Blogs from Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry, Ireland, Europe

The Dingle Peninsula is spectacular. Other than being a precarious drive on a two way road that's about as wide as a sidewalk, the views and scenery along the route are breathtaking. Luckily, it was a pretty rare relatively clear day which rendered better than expected vistas.... read more

“Top of the mornin’ to you” our hostess said as she breezed through the breakfast room and I knew without a doubt we were in Ireland. Actually we had heard no one really says “Top of the mornin’” anymore so we were grinning at each other to actually hear it said in a real Irish brogue. John and I arrived in Ireland on May 7 and spent the next week exploring the sights of Dublin and generally taking it easy (I will write about Dublin in a later blog). After the week, our friends Vicky and Gary arrived and the four of us set out to explore the country. We left Dublin immediately because Queen Elizabeth II was due to visit and they were closing streets and sights in preparation. We headed south out of Dublin ... read more

Friday, October 15: Checked out of the Rockcrest B&B this morning and drove into Kenmare for a stroll around the village centre on another beautiful sunny day. Ran into Patrick, whom we met in Kinsale two nights ago, as he was doing some shopping. Found an ATM for yet more cash and we were ready to hit the Ring of Kerry. Kenmare is the southeastern kickoff point for the Ring. We drove past the Staigue Fort, a glacier lake left 10,000 years ago, and Carroll Cove (a beautiful beach with the warmest water in Ireland). We stopped at The Blind Piper pub in Caherdaniel for a lunch of grilled ham and cheese sandwich. The bartender told us that years ago many disabled people became musicians as a way to support themselves. The real Blind Piper passed ... read more

Sliante! Sadness is sweeping over us. Our love affair with Ireland is coming to an end. We have two more days in this stunning land. Our tour has been awesome. The people have been really great. They have been so great that we have become zombies because of the lack of sleep. We have been around the entire coast line. The scenery can not be described, truly amazing. We had some amazing days at the Blarney Castle and Kinsale. Our livers can not handle the Irish custom of drinking. Apparently, they don't discriminate on what day to drink... and as we were told, Sunday is a part of the week-end. The people are amazingly friendly, and outstandingly witty. Our tour guide, Joseph, is hilarious. Ohhh, and according to one American... He had Shannon figured out to ... read more

While working at the O'Connors we thought we'd use our weekend to do a little bit of sightseeing while we were in the area. We had heard that Dingle, a seaside town on the Western most tip of Ireland was a good spot to visit, so off we went! World Cup fever could be found everywhere and Ireland (while sorely disappointed about losing the qualifying match against France) was in full swing. We were all keen to see Germany vs. Argentina and headed into a local pub to catch the second half as soon as we arrived. We settled into a cosy spot and it soon became apparent that there were some fervent Germany supporters, so we cheered alongside them, particularly when Germany ended up winning 4 goals to none. As Dingle is a pretty popular ... read more

Hi - the paddywagon tour has been fantastic. I am obviously the geriatric on the tour, all young working aussies living in london mostly. Has been lots of fun. I found hostel life a bit challenging at first. Sharing a room with 6 strangers, hot water in short demand, sleeping in & staying out late, but I have gotten used to it. We have travelled the entire coastline of ireland & stopping at in both north & south ireland, lots of walking, lots of baileys & guiness. Meeting lots of people & generally having a good time. Tonight is our last night on tour & tomorrow I am back in dublin for the night & then I fly to scotland, where I have a couple of days by myself looking around & then off on another ... read more