slowly she turned

I left Glencombcille on the bus early in the morning, expecting to have breakfast in Killybegs while I waited for my connection, but I passed a smaller private bus where I heard the driver say Ardara, so I hopped on and got there in 10 minutes or so.

When I got there, I gave Geraldine, the owner of Diamond House, a call, and she immediately came over and let me into my room and showed me the common area and kitchen, and offered me a bottle of wine. The room was really comfortable and I had a nice rest before heading out for lunch.

Note: “Diamond” in this area refers to a central plaza. Kind of how a “high” street refers to the main commercial street in the rest of the UK, most of the businesses and restaurants radiate around the diamond.

Anyway, I decided to try the most famous pub there, Nancy’s Bar, for lunch: a salmon and seafood chowder. How good was it? I went there again that night and the next night for dinner!

One of the reasons I chose to come to Ardara was its weaving heritage. Close to Nancy’s Bar was Eddie Doherty’s shop, a renowned weaver getting up in years. He had a large fly shuttle loom in the back room where he demonstrated weaving the woolen twill fabric he sells. I wish I had taken a video, but I was too enthralled with talking to him. I think he was impressed that I knew enough about weaving that my questions were different from what he was used to. He lit up as we talked about the mechanics of his loom. Super nice guy, and he had cones of leftover wool for sale at incredibly low prices. I knew I needed to be frugal about space in my luggage, but I bought two cones and wound them into balls that would take up less room that night. Then the next day I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t buy the rest so I went back and got the rest.

Then I had the idea of doing a quick weaving using the book I had bought for a frame loom, but I needed a needle. I found a little boutique that had a tiny sewing/knitting corner and bought scissors and a pack of needles. They came in handy later but I never got around to weaving. The owner of the boutique actually looked in her own sewing kit to see if she had a large darning needle to give me. As I’ve said, the people here go out of  their way to help.

So, there were many exciting things I could have done around Ardara. It’s known as a central spot where you can take side trips to the nearby mountains, beaches, caves, waterfalls, and more. I did not. I rested, and listened to music in the pub across the street, and ate very, very well. I regret not walking down to the beach. Hindsight is 50/50 now while I write this in August, but I know I needed the rest then. It gives me a reason to go back.

I returned that night to Nancy’s Bar for fresh raw oysters. I sat at one of the bars next to Mr. McHugh, an older gentleman in a wheelchair who I came to understand had several relatives on the staff…and was most likely the owner or former owner. Nancy’s Bar has been owned by the same family for seven generations! The oysters were amazing, in part because they were served with sauces I had never heard of and secondly because they had arrived from about “six miles down the road” that afternoon.  There was a couple from New Jersey on the other side of Mr. McHugh and we all laughed and talked and asked him questions. I tried a couple of local brews and told him the story of the Dingle bartender who bullshitted me about Budweiser being made by Guinness here. He shocked me by telling me that the bartender was correct. Guess I won’t tell that tale any more!

It was getting time for the music singalong to begin at the Corner House, so I headed over there and snagged a bar stool. The pub began to fill as the sun began to set. It wasn’t trad music, but they covered John Denver and the Eagles and such so I enjoyed singing along. I stayed sober by drinking water between drinks and was a good girl, went home early.

The next day I ate a light lunch at the Courthouse Restaurant, then I wound more yarn in the park, then once the Corner House opened, I moved to the back covered beer garden to get out of the rain.

An excellent gallery I visited was Donegal Designer Makers – a beautiful variety of fine craft and art. I also stopped by the little pharmacy to get some meds for nausea, anticipating my needs for the boat tour to the Slieve League Cliffs the next day. (Turns out that my acupressure wristbands worked well for motion sickness and I didn’t need the medicine: highly recommend!)

That’s right, I went back to Nancy’s for dinner. Prawns with a garlic cream sauce over linguini. I was seated at an old sewing machine table next to a few antique books. Perfect. Said hello and goodbye to Mr. McHugh and turned in for an early night.