For my birthday this year we were slated to go to Iceland. You’ll note, however, that the title of this blog post is “Donegal fall 2023” so clearly plans went sideways. The area around Reykjavik was under a state of emergency due to ongoing volcanic activity, which had also closed down the famed (and booked by us) Blue Lagoon, so we decided it wasn’t the most opportune time to visit. I’d actually planned a b-day trip to Donegal in 2021, which we ended up cancelling due to a huge storm, so we decided to give it another go.
We rented an Airbnb in Figart, near Glenveagh National Park. On our drive up we stopped at the ancient Beltany stone circle in Raphoe (apparently it’s unclear if it’s from the Neolithic or Bronze Age). Located in the middle of a sheep pasture atop of a hill, we were the only people there to enjoy the gorgeous views.
That night we arrived just at sunset, in time to enjoy the hot tub and stars (brought the telescope for the almost full moon!) at our cozy cottage and noshed on the amazing cake Sally and David had made for me.
On the 24th we explored the coast a bit. Driving past Doe Castle we headed towards Glenveagh National Park, stopping only every maybe 5 minutes to take photos of the spectacular scenery. The park was lovely and I’d love to go back and have a chance to explore more than our brief hike allowed.
We went over the Bridge of Tears, past Ballyboe Mountain, and down to the coast for a lovely lunch at a pub in Dunfanaghy. Tummies full, we proceeded out to Horn head, jutting way out into the Atlantic Ocean. It was gorgeous but incredibly windy, so after a short walk and taking in the views, we hopped back in the car...
...to head to Fanad lighthouse, known as one of the more scenic lighthouses in the country. There we enjoyed a gorgeous sunset (at 3 pm), stiff winds, and a warm coffee while we took in the coastal view (and so much sea foam, none of us had ever seen anything like it!).
We capped the day with some more hot tub time (of course) and a delicious dinner (and crazy drinks) at the Lemon Tree in Letterkenney. We did not go to the restaurant called "Nora's," but it seemed to perfect not to take a photo of it.
On the 25th we set off to explore Derry. Along the way we stopped at Grianan Of Aileach
in Inishowen, another stone circle but this one massive and very well-rebuilt. Again almost no one else was there and Riley, Sally, David, and I all loved running around the layers of stone and every played a dicey game of tag. It was stunning.
Derry was really interesting. I knew it was a city almost at the heart of the Troubles, but seeing it first-hand is different. I also didn’t realize it was a walled city. We walked the city walls, read some of the history, crossed the Peace Bridge, and looked at the murals that are all of a related theme (aside from the Derry Girls mural). We had lunch at a delightful vegetarian-heavy cafe, and everyone we met was so nice. Also interesting was the number of Palestinian flags and the open support shown everywhere for the Palestinians. There’s a long history of support between Ireland the the Palestinians, which you can read more about here.
Comments