September 10 - Killarney National Park

In spite of the thin walls, I actually had a great night's sleep. When I opened the window shades, I discovered that some of the pretty shells that I collected on yesterday's beach walk were actually alive and had crawled up the window!

Began our journey to Killarney on a "road with no name" - a one-lane road over the Slieve Mountains which was terrifying to me but Jim thoroughly enjoyed it. 

"Road with No Name"

At Killarney National Park, we hiked up to Torc waterfall and beyond.  A beautiful and peaceful hike. Found some shamrocks!  Helped a group of Irish girls - one of them had fallen while running and injured her knee. She used my jacket "fleece" for a pillow while they called an ambulance.

Stopped for our afternoon coffee and scone in Killarney, then headed for Tralee. We stopped in what we thought was a grocery store but turned out to be more of a Big Lots where Jim found a bike jersey for 10 euro and cycling socks for 3 euro!  Visited a beautiful and very fragrant Rose Garden (with hundreds of varieties), and walked the streets.

Back to the B&B. sat outside on the picnic table and enjoyed a Guiness and refreshing glass (actually a half bottle) of white zin.

Decided to forego a dinner out so enjoyed a coffee cup full of cereal with nuts and pear.  Jim challenged me to a game of pool -  I swear I used to be pretty darn good but we both were pathetic!

September 9 - Westport to the Dingle Peninsula

Una, our host, made us a full Irish breakfast, then provided me with some ibuprofen to help with my dull wine headache.

Off to the Dingle Peninsula.  An interesting observation we've made - people cycling and walking along very busy roads - 60-100 km/hr. This morning we almost hit a woman pushing a twin stroller towards us!  

A very long 5-hour drive today - partly through some very rural areas.  Had a coffee pick-me-up at Clare's Tea Room along the way.

Continued on to Tralee and our B&B - Lurraga House where our host, Valerie, greeted us. Went for a tranquil walk to the beach right down the road at Tralee Bay --- met some adorable donkeys in a field who were sure that we would feed them :-)

Gathered up some pretty shells on the beach.  Later went for dinner at Seven Hogs Restaurant and felt like a hog after chowing down a huge chicken ciabatta sandwich and a mound of fries!

Relaxed back at the B&B until some new guests arrived in the room above us and we discovered how thin the walls were :-( 

IRELAND: OBSERVATIONS

OBSERVATION: Extremely friendly and helpful people.  Only met three negative people - and none of them were Irish!

OBSERVATION: Driving is stressful!  Manuevering around roundabouts. Driving on the left side. Narrow one-lane roads where one of the vehicles needs to back-up to let the other through.  People pushing babies in strollers and/or walking their dogs on 80 kph curving roads. Cyclists without helmets.   Driving into oncoming traffic (we did that twice). 

OBSERVATION: Where are all the salads and vegetables? We sometimes received a cherry tomato or two for breakfast.  A "salad" at a restaurant has been a few lettuce leaves with a sprinkling of shredded carrots although on day 15 we had amazing salads (Caeser and Cobb) at the Old Schoolhouse Bar in Swords.

OBSERVATION:  Where are all the street name signs?

OBSERVATION:  Flower boxes!  Love all the gorgeous flowers hanging from windows of homes and businesses.

 OBSERVATION:  Noticed several American beers sold in pints and Budweiser and Miller Light on draft.

OBSERVATION:  Interesting showers. Lots of dials and buttons. One required that a string be pulled.  We had to Google instructions for a couple of them.   We discovered later that some of the showers needed to be 'powered on'.

September 8 - Cong to Westport

Another delicious full Irish breakfast, the headed into the little town of Cong.  Walked through the ruins of the12th century Cong Abbey which was built on the grounds of a 7th century church.   The grounds around the abbey were lush, beautiful, and peaceful - a perfect place for meditation and reflection.

Monks' Fishing House - they would pull up the fish from a hole in the floor.

