Ireland Trip - Day 12 (July 24): Donegal

For some reason I woke up very early this morning. I peeked outside, where the sun was just starting to show itself, and saw the nearby hills wreathed in mist and shining in the sun. I grabbed my camera and dashed outside to get some pictures, one of which has turned out to be my favorite from the entire trip.

Donegal Morning

Once everyone else was up (including the kitchen), we went down for breakfast – eggs and toast for me; mom had pancakes again. Today we were headed to Glenveagh National Park, up in the central part of the county. We drove up, encountering more sheep, and parked at the visitor’s center. After riding the shuttle bus into the grounds, we did a quick walk through of the gardens (VERY quick, as they were spreading manure on the beds, and there were some very excited bees), and then decided to walk up to the viewpoint on the hillside behind the castle. The path is a bit steep at places, but definitely worth it! The view of the castle and the valley from the top is just stunning. Once down at the car park, we chose to walk the nature trail which runs along the lake and the adjoining meadows.

Glenveagh National Park

After our visit, we headed back towards Donegal town, and decided to make a detour back over to Ardara, where I wanted to pick up a sweater for my husband. Found a nice one at John Molloy, after which we went back to the guesthouse. We had decided to dine in their restaurant that night, and am very glad we did! For some reason the restaurant was very quiet that night – just one other couple who came and went while we were seated. The restaurant does only one seating a night – once you have a table, it’s yours for the evening. We started with a glass of wine in the lounge, seated in great, squashy leather chairs by the fireplace. After a short while we were led to a nice table right by the windows. I had decided on the four-course menu, while mom went “a la carte”. The very nice young lady who was serving us first brought us a little “chef’s choice” taster – it was a mushroom puree, served in little cordial glasses. I then had the vegetarian spring rolls, which was followed by a small glass of champagne sorbet. My main dish was – you guessed it – risotto, made with wild musrooms (I believe mom had the same). We then shared a sticky toffee pudding, and rolled ourselves back to our room. The food was absolutely delicious, and almost all of it is grown on the neighboring farm (the farmer, in fact, was also the chef). We both slept very well that night.