Ireland

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We arrived in Dublin, Ireland by ferry at 12:30 on S. Patrick's Day. Truth be told this was never the intent of this trip, but once I started planning the trip I saw we'd be in the area for the holiday so I made sure we'd be in the capital for the celebration.
We arrived in time to catch the end of the parade with our luggage still on our backs amidst hordes of green clad tourists from across

the globe. We ventured out later in the evening and it seemed as thought the crowds had grown and you could scarcely move in the Temple Bar area. In hindsight a smaller city would have been a better and more genuine place to spend the day. The following morning we picked up our rental car and headed to the south, where we'd be spending our limited time to see the highlights. Dennis enjoyed the much smaller car on much bigger roads here in Ireland, but I still made him drive the manual transmission, he's gotten so good at it this trip!

Dennis had been to the south 25 years ago and this was my first time in this region, having only been to the north in my prior trips with Mom and Dennis. Our first night was spent in Cork, only a 2 1/2 hr drive out of Dublin and conveniently located for our next day driving the Ring of Kerry. We had bright sunny skies for the first time in our trip (and last), perfect for a stop at the Rock of Cashel for some photos in the nearby ancient ruins of a beautiful abbey. All throughout Ireland you see ancient ruins of castles and churches far off in the rolling hills. We walked around Cork and enjoyed our short stay but decided it didn't need a return visit one day. Before we headed out to drive the Ring of Kerry, we had a delicious full Irish breakfast made by our AirBnb hosts consisting of eggs, ham, black pudding, tomatoes and mushrooms, yum!

The Ring of Kerry is a loop drive around the Kerry peninsula and is considered one of the world's most scenic drives along the Wild Atlantic Way that circles the country. We were happy to be here during the low season because there were still numerous tourists and tour buses on the narrow roadways. The weather turned foggy and rainy so we missed out on several scenic overlooks out over the Atlantic. We picked up a lone elderly hitchhiker who was looking for a ride into the next town, presumably to the nearest pub. We weren't sure if it was his Kerry accent or his intoxication, or most likely a combination of the two, but he was barely intelligible. We had been forewarned by the Cork family about the Kerry accents and they weren't exaggerating. We spent the next two nights in Killarney at a charming BnB on a 30 acre 200 year old farm, complete with newborn baby lambs to pet.

The town of KIllarney was equally as charming, and quickly became one of our favorite towns in Ireland, despite being overrun by tourism. And it was here that we had one of our favorite meals of our lives at Kittie O'Sheas, a tower of both hot and cold seafood that was sublime. If you ever find yourself in the south it is well worth the detour. The following day we did some sightseeing around Killarney and in the National Park. Afterwards we continued out to the Dingle peninsula to continue the Wild Atlantic Way amidst driving rain and fog. Thankfully we came amply prepared and bought our new favorite Wellington "Wellie" boots in Wales and brought good rain coats and pants.

We enjoyed the Dingle area more, it had less tourists, a shorter drive, had more dramatic scenery and a load of Neolithic sites at every bend.

Our final day we drove to the iconic Cliffs of Moher. Our final BnB was a large multi generation farm that stretched down to the cliffs. The owner generally conducts guided walks starting in Doolin, but they were canceled due to the multiple days of rain and the poor condition of the trail because of it. Dennis and I decided to put our gear to the test and set off on the trail in the pouring rain for the 5 mile walk to the cliffs. It was a gorgeous hike we had mostly entirely to ourselves, at one point Dennis almost losing a Wellie after sinking up to his knee in mud. The locals laugh about the tourists who venture out on this trail in flip flops and return covered in mud form head to toe. Our last night was spent at O'Connors pub, an ole stomping ground of Dennis'. Doolin is famous as being the home of traditional Irish music and it didn't disappoint. We listened to a 4 man band play Irish music over dinner inside the warmest and coziest pub with a fire blazing, making you forget all about the howling wind and driving rain outside on the rough Atlantic coast. Oh how we love Ireland and it's people and we are already making plans for another return trip to see more of this beautiful island.

On the way home we had a 20 hour layover in Amsterdam, long enough to see the major tourist area consisting of the red light district and "coffee" shops and Anne Frank's house, and then walk into the genuine neighborhoods outside ,to get a feel of the real city beyond the sex and the drugs. We had a dinner at Blaawhooft, a local bar and eatery where we supped on snails and fondue and drank the traditional "kopstootje," lager beer chased with old jenever (Dutch gin). And with that another trip is on the books, visiting some old places, discovering new and of course adding more to the never ending list of places we want to visit in the future.

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