Friday:
Kari and I leave our apartments at 6 am, taxi waiting, and go to Heuston Train Station in Dublin, which is on the west side of the city centre. We get there with time to spare, get on our train, and off we go to Killarney, a city in County Kerry. After two hours, we switch trains, and once we get off the train in Killarney, a nice man is holding a sign that has our names (misspelt, but still good intentions.) He drives us to the tour bus, where we pay and get one quickly. So, off we go. Where to? Glad you asked.
County Kerry is famous for two things: Dingle Peninsula (we'll get to that) and the Ring of Kerry. The latter is a circular journey which touches on all the "goodies" of the area. Our tour guide was quite the eccentric old man, who talked very openly about his marriage, his wife, and made quite crude jokes. Of course we laughed, but it's that kind of laugh you do with crazy people to keep them calm. He meant well, and added some great character to the tour. He sang us two songs (traditional Irish songs about the cities we were in at the time), and I'll admit, he had a great voice.
It's hard to explain the tour, which was roughly just under 5.5 hours. Here's what their website says (and I agree):
The tour leaves Killarney for Killorglin via the banks of the river Laune. Killorglin is famous for its ceremonious Puck Fair. Caragh Lake is on our left and then we get our first view of the Atlantic at Rossbeigh. The route then takes us to Cahirciveen where we see Valentia Island on the right. Waterville is next, then along the coast via Coomakista Pass and Derrynane, the home of Daniel O'Connell "The Liberator". From Sneem it's up the mountain to Moll's Gap and then down to Ladies View and home by the Lakes of Killarney. To describe this Tour in Detail is an impossible task as this is an experience you must "see & feel". The tour will stop at many point of interest and ample time is allowed for Lunch. (Corcoran's Tours)Here's a map of the Ring:
For more detail on the specifics of the Ring, here is a good link.
I'll get into the specifics of the tour when I post the pictures (easier that way), but have to explain the baby lamb, because that is the highlight of my European stay so far. (For those unaware, I'm a huge fan of livestock, and not as food.)
We pull off into this gorgeous senic point, and we're snapping away pictures. This is after the lakes of Kerry, so we're high up looking down at lakes, and above us are mountainous hills. Basically, it was unbelievably gorgeous. If you look well enough, you can find a historic ruin every mile anywhere in Ireland, so we got a good view of a stone circle.
Anyway, since it's a tourist stop, these two men were ploped down on the pavement. One was playing an accordion, and the other had animals: two lambs, a baby lamb, and a BUCKET of kittens. I went to just go see them, but then the guy ker-plunked the baby lamb in this girl's arms, and my heart melted. I wanted to hold it! And I did. I cannot wait to retire and have a farm with sheep. It was very light weight, totally easy going. It was very affectionate, actually. You might not think of sheep as cuddly, but it was happy being held. It leaned into my arms, curled its body so it was easy to hold, and nuzzled its face all over me. It sucked on my hair and buried its face in it, and when I held out my hand, it sucked on my fingers. Precious. It tried eating my fingers, but had no teeth, so just gummed. Precious. I cannot even describe it.
After the tour, we get dropped off near the bus station, which after scoping out we go to grab food. We ate at a pub, which did not seem to care about our business, especially once a slew of old men locals came in. Anyway, we rushed out of there and off to the bus station, where we headed for Dingle. Now, I'll explain something. There's "Dingle Peninsula", and then there's "Dingle". Yes, Dingle is in Dingle Peninsula, but they are not synonymous. Suffice to say, our hostel was not very well located, as it was in Annascual, outside of Dingle. Anyway, the bus driver drops us off a bit from the hostel, and we trek it to the front door, where we meet, Brian. It has to be said that Brian is wonderful. Epitome of an Irsh "lad". Very easy going, not the most organized, but the friendliest ever. He runs the hostel himself, and he is very lax about it all. It was dirty cheap, and actually nicer than our last hostel, so thumbs up.
Also, our roommate (4 to a room) were these two travelers: Gillian and Alex. They had a car, and quite enthusiastically and happily offered to drive us to Ventry (our destination in the morning.) We chatted with them, and it was lots of great conversation. The most important part from the convo (note: Gillian is a local born and raised Dubliner/Ireland native): Dingle and surrounding areas are following Donegal's lead, and making their primary language Gaelic. What does this mean? Instead of signs reading: Dingle, An Dingean, they'll read An Dingean, Dingle. So, the English version is the paranthetical, and the Gaelic is brought to the forefront. Apparently there is some controversy over this, but Gillian was thrilled.
Well, we cannot find 'Long's Horse Riding & Pony Trek', which was our goal in Ventry. Gillian drops us off in Ventry, and we call John Long. We're two miles away, he says. So we walk. Mind you, the weather has been lovely the entire time. But, lots of walking plus sun equals sweat. Kari did a lovely pee-on-the-side-of-the-road, which I'm sure she'd love me mentioning. The walk was long, very long. We come to a little section of eating establishments, and enquire how much further to Long's. We keep hoofing. We see the sign! We go up a road... and up a road... and we're still following the signs... and still walking... and then we stop. By this point we've been walking for about 2 hours straight, with our big backpacks, in the sun. And, we realize that time is an issue, we're a bit not-in-the-mood as the magic has turned to frustration, and we also need to keep in mind that the further we walk is the further we have to walk back... plus the distance Gillian drove. You've got to be kidding.
So, we turn around and walk. (This is how the blisters were earned.) We try hitch-hiking to no avail, at which point Kari throws down and demands we call a taxi. So we do. They were very nice, and picked us up, and dropped us off in the city centre of Dingle-- for only 10 euro. Cheap. So, we get lunch, and find this lovely place on the marina. I had the best food ever: Seared tuna burger with tomatoe and black olive chutney. Sound amazing? You can't even imagine. beyond delicious. So, once we were fed, drank lots of water, and happy, we explored Dingle. And then we still had time (read: Dingle is not very big.) So, we located our bus stop, and then went off for some tea. We went to Bee's Teas, which was adorable, had LOTS of tea for 2 euro each, and then went off for the bus. So, then we went back to Killarney. We had an hour, so she went her way and I went mine and explored. I scoped out the mall and "amusements" around the area, like a carousel and bunge jumping. We get on the bus, and then get to Tralee, and get the train to Mallow, then from Mallow to Dublin Heuston, then take the Luas (like a tram, or monorail on the ground) to Abbey Street, and then walked to O'Connell, and went home.
And here I am. Exhausted. Tomorrow is Glendalough and Kilkenny. And then I'll post pictures of the last two weekends... so much work.
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