Blogs from County Kerry, Ireland, Europe - page 27

I was told that the the best way to see Ireland was to arrive, hire a car and just head on down the road. They were right. Wanting to avoid the bigger cities we flew into Shannon and have took in most of the west coast heading down into County Kerry and Cork. While the driving can be an experience in itself it didn't take long to adjust to driving on the other side. The scenery really is as spectacular as the pictures but the real highlights were the little towns along the way. Dingle and Kinsale in Co. Cork were magic little coastal towns but easily the highlight of the trip was Kemare in County Kerry. We came across it after completing the spectacular Ring of Kerry. Right away the brightly coloured builidings tell you ... read more

A.A. is a Very Bad Acronym Think of all the A.A. acronyms. They’re all awful. 1. Alcoholic’s Anonymous 2. Adult Acne 3. All American 4. AA the Bra Size I’m sure there’s more, but I started eating beef jerkey and drinking beer and I’m no longer in a negative frame of mind. There are many dangers that exist in the world. The first two that come to mind are hen and stag parties which are the Irish versions of Bachelor and Bachelorette parties. Both are so ridiculous here that they are banned from certain pubs here because they annoy the shit out of local pub patrons. Now if I was single and partying with Louie, these hen parties would be my hunting ground. Since I’m non legally married to Tara the bars that disallow them are ... read more

Howling winds woke us several times during the night. It seemed like the full force of an Atlantic gale was battering the walls of the house. Despite the double-thick window panes, it seemed at times like the wind was blowing straight into the room. In the morning, as we dined on the best breakfast yet, we watched sheets of rain blowing horizontal outside the windows. Given that Dingle is in a well-sheltered natural harbor, we could only imagine what the conditions would be like out on the shore, our intended destination for the day. Emlagh house made us a yummy breakfast. Home-baked goods were du jour. Axel finally sampled the “Full Irish Breakfast” which consisted of the following: Two farm-fresh eggs any style, sausage, bacon, and black and white puddings. Both puddings contain oats and other ... read more

Well day one of tour is exactly what I needed/wanted. Have kissed the Blarney stone, crawled round an ancient monastic ruin, and consumed nearly 1 litre of cider. The bus is--of course--80% Ozzies, with a few Americans thrown in for good measure. I am the only Canadian on board, and my RMT status has been well received. : ) I knew I'd feel better once we got out of Dublin. In the last 12 hours I've been able to have more conversations than in the last 4 days! Going out dancing tonight with the crew, cannot wait. Tomorrow off to Galway and Dingle, places I've hoped to be in for ages. Mark and I talked today, he's coming over for 2 WEEKS in November!!!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!! So much to plan/arrange, but I'm so excited. I was completely ... read more

(by Becky) Killarney was our next destination and we thought we'd be going by bus. Buses here are not very reliable especially off season & Sundays so eventually we landed a taxi with a driver who was both good looking & funny. Gene O'Sullivan is the personal driver for Maureen O'Hara who lives in town and he is more like a tour guide than any other driver we have had. He stopped at a Chocolatier along the way. Yes, all needs were being met this day. He dropped us at "Woodlands" B&B where we each had our own room. In intuiting our next step, we realized the flow that would take us up through Northern Ireland had been shut down, that we would need to reintuit the route. Here's where we went. Killarney by bus ... read more