Blogs from County Kerry, Ireland, Europe - page 31

Wednesday, June 18, 2008 Dingle Town & Peninsula, Ireland After dining on Tuesday evening at the Adare Manor Country Club, I awoke ready to play some golf. We hurried through breakfast, checked out of our nice B&B and headed for the course. Upon arrival we discovered that there was a junior competition about to start and the course would be closed until 10:00am. A late start would delay our drive south so that was out of the question. A second problem was also developing. Rain! We decided that it might be better to move on and play golf somewhere else or not at all if the rain continued. So, we drove towards the Dingle Peninsula. We had not yet decided on where we would sleep but we wanted to see the town. We would decide later ... read more

We woke up early for a run/walk around Dingle before checking out of the B&B. We drove the “Ring of Kerry”, which is a popular loop around the County Kerry. We stopped at the seaside town of Waterville and ate lunch and John tried to teach me how to skip rocks in the Atlantic Ocean. Taking a road less traveled through a forest, we then drove onto City Cork, which is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland. We found a great pub across the street from the hotel and had Shepherd’s Pie and Curry Chicken. Every menu seems to have Curry Chicken and Lasagna, which we found really odd for Ireland. ... read more

Another beautiful day, no rain and mid-sixties with sunshine. We drove 1-1/2 hours to the small town of Dingle, via Connor’s Pass. There are two roads which lead to Dingle; the main road which can accommodate the buses full of tourists and Connor’s Pass. Connor’s Pass is full of winding turns and many places where the road narrows to one lane. Yesterday was a clear day, so the views were amazing. Along the way to Dingle, we found a sandy beach at Castlegregory. John had some fun with a dog who just loved to play fetch with rocks. We spend the afternoon walking around Dingle, enjoying a lunch of fish and chips and an ice cream sundae. We checked into our Bed and Breakfast and I took a nap as I am still fighting this head ... read more

I had a few friends from America visit me for their spring breaks. Jill, my friend from home, was in Dublin with me for St.Patrick's Day. The celebration was more than I could have ever expected. Until a decade ago the holiday was a low key celebration and national holiday in Dublin. It was only after Americans started coming to Ireland for St.Patrick's Day that Dublin really capitalized on the holiday. The city was filled with American tourists everywhere. The St.Patrick's Day festival was stretched out over four days. They closed down the center of town to traffic and put up a carnival. On the 17th there was an interesting parade. It was nothing like the St.Patrick's Day parades in American cities. There was absolutely no traditional irish dancing, music or bagpipes. Instead, the parade had ... read more

Ireland - Killarney Tuesday 18th March - Friday 21st March (Good Friday) Well, Killarney won our hearts about 10 minutes after we arrived. We had booked to stay here for 2 days, but within an hour I had cancelled our next stop and booked 5 days here. Killarney is wonderful, I absolutely love it. It’s now Easter, at 9pm Good Friday night, and I’m sitting in bed with Reagan fast asleep beside me while I update my diary. We are staying at Neptune’s Hostel which is right in the centre of town - definitely stay here (if you are ok with basic hostel accommodation) as its great. There are so many people staying here, from Canadians to Spaniards, Germans to Chinese. Everyone chats and sits around the communal areas - huge kitchen, lounge room with cable ... read more