Gap of Dunloe, up to Doolin & over to the Aran Islands

The Killarney National Park was absolutely beautiful. Minutes after we posted our last entry, we headed over for a hike around the park. We saw amazing views of the Lakes & mountains & walked down to the Lower Lake to sit by the water. We were enjoying a snack while sitting on a log by the edge of the lake when a dark cloud started moving towards us & bringing some light rain with it. We bundled up into our rain jackets & hunkered down waiting for the rain to pass, but soon realized it wasn't going to stop as we got pellted by larger & larger rain drops. We had about a mile & a half walk into town with not much cover in between. By the time we made our way into a local pub, we had puddles in our shoes & my underwear was soaked. It continued to rain on & off for the next couple of days, but we didn't let that stop our exploring.

Luckily it wasn't raining for the highlight of our Killarney stay. We took an hour & a half boat ride from Ross Castle in the National Park up the Lower Lake through to the Upper Lake. It was amazingly beautiful. So much green! We then ate lunch at a cottage on the Lake before riding our hired (rented) bikes through the Gap of Dunloe back down to Killarney. The first part of the ride was lots of uphill, but the second half was an easy coast down the hills. We saw waterfalls, goats, cows, rivers, lakes, donkeys & flowers. Highly recommended for anyone who is visiting Ireland!

The next day we headed up to Doolin by bus & got to hear some live Irish music at a local pub. We stayed at a cute little farmhouse that was about a 30 minute walk into town. We have been getting a LOT of walking in the past few days, but it seems to be offset by all the soft serve ice cream cones we've been eating... YUM! :P OH, we finally tried some Guiness & we both agree that we think it actually tastes different than in the States. It's actually quite good (we both didn't care for it at all before we came here).

The next morning we took a ferry over to the Aran Islands (the big island, Inishmor). We hired bikes again & rode around the island to the major points of interest. It was a relaxing day of slow riding, short walks, & basking in the first real day of actual sun & blue skies. We got so burned! ;) Many locals still speak Gaelic there, so we weren't able to eavesdrop on the conversations around us... You would never believe how many stone walls this little island has! Must have been so much work to dig it all up & build the walls & houses. If you ever do visit, check out the Mainistir Hostel, they actually served up some vegetables that weren't boiled or fried with dinner, which can be very hard to find here (most of the time vegetables are served over boiled to the point where they are mushy).

We are now in Galway & will take some time to relax & explore a bigger city before heading to Connemara. Hope you are all doing well!

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