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Published: January 15th 2012
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Woke up, packed up and headed downstairs to see if there would be a breakfast component to our deserted bed and breakfast and found what can only be described as a very happy Irish Borat waiting expectantly for us. It took me a minute to figure out that his was an eastern European accent and what with all of his excited gesticulating so early in the morning, just kind of sat back and watched the show. He brought us piles of food. Very nice, very nice!
Big day planned, a little Bed Bath and Beyond, a stop at the Home Depot and the glorious Ring of Kerry.
The weather was kind of cooperating as we pointed the little Ka south, meaning no sideways rain, no ferocious wind. I even got out of the Ka at one point to look at something and could actually see it. But then the ceiling came crashing down, the wind and rain began in earnest and *sigh* once again the day looked like a wash. We drove that Ring of Kerry; once or twice we could imagine what could be seen. We stopped the car by a statue thing and tried to take a
picture of it while the Mist consumed our sense of direction and gave us vertigo. Coming to a point where inexplicably the visibility went to a mile I made Todd pull over so that I could get out and donate my umbrella to the same Ireland gods of Ferocious Weather that led the Romans to believe that it was a rock not worth the effort of conquering.
Really, it was a good laugh as we tried to walk along a slippery grass embankment in the driving wind and rain and I know at this point it sounds like I'm bagging on Ireland. Totally not. The thing is, we were prepared for crappy weather - I mean, who goes to Ireland in the winter and expects to sunbathe? I was truly impressed with HOW ferocious it was and at this point feeling a little disappointed that, now that we were all feeling human, we couldn't get a little luck on our side for this day. Ah well. Mostly I started to feel bad that I had talked everyone into this madness.
We drove and drove, imagining what things must look like on a beautiful Irish summer day. I'm still
fascinated that it was still so green, even in winter. Field after field rolled out in front of us, ringed with endless stone fences. Good heavens, those stone fences. How many hard-fought calories have been burned over the millenia moving rocks in Ireland? Reclaiming that land took a lot of work.
We arrived at what must be a popular summertime destination, a beach that stretched for miles in both directions. Not much of a beach day but we appreciated the signs warning us to cover up lest we get sunburned.
Todd went beachcombing and found a dead sheep.
Figured we might as well keep moving toward Dingle; who knows, maybe the sun was sunburning people there. Saw signs for the South Pole Inn but we'd have to hit it on the way out (as it was in the wrong direction) to pay tribute to the badass of all badasses Tom Crean (for the Guinness version of who Tom Crean is visit this video:
Tom Crean Pulled into Dingle and was surprised by its size, a pretty and substantial town on Dingle Bay. When the sun shines and the clouds lift you can look across the bay to
the Iveragh peninsula and Ring of Kerry route. And we found the people of Ireland, finally - they were all in Dingle! The streets buzzed with life and it looked like there might be the possibility of an actual party for New Years. We had the afternoon to wander around town after checking into our lovely B&B and found it to be a pretty happy, happening place. We decided to go out onto the pier when a squall blew through and once again tried to rid us from the island. NO CHANCE! We liked Dingle and no wind gusts were going to cut our time there short.
Went back to fetch Jeff and headed out on the town, found a fabulous bowl of seafood chowder and a pint of Murphys and briefly, all seemed right with the world. We bounced from pub to pub to check out each, found a great rugby match to watch with a table of rabid fans sitting next to us who graciously explained the bits that weren't obvious.
I'll tell you what, those rugby guys are built like brick shithouses, hit eachother as hard as any NFL guys, do it all without pads
and somehow (mostly) walk away from it all under their own power. I say mostly because there was an injury during the match and the most entertaining part was when the medical staff was out on the field helping the guy while the play continued (craziness!) and the poor hurt guy, once he got up on his feet again, was taken out a second time in a moment of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Bad.ass.men. People used to watching hurling and rugby must go mad with boredom with all of the play stoppages that happen in American football. They don't even stop when the meat wagon goes on the field! I wish we could get more of the Irish sports on ESPN because they are a riot to watch.
New Years Eve day we went out for our next drive in the rain, the Slea Head drive. Woke up each day thinking 'this is the day the rain will stop trying to pierce my skin' but alas thinking something doesn't make it so. But what are you going to do? Can only eat so much chowder and drink so much stout, so out we went.
Stopped at Dunbeg fort, defensive ramparts on the edge of a cliff dating back to the Irish iron age 500bc-500ad. The views were actually existent and quite nice! Reminded us of the cliffs of southern Portugal. Next we stopped at the 'beehive huts' that some guy in a tiny shed collected 2 euros each for us to go peak at - let's just say that the free stone fort was way cooler. Onward to a little beach at the bottom of the cliffs we wandered, trying in vain to take a picture without getting rain all over my camera lens...the rain was back in earnest and coming from every direction.
Final stop was the Gallarus Observatory, actually a church dating back to about 900ad. Beautiful refined stonework and in a very pretty setting. Made Jeff do a jumping picture and thought he might have busted his spleen. I mean seriously, at this point why wouldn't I just assume that?
The drive itself was pretty, even in the rain; again, the green fields and endless lines of rock fences very picturesque. Back in Dingle we got ready for a night out - New Years Eve in the westernmost(ish) point
of Europe!
2 pages of pictures
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Chuck
non-member comment
trip planning
Hey Alisa, I wonder if I could be involved in any future trip planning that you and Todd do, so that I can be sure to plan something, anything, else. Thanks, Chuck