Donegal Waterbus Tour

This is the eastern sky at 3:30 am, a lovely pink, but boy does it make it hard to sleep!

We have had so many milestones happen during our trip. Here’s another one…Nora’s first lost tooth! She was beyond excited! The Irish tooth fairy leaves 2 euro coins 🙂

The weather forecast looked a little sunnier and warmer than it has been, so we booked a ride on the Donegal Waterbus. After our Seafari adventure, we learned our lesson to avoid boats on cold and cloudy days.

The sun was out for the beginning of the ride and it felt wonderful.

The boat took us around part of Donegal Bay for a closer view of the 7 islands in the bay, where farmers keep cows and sheep. No one lives on the islands, but you can walk across the sand to reach them at low tide.

Do you think cows like being by the ocean as much as people do? Maybe that’s why the milk and butter here taste better.

Up on the hill is the village of Mountcharles, which is about 10 miles west of Donegal town. The house we are staying in is one of the ones about half way up the hill.

This is a view from the water of the Donegal Franciscan Abbey, also known as the Abbey of the Four Masters, who wrote the history books I mentioned a few days ago. The Abbey was built in 1474 (same year that Donegal castle was begun) but then the land and all the monk’s belongings were confiscated in 1607 by invaders. The abbey is only about a quarter mile from Donegal castle.

When the boat turned around and we were going into the wind, it got really cold, so some of us headed down to the lower deck to get warm. There was a man playing traditional Irish music to keep everyone entertained.

We had lunch here right after the boat ride. It is next to the castle and just up the hill from the boat dock.

We got some hot cocoa and coffee to warm us up, and some soup too. Irish soup is usually served with brown bread and it is always good!