Postcards From Donegal - Ramelton & Rathmullen

For my first trip post transplant my mama and I went to Donegal in Ireland. It was recently voted #1 on National Geographic's 'Cool List', which I can vouch for because it's where my grandparents live and they are the coolest. The last time I went was three years ago and that was before transplant so it was great to see some family I'd not seen for ages! We visited most of the popular places, I find Donegal to be quite touristy on the whole as the scenery is beautiful, it has great beaches and the locals are really friendly so it's a popular destination for both visitors from abroad and the Irish themselves. But these places are so familiar to me so I thought I'd try and make it a little more personal. So I want to do a few posts on Donegal rather than one big post and also this way I can share more photos because I took a lot. First up, let's go to Ramelton and Rathmullan! We visited these places on the first day and were super lucky with the weather as it was so sunny and didn't rain (this is a big deal haha!)

Ramelton

Ramelton is a small place but it has some really pretty houses plus it is the home of the original factory that produced Football Special, which is only my favourite drink in the world. Edward McDaid was on the board of the successful junior football club Swilly Rovers FC and wanted to celebrate their wins by filling the trophies with a drink, so he created 'Football Special' - a beverage that looks like beer but is non-alcoholic so it's suitable for the kids! I'm thankful to the man for making it as I love it, some people say it's pretty similar to Tizer but I think it's even better and I always stock up when I'm over. It's almost exclusive to Donegal but it's also available in a few other places in Ireland and also Glasgow I believe. But anyway we always have a lil drive through the town as it's a rather charming mix of rundown buildings and pretty pastel houses and it's now tradition for some reason to stop by the river for a few moments. I think one day I'd really like to go for a walk around the town, it's tiny and quite hilly but very cute. 

Rathmullan

Rathmullan is another small town (for the history geeks out there it's where the Flight of the Earls took place back in 1607) but being by the famous Wild Atlantic Way it's quite a popular holiday destination and there's a lots of little holiday cottages as well as the beautiful Rathmullan House to stay at, which is also a gorgeous wedding venue and has pet friendly accomodation if you wish to take your pooch on your travels. I don't think I'd ever actually been before but we went for a little nosy as family had recently got married there. I'm glad we did, as we made friends with some real beauties and also stopped off to eat at a cute lil place called Belle's Kitchen where I had the best ice cream sundae ever. What's nice about Donegal is there are so many local businesses you can support rather than the usual chains that you'd usually visit! Although I'll warn you it's not the easiest eating out there as a veggie and I'd imagine it's be hard to do so as a vegan, although I guess you could ask for adjustments to your meals no bother as everywhere is so friendly and accommodating.

I hope you enjoyed that little tour of Ramelton and Rathmullan! I should confirm I was actually with people, I just don't think they'd want their photos on here! I'll be posting more of my trip soon :)