Interesting tree roots

Next stop - Westport.  Found Hillcrest B&B right in town, which is perfect because it is within walking distance of Matt Molloy's Pub (where we're headed tonight to hear traditional Irish music).   Dropped off our things and checked out the shops downtown.  The smell of scones drew us into a bakery where we enjoyed mochas with a ginormous blueberry scone. As we started walking back to the B&B Jim decided that since those scones were so awesome and moist we needed 2 more for our hike on Achill Island (hereafter always to be known as the "Scone Hike")

Achill Island is appr 45 min west of Westport (is that possible?) in the Atlantic Ocean. The last couple of miles up the were treacherous --- we ascended the hill along with a multitude of sheep who apparently were not afraid of the car. After driving as far as we could go, we hiked about 30 minutes on the rough, rocky terrain to the summit where a statue of Our Lady of the Seas stood amidst a fantastic 360 degree view and a chilling wind.

Lots of sheep everywhere

Each farmer marks his/her sheep with a specific color or color combination.

Saw lots of this

Lots of pretty wildflowers

I couldn't help but think of the delicious scones that awaited us back at the car!

We rested up in our room for a couple of hours to ensure that we would be able to stay out after our bedtime of 9:30 and hear some trad music at Matt Malloys pub. Matt Molloy is a member of the band, The Chieftains who helped traditional musical return to popularity in the 1970s.

We arrived at Matt Malloys  before 8:30 to find a place to sit for the trad session starting at 9:30 and found a table - rubbing elbows with the performers. The music was AMAZING and I found myself tapping my feet and clapping my hands --  I think I could have started dancing (and almost did after 3 glasses of wine which they fill to the rim :-).  After 3 hours of craic, we walked the short distance up a steep hill to our B&B. 

September 7 - Cliffs of Moher to Cong

Bugs and all, we slept well last night and awoke to a peaceful view outside - we could see the Atlantic Ocean as well as horses and a very pregnant donkey.

 

Could not get the shower to turn on!  I tried. Jim tried.  We went downstairs into the garage to use the internet to look up the manual for the Triton Aqua shower. All of the models shown had an on/off button, but ours did not. We both bathed using the sink and paper towels.  

Off to the Cliffs of Moher. What a beautiful place!  

Ate lunch at a lovely little cafe just down the road.  Panini sandwich and a mocha coffee for me and Jim got a veggie burger.

We passed the rocky faces of the Burren on the way to Galway City (which is such a cute town, especially along the river with the ducks and the swans). Lots of street entertainers.

Left Galway around 5:30 and started driving north looking for a place to stay --- stopped at 3 places before we found someone at home in the village of Cong at Ashford Haven.

Ate dinner at the Pat Cohan Bar which was the original location used in the making of the movie The Quiet Man.  Dinner was amazing. I enjoyed Irish chicken; Jim got lamb. 

September 6 - Limerick and Crotty Galvin's Traditional Music Festival

Another great breakfast at Marysville B&B!  

Left about 9:30 and headed to Limerick. There was a big event with lots of road closures in the city for a huge Granny puppet. Thousands of people were there to see it. We caught a brief glance of her then headed to the MilkMarket to see lots of interesting vendors selling foods and wares.

Soap suds sprayed into the crowd

Huge Granny puppet

The Milk Market

The Milk Market

We also enjoyed seeing all the beautiful hanging baskets and St. Mary's Cathedral.

So many beautiful hanging baskets in Limerick

We left Limerick for and headed to a small, out-of-the-way village in County Clare, Moyasta (near Killrush), to see CrottyGalvin's Music Festival at Garrihy's Bar.  Lots of locals dropping by with their instruments to play traditional Irish music and to dance.  Women walked around with platters of free sandwiches for everyone.  

On to Miltown Mowbray to our next B&B. First, we couldn't find it.  Our room was above the garage. No heat (although our "host" brought us a space heater when we told him we were cold).  He asked us what time we would be taking showers so he could turn on the hot water. We had to turn on a switch in the bathroom to use the gas stove.  I also asked for the internet password. He said not to stream things or download too much or he would go over his usage limit.  Killed 6 insects in the bedroom before bedtime. And the sheets were scratchy.