Hello my lovelies, I hope you're all doing well? As you know from my last post, I am months behind in retelling my adventures here in Ireland, but I do hope to catch up over the next few weeks. Going through all the old photos from that period has been a lot of fun, and there were some very busy months, which is why I got so far behind! This week at the end of March, for example, Gareth and I went away for a few days to explore County Mayo. Well, each day was such an adventure and I took so many photos that I couldn't narrow the whole trip down to one post, so I've decided to break it down into each individual day. Day One was spectacular, and I took 131 photos and videos, so I had a difficult time narrowing it down, but hopefully you enjoy the top few I chose to share.
Selfie with Donegal Bay behind. (Gareth's inadvertent smoulder caused by lack of sunglasses and squinting, haha!)
We had planned a trip down to the Mullet Peninsula in County Mayo, to explore more of Ireland and the Wild Atlantic Way, and of course we also planned different stops on the journeys there and back, to make the most of the time we had. We were so lucky with the weather on Day One, as it meant that the whole road trip we got to see so many beautiful views. Our first stop was the Fairy Bridges in Bundoran, still in County Donegal, located next to Tullan Strand in Donegal Bay. Bundoran first became a tourist attraction back in the 1800's due to these natural arches, and people still flock to see them, as well as the Wishing Chair nearby. You can find out more about this beautiful natural spot HERE.
Fairy Bridge at Bundoran, Donegal.
We had fun exploring the natural arches, making wishes in the Wishing Chair, and enjoyed a lovely stroll along the Roguey Cliff Walk. Sadly we did not have time to do the whole thing, but another day we plan to go back to Bundoran and discover what else that beautiful spot has to offer.
We drove on south and passed the stunning Benbulbin, it's distinctive shape carved by glaciers, and part of the Dartry Mountains. Definitely need to go back there one day too, as I'd absolutely love to climb it and see what the views are like from the top!
Benbulbin. I'm proud of this photo, since I took it from the passenger window of a moving car!
We drove on south and stopped at Shells Cafe in Strandhill, County Sligo, for a wonderful lunch. They also have a fabulous shop attached to the cafe, with local foods, art, jewelry, etc. Well worth a visit if you're in the area! You can find out more about them HERE. From the car park near the beach we could see Knocknarea hill, our next stop. It looked fairly daunting from sea level, but luckily the trail starts from a car park quite far up, so I wasn't in TOO much pain with my knees!
Knocknarea Hill, Sligo.
I was so happy we decided to climb Knocknarea, since the weather was so perfect that day, we were able to see for miles from the top, and who knows if conditions would be so perfect another time? The hill is famous for being the site of neolithic tombs, including a huge cairn at the summit, known as Queen Maeve's Grave. Legend has it that Queen Maeve was buried standing up, facing inland, with her weapons in her hands, so she will always be ready to fight her enemies and defend her people.
View looking NW from the top of Knocknarea. If you look closely you can see a plane leaving Sligo Airport!
Queen Maeve's Cairn.
View from the top of Knocknarea, looking south over Culleenamore and the estuary.
View from the top of Knocknarea, looking south over Culleenamore and the estuary.
After climbing the hill, exploring the summit, and hiking back down, it was getting quite late, so we pushed on towards our destination, heading west. We drove through Belmullet, and on to the Mullet Peninsula that evening, and found our way to the beautiful little house we were staying in, near Blacksod. From our accommodation, we could look south towards Achill Island, which we got to explore another day!
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