind of fun.

We were the first ones up at the upper car park. The coffee and souvenir trucks hadn’t even opened yet but Flo already spotted “The sober bar” which sold non-alcoholic beers. Starting the actual hiking track was fun as most of it consisted of steps made out of natural stones. We soon realized that the views onto the cliff were best from the car park and we didn’t intend to do the whole ridge walk with two small kids. The next nice viewing area was our snack spot and then we turned around again, just in time for the first shuttle bus to arrive.

It was lovely that we’d beaten the crowds. Bus after bus started to arrive at the car park. Since we’ve already been as high up as we’d go, we now sat down to have a tea, a cookie and that non-alcoholic Guinness that Flo had seen the night before.

Though this stop was more involved than we’d thought, it was a great one. Sliabh Liag is a cliff, going 600m down into the sea and is thus higher than the cliffs of Moher. The view onto the wall rising out of the water into the clouds was pretty amazing, though I can imagine that the views from the cliff top down are even more spectacular.

From here, our next planned stop was the beach at Rossnowlagh. But first, lunch. “The Rusty Mackerel” only started serving meals from 1pm onwards which was too late for us. Looking out for a bakery along the road, I checked the recommended cafes in Killybegs. Cafe Ahoy was recommended for its seafood chowder. That line alone triggered Flo’s taste buds so we passed the bakery and went there.

Happy to find a table quickly even if it was inside, we decided what to order. Being asked for our drinks order, the waitress told us that she can’t take our food order yet as there are a couple of tables before us. That was an odd statement without any further explanation. We sat there for 30 minutes with our drinks, without ordering food. Literally the second that Flo wanted to get up and leave, the waitress took our order. Hoping that now it would speed up the process, we spent ANOTHER 30 minutes there without any food. Seriously pissed, we finally got up and left. That was seriously shitty customers’ service…please let your guests know if there’s a long waiting time ESPECIALLY if they have young kids who will clearly starve if they have to wait for an hour.

An hour had passed, we still needed food, the kids were crying because they were so hungry. So we did what we should have done in the first place: We went to the bakery. It turned out to be a bakery/deli so we even had Sheppard’s pie, quiche and pasta salad for lunch and were done in 15 minutes. Cafe Ahoy, you might have been lovely but that was just not acceptable.

Finally, finally, with the kids asleep in the car, we drove to Rossnowlagh. It’s a beach along the way where you can drive your car right up to the water so it made the kids and Flo happy. To be fair, the kids were ecstatic to put their feet into the ocean again. Number 3 wanted to learn everything about jelly fish as this was the first beach where some of them had been beached.

30 minutes later, we had to leave again as the tide was coming in. Some car owners didn’t make it quite fast enough and that their cars bathed in salt water from beneath. Not really a good thing…

But, we were also leaving county Donegal, the first county of the republic of Ireland that we’ve been to. It’s been quite a ride. Counties Sligo & Mayo are beckoning. Well, they will be tomorrow. Today we pulled up in a lakeside caravan park that was overpriced, basic and really nothing special. However, we had a long distance gaming session scheduled and needed power and reception for that.