Dingle

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Friday, February13, 2015 - Carly and I set out from Galway to Dingle ...three buses and 5.5 hours later we arrived to the very windy, colorful, little town of Dingle. We checked in to our hostel, Lovett's Hostel which is a small, family-owned hostel that is only a few minutes walk to all of the pubs and local shops. Since it was late afternoon and the sun was still out we walked the circumference of the town starting along the coastline and looking at local restaurants and shops and then beginning our way up the hill, past the sheep farms and back into the other side of town. Since we went during the off-season many of the restaurants were closed until dinner time and shops closed down early, but a few scattered ones are still open. Nonetheless we enjoyed getting to explore a more traditional Irish town and seeing all that it had to offer. We had dinner at Murphy's Pub which is just across from the water and docks in town. It was delicious and we had plenty of food at a reasonable price. We went back to our hostel for a while and hung out in the common/living room. We met some of the other people who were staying there as well. One man was from Limerick (about 3 hours by bus east of Dingle) and there for the Walking Festival that was taking place in Dingle that weekend. We also met a group of 5 students who were studying at the University College Dublin but were exchange students from Australia. They were very friendly and it was great to finally meet some other non-American students. We went to The Mighty Session that evening which is a pub that offered traditional Irish music. That night there was a duo who played the accordion and a guitarist who were very good and there seemed to be playful competition between the two. We had a good time at the pub before returning to our hostel for the night.

Saturday, February 14, 2014 - We checked out of our hostel in the morning and set out for some walking/hiking around the town. After wandering around, we ended up following a group who was taking part in the Walking Festival up the hills behind Dingle. We saw some of the most incredible views of the water, nearby towns, and mountains. Along the hills we also got to see some horses and the sheep that wander the hillside (a very common site in Ireland). After walking about a mile or so we came down from the hills and back into town. We had lunch at Chowder restaurant and I tried their seafood chowder which is a common menu item in Dingle since the town is along the ocean. It did remind me a lot of home (Seattle) and I have to say that it gives Ivar's Restaurants some competition. We then wandered in and out of the shops, including a craft store called Sweet Pea. We stopped in at the bakery as well to stock up on some treats for Valentine's Day and also at Murphy's Ice Cream for a rich but delicious hot chocolate. In the late afternoon we began on our series of buses home. Dingle definitely stole my heart with its charm and small town life and I cannot wait to return one day!

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