Blogs from Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland, Europe - page 10

This entry will focus on the first day of our tour proper in which we began our travels on the tour bus with our fearless leader, Tommy O'Reilly. I was paired with Nancy on the bus and we all settled in to our new mode of travel which included long periods of Tommy sharing his endless Irish wisdom and boundless knowledge of Irish history with us, interspersed with Irish music. Our first stop was the Rock of Cashel. Well, actually it was more like we saw it from a distance as we stopped on the side of the roadway. It was a beautiful sight. But alas, we were not going up to it, this was just a picture stop. So on we went. The next stop was Blarney Castle. This was the biggie for the day...Well, ... read more

Breakfast started at 8:30 this morning, and we were in the dining room shortly after that. We enjoyed our breakfast and quickly made our plans for the day. Our first stop would be a sheep dog herding demonstration on the Ring of Kerry. The Ring of Kerry is a very scenic drive that takes most of a day, but we decided to only go about ¼ around the ring to make it to the demonstration, as we saw the total ring 5 years ago. We made the drive and totally missed the pub where the demonstration takes place. We ended up on a small road that only fit one car in the town of Kells. This road was very interesting and we had mountains to our right and ocean to our left. The weather was gorgeous ... read more

So I'm here in Killarney, Ireland. So far, update of my trip- I've met the GREATEST people, many from Canada and Boston, actually, I'm on day 8...yes 8 of wearing the same jeans and they haven't started to smell YET. I'm assuming soon though...I have been able to shower everyday though, somtimes twice, so at least I'm staying clean :) I've been living on baguettes, pasta, fruit and free hostel breakfasts....which consist of toast and cornflakes and coffee. I've been doing a ton of walking and every muscle in my legs is KILLING...but they're getting in great shape!! I've only paid for about three beers since I've been here...Irish men are PHENOMENAL!!! The only regret I have is brining the small bag...Mom PLEASE send me the bigger one!!! It's only a week and It's already killing ... read more

The Gap of Dunloe Killarney National Park, Ireland The Gap of Dunloe is our destination today and rather than take a tour, we opted to bike to the Reen Pier and have the boat transport us and the bikes across the three lakes of Killarney: the Lough Leane, the Muckross Lake, and the Upper Lake... to Lord Brandon's Cottage. As we stood on the pier waiting (Ireland time is different from real time!) we saw some Americans..."Hey where are you from?" we asked. The response was "PITTSBURGH"! "No way!" we said, "We live in Shaler", they lived in McCandles the next township. Nice folks on their honeymoon. Small world! Well after an hour and half in the boat, we arrived at Lord Brandon's Cottage and began biking toward the Gap of Dunloe. We are at ... read more

We were promised wi-fi internet in this hotel but my computer does not even note that there is a wireless connection available. At the last hotel, we had not been promised wi-fi but turns out they had it and we could get a weak signal. Here, nothing. But they do have a computer in the lounge for guests to use so I checked the weather forecast last night. Gloomy. As usual, we woke up this morning and Mark looked out the window. “It’s overcast and raining.” At least our hearts will never give out from the shock. We slept in a bit today as we had decided to stick pretty close to the local area and explore the National Park. We went down to breakfast at about 9:15. We were greeted warmly by the waitress and ... read more