After the long driving day yesterday, we had a leisurely start to the day. Marilyn awoke to find that the bed rail on her side of the bed was broken. Despite this, she still had a great nights sleep. This shows how tired she must have been.
The plan for today is to visit a few of the local Donegal towns and find an Irish sweater for Marilyn. We set off for Ardara which is only 50 km away. You learn very quickly that distances in Ireland are deceiving. The GPS chose a route that took us over the moors. The road was basically a paved one lane goat path that twisted left, right, up and down for 20 km. Whenever we met a car or truck someone had to move to the edge and risk falling in the bog in order for the other to pass. Given that I was the newbie driver, I chose to halt rather than risk scaping sides. On the other hand the natives would slightly slow down and acknowledge my stopping with a raised finger and a nod.
We arrived in Ardara and found it was named best village in Ireland in 2012. There were many shops selling knitwear and Donegal tweed. The shop keepers were friendly and the selection of sweaters was amazing. We took a break for lunch at Nancy's Bar which was named best Irish pub in 2013. The food was great and the beer greatly appreciated. Marilyn found a framed, matted picture of Giant's Causeway for a souvenir at a shop next to the river.
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| Ardara's Main Street |
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| The small creek in Ardara |
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| Townhouses in Ardara |
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| Raising a glass at lunch at Nancy's Bar |
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| Check out the drink name Marilyn is pointing to. |
After lunch we travelled out to Maghera beach to see Maghera Falls. The twisty road passed an oyster farm where we saw the farmers turning the oyster beds at low tide. The water fall comes down the steep hillside and ends in a pool near the beach. Check out the pictures...
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| A view of the oyster beds |
Driving back into Adara we noticed 2 woollen shops we missed and finally Marilyn had success finding a sweater at Triona Design. This shop had the biggest selection with very helpful sales staff. The owner gave us a tour of the space where the four weavers make the donegal tweed. She explained how the raw weaved cloth becomes the soft tight weave we know.
We drove back via Dungloe to avoid the goat track we used in the morning. After picking up some dinner at the market, we arrived back at the cottage before dark. Dinner in and watching the tellie are the plans for the rest of the day. Tomorrow we plan to visit Giant's Causeway so rest is needed.
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