I did not rush to start my day on Tuesday morning. I slept until I woke. My body is still trying to figure out this time change thing and I once again found it difficult to fall asleep last night.
It had rained on and off over the night and the path was wet but the sky had some blue in it which held promise of breaking into a beautiful day.
The first order of business was a morning run. I decided to run along the path that is by the River Eske. First stop was hydration as I did not realize the water in the hotel room was not for drinking I had had no water since the evening before! Well watered, I headed out of town over the bridge to the walking path. There were workers there who were inexplicably leaf blowing this natural path?!? The path was lovely and the views over the river and back to the town were beautiful. The path led me out of Donegal Town and toward the highway. I was searching for Ted's Bike Hire, which I did not find, although I did see a couple of signs for it so I knew it existed.
I ran back to town in search of breakfast which turned out to be muesli, dried fruit, and coffee at The Blueberry Cafe, a fair trade establishment in the centre of town. I asked the waitress about Ted's Bike Hire and she gave me some directions that were distinctly different from those I received from the Tourist Information Centre. However, I followed her directions and ended up at a bike shop, not run by Ted, but by a man who said that although he does hire bikes he would not be in on Wednesday as he was going to go out and cut trees! I said that seemed like a good idea and was on my way.
When I returned to the hotel, I sorted out the discrepancies between Ted's and the random shop I visited by firing off an email to Ted. I don't think the gentleman in town actual has email and may not even know what email is. Ted is open Wednesday and the weather looks promising for a day on a bike so there are those plans.
My Tuesday afternoon consisted of a bout tour and a visit to a cafe. Heading to the pier, I knew that the boat tour was right up my ally as the entire population of boat travellers had grey hair. My kind of crowd. I think that I lowered the average age level of the people on the boat considerably.
The boat tour took us out and around the bay a bit. When I visited the pier on Monday evening, the tide was so low that the bottom of most of the main channel was visible. By Tuesday afternoon the tide had risen considerably and our boat could make the tour. There were a few seals in the harbour jumping and splashing around and appeared to be having a great time. There were also a lot of seagulls, cormorants, and a few herons.
I decided to take a seat on the upper deck for the journey. A local woman sat beside me and we chatted a bit. She was able to fill in some of the details about the areas that we were passing by as the guide over the systems was a little difficult to hear. There are a number of islands off of Donegal called the Green Islands. The boat traveled at a slow pace around the islands and turned around at a sand bar. There was the chance of seeing seals sunning on the sand bars but it was not sunny and therefore there were none. I did see a few seals splashing around the boat though. I also learned the proper name for the little silver fish that I had seen fishermen hauling in on Monday. They are called sprat.
I headed downstairs and inside for the return journey as our guide had now started playing the keyboard and singing. So, obviously, I needed to be a part of the sing along. The crowd downstairs was happily singing along and I gladly joined in. Our guide sang a variety of tradition and more modern songs. At one point, a gentleman of 85 years, who was obviously known to the guide, came and took the mic and sang a couple of songs. He was eager to dance with anyone who would accept his offer and a few did. They danced up and down the aisles. After the boat tour, I headed to a cafe for my afternoon coffee and enjoyed a cherry scone. My mastercard was rejected at this cafe which gave me a wee bit of a panic, however was accepted at the hotel when I purchased my tickets for dinner and a show that evening so panic over.
I spent some time resting up at the hotel before dinner. Dinner was in the hotel and it was Irish stew and a side order of potatoes. Dessert was apple crumble. All was delicious. The show took place in the same room as the dinner and was an exceptional evening of entertainment. First off, I met and chatted with a group of three brothers (and one uncle), all of an older age, who were visiting from Derry and Belfast. One of the gentlemen was actually from Hamilton! He returns home to Ireland every year to visit family and the brothers head out to visit somewhere new for some fun. With in minutes, they had invited me to hitch a ride back to Derry, my next stop, with them to Derry, which I politely declined. A man named Dermot kept telling me jokes - more like one liners - and I am pretty sure they were funny but his accent was rather think and a bit tricky to understand.
The evening's entertainment began with two young boys playing the fiddle and the accordion. A third, younger boy joined them, playing the fiddle and playing up to the audience. These three brothers were the sons of the leader of the musical group. This gentleman was extremely talented and, as a band member stated, can play any instrument he puts in his hand. These included bagpipes, Irish pipes, fiddle, drum, penny whistle, and singing. Included in the entertainment was Irish dancers including a 13 year old boy who was a local, national, and international winner for Irish dance. He was excellent, as were all of the dancers. One of the best parts of the evening was when the drummer would tap out a rhythm and the dancer would mimic the pattern with his dance steps.
With a farewell to my new Irish friends, it was a short trip home and to bed.
I slept as needed and woke up about 9am. Wednesday I planned a day of biking. So, off to the cafe for scrambled eggs and brown bread for a bit of power food. I walked to Ted's Bike Shop which is about 2km out of Donegal Town. I rented a bike for a half day with the goal of biking to and around Lough Eske. Ted suggested that I head back to Donegal Town and take a left after the round about for the easiest route to Lough Eske. I followed out of town along a very bumpy country route. The scenery was beautiful and I could have stopped every 5 seconds in order to take a picture. Somehow, the pictures never do a place justice though.
The day was sunny and bright but within about 10 minutes of my journey, it began to rain a wee bit. Fortunately for me, I was just entering a tree covered section on the country road. I was fully protected from the rain and the sun was actually still shining. The conditions were ripe for a rainbow, so I started to look around and low and behold, a beautiful bow arced across the sky! This was definitely a time to stop and capture pictures.
My journey continued along beautiful country roads. Some of the roads bordered Lough Eske, some were paths for hiking and biking. In the distance, the Blue Stack Mountains were visible and lent a backdrop for the beauty of the Irish scenery I was treated to all day. On my way back in to Donegal Town, I returned to the hiking trail that I had run along on Monday. I stopped and sat on the wall and watched the sun on the water, the boats heading in and out of the harbour, and the seals' heads bobbing along the surface of the water.
By the time I returned to Ted's Bike Shop, I had covered about 27km on the bike and was totally exhausted and looking forward to a shower and some food. First, I grabbed a coffee and walked back to the hotel. Sitting down was a luxurious feeling.
Time for me to head out and find some dinner, figure out my check out time, and my bus times for Thursday.
Thursday morning I visited Donegal Castle. The castle was home to the O'Donnell clan. The original castle and a later manner house was open for visiting. As castles go it was fairly small but still interesting. The ceiling was reconstructed using wood and dowel as was the floor to show how the castle would have been constructed originally. There was a beautiful fireplace mantle in The Great Hall and the garderoom reminded me of Tywin Lannister's fate.
Once again I walked down by the river on the Bank Walk and around to the harbour, watching the water, seagulls, and seals. Check out time was noon.
I hopped on the bus to Derry at 12:50, off for another adventure.
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