Day 359, 6 June '15, Fanad Head, Doe Castle, Glenveagh Castle & National Park, Slieve League, Donegal, Bundoran Chinese (best in Ireland) and stunning Tullaghan for the night.
Another absolutely massive day on the road. We left Letterkenny at about 10 am (had been 9 am... but very easy to get chatting on the way out the door). Today's first destination along the Wild Atlantic Way was Fanad Head - another thumping great set of cliffs with a lighthouse clinging on for dear life. We were almost getting knocked over by the winds when a local out airing his dog engaged us in conversation. Quite hilarious to be screeching where you're from at the top of your voice. Funnily enough he knew someone who'd been to Australia. We get that a lot. We managed to get back in the car before being flung into the Atlantic and as we passed Doe Castle we started to peer at our Heritage Map and saw we weren't too far from Glenveagh Castle and National Park. Why not eh... sooner we buy our Heritage Cards and start using them, the better. I may have mentioned Ireland's roads before but they essentially break down to M (Motorway) N (National), R (Rural) and L (Lane). Now the definitions are mine - but, very, very accurate. We figured out the quickest way to the park was actually an L road that cut right through it. One of the brilliant drives of the trip thus far - Looked just like the Scottish highlands - gloriously grey, wild and woolly. Once at the visitor centre we spent our €50 on the Heritage Cards and ran to catch the shuttle bus for the 4 km lake side drive to the castle itself. The castle tour and bus would have cost €16 - only another €34 and the cards have paid for themselves. We took a turn around the castle gardens and then joined the guided tour. Wow. Nothing like a couple of seriously wealthy American owners over the years to bring a castle up to snuff. We even saw the room where Greta Garbo slept - lots of famous folks have been entertained here over the years. One of the things that really illustrated the wealth in the house in the 1930s was the china (small c china). There were 21 dinner services with different patterns - so someone staying a week would eat breakfast, lunch and dinner off a different pattern every day. And that's not getting into the stunning Murano glass chandelier in one of the bathrooms - 400 separate pieces that have to be taken apart and reconstructed for every clean. We were very lucky all round - got on the tour (would have been a wait of 2 hours if we'd missed that one), wild and windy day (apparently the midges eat people alive and spit out the bones in this glorious spot otherwise) and, due to clever use of L road, got in and out in the most efficient way possible. Back out to the coast and we joined the Wild Atlantic Way again and headed for one of Irelands highest sea cliffs - Slieve League. Time was moving on and we saw some great scenery heading up through the Glangesh Pass. Slieve League was incredible. We'd read all the guff about these impressive cliffs - and it was all true. Once more we were almost knocked over by the wind - check out today's album for the photo of us with our hair standing on end. We finally made it to Donegal but missed the castle - ah well... to be expected at 6 pm in the evening. We had investigated in advance and had good advice about the best Chinese takeaway on the coast - Kim Thanh in Bundoran. It. Was. So. Good. The Atlantic Seafront B&B was also superb - right on the coast and we watched the sun sink into the Atlantic right before we sunk into the best bed of the trip. Tomorrow? Off to the Connemara. Nine hours drive today - almost definitely more tomorrow... Loving it.