I woke up feeling the most lucky person in the world: I woke up in Donegal and I had a whole day ahead of me here. The only thing on our agenda was enjoying the environment, while climbing the Errigal mountain.
I’m pretty sure the word ‘paradise’ is Irish and was invented right here. What caught my attention first was how silent it is. If you hear anything, it’s the wind playing with the leaves of the trees, or a bird passing by. So peaceful. We drove past enormous meadows of green, with hills and mountains and rocks and plants. The shadow of some clouds stroke over the mountains, to make space for the Sun’s beams. On the hills you can see one or two houses. Some abandoned years and years ago. Some surrounded by sheep.
I tried driving on the opposite of the ‘right’ side of the road as well (if only for a mile or so), which I have to admit, was not all that strange. We parked the car on the foot of mount Errigal and climbed up. It’s a wonderful workout: you barely notice you’re using your muscles and it’s so much fun! The wind felt like a nice breeze, though it was too strong to go all the way up. But that didn’t matter. The view was indescribably pretty. My new mountain climbing shoes turned out the be really waterproof by the way, when I stepped into a waterfall.
When we came back down, I looked at the mountain again and I could hardly believe we were up there not that long ago. We drove past Glenveagh National Park, through Gweedore, on to the Bloody Foreland area, which was one of the places recommended to us. It was not hard to see why. There were a few houses looking over the ocean and I had to oppress the urge to knock on one of the doors and tell the locals how lucky they are. I mean, what if this is your life?
How different your life would be if you were born here. In one of the villages we passed, I saw a little building, which was obviously a school, for probably only one class. The kids wear uniforms, and start at 9.30 am (I asked)! I’m writing this while we’re driving back to our last night in the hotel in Donegal and I’m a bit sleepy. I don’t want to close my eyes though, I don’t want to miss one view. Every inch of this place is – I’m going to say it one more time – beautiful.
The waterfall surrounding Errigal. Its water is very tasty.
Errigal mountain, from the car.
One of the views from mount Errigal.
And the view from the other side.
Me, on top of (well almost) the mountain. (Picture by Edd Edmondson).
The ocean view at Bloody Foreland.
…. (Pictures by Hanny van Arkel.)
3 Comments
Lovely story, lovely pictures and good to know you can drive on the ‘right’ left side of the road too :p
Hanny, I was in Ireland once ten years ago, I thought that the landscape was so similar to northern California in so many ways (except Ireland is greener and California does not have any castles!) Enjoy yourself.
Thanks! To everyone who sent me nice messages when I was in Ireland. I couldn’t always answer back (quickly), but they all made me smile.