My Dingling

Isn't there a song with that title?

I struck out on my own because everyone else is puny. It is now 8:45pm and I am back and pooped out. It won't be dark for over an hour. Music in most of these pubs starts at 9:30 - and they always add "-ish." Grandpa here can't cut it. Hmmm - I may know someone else like that. Initials are "father of Charlie." Maybe if I nap tomorrow?

If you didn't already know, all signs here are in a minimum of two languages. 

I don't speak the first one. In fact, I am totally confused by it. I wish Europe would put all signs in about 5-6 languages. Yes, there would be signs a story tall or a bus wide, but I'm an arrogant tourist. I tried to blend in, but it takes about 15 seconds for me to be outed. Could be the silly hat protecting my balding head. Could be the hiking shoes, even in a nice restaurant. Could be the Canon around my neck. Could be that I and all members of my family whip out our cellphones when we enter someplace with internet access. Could be that we talk to the sheep.

I browsed in a few stores, found a laundromat for tomorrow, had a Black and Tan and a half dozen raw oysters out of Dingle Bay. Had awesome ice cream at Murphy's. (http://www.murphysicecream.ie)

Shopped for clothes as well. In fact, I had serious "lust in my heart" (a 1970's misquoted reference, chilluns - look it up) for a locally made Aran twead jacket. As I caressed the sleeve, I found the price tag. I immediately moved to lust for it from aross the room.

Walked the marina. This guy was trying to move his watercraft. The air is 50, I'm in a jacket, and the water temp is 52 (yes, I looked it up.). This guy is barefooted and in the water. 

Dingle is a seafood haven. In fact, if we make it, we have reservations tomorrow for lunch at Out of the Blue. From their website: 

Meat eaters need not apply:  Out Of The Blue is strictly for seafood lovers!

Everything depends upon the catch of the day and nothing but the best will do. If there’s no fish, the restaurant doesn’t open.

The menu, given on blackboards, changes every day offering a huge variety of whatever is available from the boats that morning.  

Anyone who is lucky enough to get a table in this small casual restaurant can expect seriously delicious seafood cookery.

One finds a few boats here. In various stages of creation.

One can also find a pub or two in Dingle. In every block of the downtown. This being the holiday weekend, I think we may find a keg or two more in the alley tomorrow.

This is something I did not expect to see on the main drag:

That is the local aquarium.  Haven't decided if I will go to that.

It is now bedtime. Catch you tomorrow. 

Hey to Charlie! 

Goin' Dingling

Cody and I walked in to get Vicki some medicine, then we all headed out of Kenmare for Kilłarney National Park. Once again, Cody and I saw some gorgeous scenery. Once again, on the side of the road, but this time on private property, we found an old ruin. We wanted to go in, but thought better of it. 

Further on, we also saw the Torc waterfall.

As gorgeous as the waterfall was, it was the surrounding woods that were incredibly green and enticing. There are ferns everywhere and trees, alive and fallen, are covered with moss. All the Irish lore about leprechauns and the little people seemed quite appropriate and applicable here.

(Not a leprechaun. Just caught tying my shoes by my son. He'd better watch it.)

Vicki, unfortunately, did not feel up to this short walk - or any other. She stayed in the car, napping when possible.

Next stop was the Muckross Abbey. We skipped the horse and buggy tours of the entire Muckross estate. Things are starting to get pretty touristy. 

Here's the sign. If you want to know more, you read about it!

Relatives?

More green!

So we just arrived in Dingle. This is our B&B.

But this is our view from the front lawn.

Couldn't take that shot without cars or busses in it - too many now. We didn't know what a big deal the bank holiday this coming Monday was, and it seems that half the country will be making a long weekend of it somewhere. So we have lots of company.

Tonight, it's time to go Dingling. I may be alone, given the state of my traveling companions. But I will see Dingle.

What a day!

So walking is always a lot of our vacations, especially when we go somewhere like France. But we don't always take in the local flora, or in this case, the local mountains and hiking trails. But we did yesterday and we had a blast. Gleninchaquin park was special. Cody was especially pleased.

The park also brought out some of his theatrical side.

There was another stone circle here. If you are going to have a stone circle, why not have it in a location like this? Location, location, location.

Then we drove in further - very slowly - and got to the main area with the trails, all beginning with this view of the waterfalls. It was gorgeous.

This is also a working farm, and there are sheep everywhere. Vicki and Cody do not see eye to eye on eating these. One sees cute, the other looks for mint sauce.

I definitely see wool. I've already decided I am leaving this country with an Aran Islands sweater (covering the extra pounds I am taking back). 

This is a 19th century farmhouse that is being restored.

There were several lakes on the hike. Neither my camera nor its amateur operator could capture the height or beauty well. I need more lessons.

That is Vicki and Cody down below me.

There were several stiles we had to cross and gates we had to pass through. All had to be be closed to keep the sheep where they were, although we saw sheep, or their evidence, everywhere we hiked. The technology varied from gate to gate. Some were much simpler than others, eh Cody?

Back in Kenmare, we chose to relax over lunch and shop around a bit. According to my spreadsheet, there were many things we should have been doing, but this was a very pleasant afternoon.

On the way back to the B&B, Vicki saw this church ruin and we checked it out. There was a cemetery adjacent, so we looked for any O'Keefes/Keefes/Keffes - any spelling will suffice.

Inside the tower...

Unfortunately, the day ended with Cody getting sick. So Vicki and I headed to the grocery for bread and cheese, and Cody headed for bed. 

This morning, Cody feels somewhat better, and Vicki seems to have caught whatever Cody had. I hope everyone feels better soon. We will all need help - and about 8 extra hours - if I have to drive. 

Climb every mountain...

We started the day be going to Gleninchaquin Park, just south of Kenmare on the Beara Peninsula. We started out on a normal, narrow road but turned off onto a really narrow gravel road which took us first to a stone circle near a lake. It was quite beautiful, and we walked around for a bit, avoiding the sheep shit and taking in the views. Dan will be posting those photos, since I left my camera in the car. We continued on to the actual park, which is a working farm in a valley full of (you guessed it) sheep. There were some adorable little lambs, which Cody said would be good with mint sauce. :(

So the way the game at the park is played is that you choose one of six walking paths around the farm area. There's a beautiful waterfall, and one of the walks is called "Over the Falls," 115 minutes. Sign us up for that one. The nice Irish dude described the route, and off we went across the field, less worried about stepping into sheep shit, since it was everywhere. Here are some photos of the places that we saw on our little two-hour jaunt up a freaking mountain:

Dan's photos will be much better. I couldn't catch a shot that would show just how high up we climbed, but it was high. I think that Dan said that it was 600-something feet. I'm guessing that the two men working the reception area lay bets on who will and who won't finish a trek. Well by God, someone lost a bet on this fat, White woman because I made it on this Grade 4 (whatever that means) hike over the falls. Anyway, Dan and I both took an Aleve as soon as we got back to the car, in hopes of staving off the stiffening muscles that are sure to follow tonight's sleep

After a late lunch in Kenmare, we headed back to the B&B after strolling through some shops in the village. We took a quick detour to an old church with (of course) a graveyard, which was mostly overgrown and sadly unattended. There was this particular monument, which was behind an iron fence with steps that led nowhere:

I love cemeteries, but this one was sad. 

Upon getting back to the B&B, young Cody decided to empty his digestive system. Poor Bear! We are hoping that he's gotten rid of whatever it was and feels much better tomorrow. We may get some rain as we head north to the Kilarney National Park and then to the Dingle Peninsula.