Bill needed new hiking boots. We had planned to go to Letterkenny today to acquire them, although neither of us was particularly looking forward to this task. When we got up this morning we REALLY did not feel like going to Letterkenny at all, so Bill decided he would wait. Then for some reason I wondered whether the town 15km or so from here, Carndonagh, has a shop where he might be able to find good hiking boots. We put a lot of miles on our shoes, so it is important that we have footwear that is comfortable and durable. Once again this morning, google was my friend as it took me a few minutes to discover that there was a shoe and sports store right on The Diamond, in the town centre a few steps from where the bus stops. We had been planning to go to Carn, as it is called here, and wander around someday instead of just riding through on the bus. I suggested to Bill that we do that today and we could call in at the shoe shop first thing. He liked the idea so off we went, keeping our fingers crossed that he could find a pair of boots that were comfortable, fit well, and made well. We were in luck! He got a nice pair with a minimum of fuss. He left the box with the nice woman at the store, I stuck the boots in my backpack, and off we wandered.
I saw these for sale in a couple of places in town. What a great use for old tires!
We walked down to the old Carndonagh Cross site. Hard to see the carvings now, but the cross has a carving of St Patrick and the pillar stones on either side have David the Warrior on one and David the Harpist on the other. There is more info
here and some night photos in which the carvings show up better.
Pretty flowers there too.
I do not know what these are, but I love them with the purple on the outside and white inside!
We came across a path alongside the river--there were steps leading down to it from the road. Sadly, it is a spot that is not kept up well and clearly used as a party spot. There was litter all around and the path was hard to walk on with steps, crumbling pavement and stuff. It really made me appreciate our shore path here! In spite of the state of disrepair and disrespect shown to the spot, the river itself seemed like a work of art with the sun shining down the way it was.
We wandered down a street and came across some new art--or at least significantly newer than the carvings on the cross and stones!
Across the street, the Church of the Sacred Heart sits up on a hill.
This is the view from partway up the hill.
As we were heading back to the bus stop, we passed this rather bright housing duo and Bill quipped, "French's mustard vs Pepto-Bismol."
They certainly do stand out!
We enjoyed our afternoon in Carn and will go back one day to wander around some more. If we take the noon bus it takes half an hour to get there because we take a more scenic route through a couple of small towns. On the way home we go straight from Carn to Moville and it takes 15 or 20 minutes. Whether we are going or coming, it is nice to sit and watch as we ride through the beautiful scenery.
Hope you have some beautiful scenery in your neck of the woods today!
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