Got up this morning, and it was raining a bit. I went down to breakfast and found out that the seas were too choppy for the boats to go out to the Skelligs. As today is my only day in Portmagee, that means I miss my chance1 to visit Skellig Michael and see the monastery.
I’m pretty disappointed, because Skellig Michael was one of the things I really wanted to see. I mean, I can’t blame the boatmen for making the decision – they know their business, and if they think it’s too rough, then it’s too rough. Really, it’s my own fault for coming so late in the season, and for not building in the flexibility of staying an extra day to take a chance tomorrow.
Oh, well.
So, to make up for my lost chance to see the Skelligs, I indulged in a full Irish breakfast – eggs, bacon, sausage, black pudding, and white pudding2. Black pudding is a blood sausage that is sliced up and fried, and white pudding is just black pudding without the blood. I was a little leery of them, but gave them a try, and they’re not bad. I’m not terribly fond of the flavour – I liked the regular sausage and the bacon much better – but the puddings are nowhere near the level of disgusting that you’d think hearing people talk about them.
I lingered over breakfast, talking to another guest, named Frank Cooper. He told me an interesting story, which is documented here. We talked for over an hour, and I heard about his solo circumnavigation of the globe, how he met the King of the Gypsies in Papua, and about some close calls with whales on his various voyages. All in all, an interesting breakfast.
Afterwards, I took a walk to the Skellig Experience, the little visitor’s centre on Valentia Island just over the bridge, and got some pictures along the way.
The Skellig Experience was small, but it had some neat little displays about the history of the Skelligs. There was also a film about Skellig Michael, showing the climb up to the top. I have to say, watching the zooming helicopter shot3, I was a little relieved that I wouldn’t be climbing up those steep, smooth steps in a light misting of rain.
Then, of course, they cut to some tourists climbing the stairs with a young child – maybe three or four – and all of a sudden I felt like a big wimp. I will need to come back at some point and try again.
I did buy a little book and some postcards showing the Skelligs. But it’s not the same. And then I walked back across the bridge4 and back to my room to write this post.
I’ve got dinner tonight, and then an early bed time. I need to be in Cahersiveen by 8:00 tomorrow morning to catch the bus back to Killarney, or my entire travel schedule falls apart.
Wish me luck.
- On this trip, at least. [↩]
- It also came with tomato, but I don’t like tomato, so asked that they not bother putting it on my plate. [↩]
- Or whatever they were using. It looked like a helicopter shot. [↩]
- With my hat tied on again – the wind was pretty fierce. Made me believe that the seas were too rough for the boats to go out, no matter how calm the waters in the channel looked. [↩]