slowly she turned

On Sunday morning, I had a light breakfast at the Corby Pantry and Tearoom, where I was pleased to see some nice art on the wall. I gathered my luggage and waited at the bus stop for my Uber, which had been confirmed the night before. It canceled at the pick-up time. So the answer to “does Uber works in rural Donegal” is “don’t count on it.” It may work other spots – who knows. We had the same issue in Cornwall when my sister, friend, and I went there in 2024. It wasn’t a big deal since a bus was coming along soon anyway. However, Geraldine, the owner of Diamond House, offered to drive me to Killybegs, about 10-15 minutes away. She would not take any money. She also offered to pick me up in Carrick the following day and take me to Donegal Town. What a kind woman she was!

When I got to Killybegs, I had time to eat lunch at the Marina Cafe, which was excellent. A goat cheese and beetroot salad and sticky toffee pudding for dessert. Mmmmm.

Then I headed to the marina and got on a sightseeing boat tour to see the Slieve League Cliffs, some of the highest sea cliffs in Europe. I am very interested in geology so I was intrigued with the rock formations and swirls in the cliff faces.

^Muckross Island

That tower on the cliff is from the Napoleonic Wars era. There are several on the coast.

Look at the swoops and wiggles in that igneous rock!

I think these were the highest cliffs behind me.

There were dolphins playing around the boat a couple of times and unfortunately my video was not on – user error.

It was very, very cold on the boat. I was glad that I brought my puffy jacket and I borrowed the cap that I bought for my niece! The children around me had shorts and jackets on and didn’t seem too bothered. Tough kids.

When I got back on shore, I found out that the trad music session in Carrick that I had planned to sit in on with my new friend Margaret had been canceled because of the World Cup final. Margaret offered to pick me up in Carrick and take me to another one in Teelin, not far away. However, our times didn’t work out. I couldn’t get to Carrick by the time she needed to pick me up. So I did a quick pivot, booked a room in Ardara for that night, and took the bus back to Ardara so that Geraldine wouldn’t have to drive to Carrick to pick me up in the morning.

To be honest, I wasn’t really thrilled about the hostel I had booked in Carrick anyway. It may have been just fine, but it was cheap and I didn’t mind losing the money for that night. I was sad to miss the session though.

Once I got back to Ardara, the noise on the street was crazy! It appeared to be a bunch of college age young adults who were excited about the World Cup. They eventually disappeared and I went to the pub on the bottom floor of the Nesbitt Arms Hotel. They sat me down in front of a huge TV screen, where I watched about half of the World Cup while eating mussels and garlic bread.

I think that the next time I visit western Ireland I will rent a car.