Dave posting:

Leaving the Giants Causeway in the afternoon we drive towards Fahan near Buncrana, Co Donegal, on the west side of Londonderry, the city of Londonderry, Northern Ireland is situated right on the border of the two countries and passing through from one country to the other was barely noticeable, there’s no border control, there’s no clear signs of leaving or entering another country, but we did see an old border stop point tucked away that looked worn, tired and beat up, it was a non-event as it should be for all who live here in Ireland.

Tonight’s sleeping spot is at the marina in Fahan, it is just an overnight sleeping place for us as we are heading for the Singing Pub in Downings, Co Donegal tomorrow.

We got stuck in a massive traffic queue today for 20 mins and when we finally got to the head of the queue we could see why we had waited so long, there was some serious road brushing that needed to be done!

The drive along the Wild Atlantic Way the next day was impressive and we eventually found the pub after going the long way around to get there!

The Singing Pub caters for motorhomes at the rear of the pub, and we might as well go and have our first Guinness at this rural Irish pub, and it doesn’t take us long before we are sampling the black and white stuff!

The barman said it’s the law here that you have to eat these Tayto crisps, made with Irish potatoes, with a pint of Guinness! Got to love the Irish promoting their own! We saw the same crisps in Lidl a few days later for a 10^th of the price!

Earlier on we had already decided to treat ourselves and eat in the pub tonight and also to give Cathy a break from cooking every night, perusing the menu over a drink and we ordered a seafood platter to share, well it was absolutely fantastic, lobster thermadore in scallop shells, Chilli King Prawns, breaded stuffed mussels, Jacket potatoes and salad with a mini starter of chowder in little coffee cups and lovely local wheaten bread.

There’s no live music tonight unfortunately but there is tomorrow the staff tell us, so we will just have to stay another night and come along to the gig tomorrow!

The next morning, I replaced the water tank pump, it failed again yesterday, and fortunately I ordered a new fresh water pump before we left the UK, this time I’ve gone for a higher spec’d unit from REICH. Oh, look at the time I exclaim! The Liverpool vs Spurs kick off is at 12.30pm and the pub has Sky TV, Cathy chills out in Pogo and off I go and watch the game for a couple of hours, I’m happy to say we beat Spurs 2-1.

We tried to go for a bike ride but I under estimated the steepness down to the beach and Cathy had to push her bike back up the hill, I don’t think she enjoyed that too much, start slowly I’ve learned, she hasn’t ridden a bike in over 20 years!

After our evening meal in Pogo, we scrub up ready for a night in the pub with some live music, inside we notice that it is quiet with lots families with young children finishing their meals and as the pub slowly empties, we are thinking it might be a quiet night here, in this remote pub tucked away in the hills, an hour later the musicians come through the door and quickly set up, now this is more like it. 20 minutes later the door opens and in comes a stream of new clients, a coach of 30 golfers soon livened the atmosphere.

The music is country and western and pop mixed with a few Irish classics and soon everybody is tapping, singing and clapping along and the Guinness pump never stopped pouring endless pints! Cathy enjoyed a dance with some other ladies and gentleman, I opted to observe and hug my Guinness! It was a great night as we rolled in to bed about 1am.

Goodnight

Dave

Useful info

GPS Fahan Marina, Co Donegal, free parking N55.08736,W007.47712

GPS Singing Pub Downings Co Donegal, free parking N55.20929,W007.81985

REICH twin/double water pump, 19 litres via ebay