To say I was not in the best mood when I got to my room at Doolin’s Aran View Hotel is a bit of an understatement.

If you’ve been following my solo motorcycle adventure around Ireland, you know I left my cosmetics in Dingle and had to go out for a bite to eat and explore the Doolin village all pony-tailed and fresh-faced. I am not a super fancy kind of gal, but I do like to dress it up a LITTLE!

Ok, so I’m standing up against the bar, elbows tucked in because the place is packed awaiting the live trad music, and chatting away with a very young fellow. I really didn’t even think he looked 18, but he was sipping on a pint, so who am I to question? This very articulate young kid starts chatting away about how quickly I decided on both my food and my drink and commented on how impressed he was. Stifling my smile, I thanked him, asked him where he’s from and how he found himself here in Doolin.

He was here with a former exchange host from Switzerland whereupon he introduced me to the man at my left. I noticed this man when I first walked in as he reminded me so much of my oldest brother. The “not-my-brother” introduced me to his daughter, clearly dating the 18 year old from South America. Forgive me, dear readers, as I’m writing this almost a month later and their names have slipped my memory.

I had a great time chatting with this beautiful family and when a very cute, very blonde little girl came up to her dad, he lifted her up and introduced her as well. My heart ached for my own little blonde girl at that point and I could feel the lump form in my throat. I asked her if she knew anyone from Canada and she shyly shook her head no.

“Well, my name is Deanna and I’m from Canada, so now you do!”

I said I would like to be her friend and asked if I could give her a little Canada pin. She was over the moon and immediately darted back through the crowd with her pin. I laughed and told her dad about my own little girl whom I missed dearly. Moments later another little blonde girl appeared and looked at me with her huge, blue, hopeful eyes. I laughed again and asked if SHE knew anyone from Canada. When I gave her a Canada pin she too ran away. Moments after THAT a darling little boy appeared and we repeated the ritual. I looked at her dad and said, “How many ARE there?” He laughed and told me seven. What?! I didn’t have that many pins in my pocket! Not to worry, those were the only “Littles” in his group. Swiss Family Robinson was exactly what I needed to ward off missing my own babes.

After sharing my fries with the Littles, I set off on down the road. I approached the Doolin Hotel and three very beautiful ladies laughing and carrying on. I love laughing and carrying on so I stopped to say hello! We had the best fun laughing and talking as they informed they were there on a “Henny“. At home in Canada I’d call that a stagette. When I shared my oh-so-sad story of forgetting my makeup bag, they invited me to their room for drinks and a makeover.

When they presented me with a veritable steamer trunk full of makeup, I passed on the makeover. I’m just really not that fancy! We did have a great time before moving on to the next phase of their henny. There is nothing quite like hanging out with a bunch of beautiful, fun loving women to make a girl feel like “one of the gang”!

After enjoying their company for an hour or so, I bade them farewell and carried on. I opted for a pub with some live music and a slower crowd. Although I don’t recall the name of the pub, if you find yourself in Doolin it’s easy to find. Just keep walking up the hill from the Doolin Hotel and you’ll find them all :)

After a time I noticed people approaching a patron sitting close to the musician and posing for a selfie. Hmmm. Now I don’t have a clue who this person is, but I’m pretty sure I want a selfie with him too! During a set break I approach this fella and open with,

“Hi! How you doin’ tonight? My name is Deanna and I’m here on a bit of a motorcycle adventure from Canada. That’s relevant because I’m hoping it will excuse any potential offense stemming from my next statement…I have no idea who you are, but everyone else here seems to! May I have a picture with you too so I might add it to my adventure blog?”

We all had a good laugh, he tells me his name and advises the lovely lady to his left is the real star. She smiled coyly and I told the fella that was a good thing ’cause she was way better looking than he was anyway ;) Again we all laughed. After Dermot Whelan graciously posed for the picture, I asked him to type his name into my phone because I was having a hard time with his Irish accent and I’d need to Google him later to figure out who he was. Again laughter, so it would seem that I did manage to avoid offending!

Me and Dermot in Doolin. And yes, I DID Google him ;)

So that was fun!

I should also mention that for the first time since I arrived in Ireland I met some other bikers! Easy to spot by their vests, we hung out and talked about the great riding experiences on Ireland’s roads. They were Irish, so I expected them to just say, “yah, it’s ok”, but they were just as excited as I was to talk about riding! When I reached in my pocket and found only one pin left, they had a bit of a scuffle. It was  charming and I promised I’d look for them the next morning as I had plenty in the pocket of my motorcycle pants.

As it turns out, on my way out of town in the morning I really did see the fella in the middle (the scuffle winner). I hauled off the road and hopped off my bike to say hello, goodbye, and to give him another pin for his buddy.

Doolin was full of lovely people and I enjoyed every chat, every encounter, and every bit of my very short stay!