Baltimore, Ireland: Staying at Europe's Westernmost railway cottage

My first year at Durham University was spent in a rat infested, coal mining row house, that reeked of the rancid fat that the landlord used to fry the fish and chips on the premises.  The heating was such that snowballs thrown into the house  as a student jape, were still there the next morning. 

Unbelievably, I recently got an e-mail from Mike, a fellow inmate/survivor of that experience.  It turns out that, through a mixture of wisdom and outrageous good fortune, he has ended up married to a beautiful folk singer, Bernadette, and living in Baltimore, one of the planet's unique places.

When Mike invited Michele and I to visit, we could not resist, even though it was not exactly on the way.  We got to stay in the Baltimore railway cottage in which Bernadette was born.  It is a cool place because you can still see the old railway track running through the garden:

Mike and Bernadette have done a wonderful job of renovating the cottage, while keeping true to the spirit of the place:

The highlight of the visit for me, was getting to hear Bernadette, warming up for her re-union performance at the upcoming Birmingham Tradfest (http://www.birminghamtradfest.co.uk/#!artists/cfrr) :