Sorry for the brief outline yesterday. I was pooped after all that driving, and then a big yummy dinner in the castle with several Irish beers to top it all off. So as you gathered from yesterday's abbreviated post, we hit a couple of big Irish highlights. We went to Killarney National Park which is super green with a ton of wilderness areas. There's also a Victorian Hunting Estate on the grounds which was the first donated property to start the park. We had limited time so we opted to hike instead of tour the castle, and headed out to a waterfall close by. The hike was easy but through a really pretty wooded area so we enjoyed it very much.
Then we got in the car for a marathon drive through the Ring of Kerry. It would have been shorter if not for the 50K detour. I'm getting more proficient at the driving, but the first part of leaving Killarney was rather stressful as the roads are super narrow. And, we opted to do the Ring clockwise while most tours go counterclockwise. It meant less traffic for us going our direction, but a heck of a lot of ginormous buses coming straight at us on super windy roads. And seriously- the speed limit was 100 K. You all know how I love me my accelerator, and there was no way I could go that fast. I was at about 60K/hr and definitely felt like I was driving a european road rally. Courtney wins the iron stomach prize for surviving the back seat for that ride. We have a few scratches on the left side of the car from the roadside hedges to avoid any bus collisions, but once we hit the coast it was better. Scenery was varied and very lovely.
Last night we stayed at Dromoland Castle . We didn't get there until 8, but luckily it was still light out so we tore ourselves away from our suite in the castle tower and explored the grounds. Then we had dinner in the drawing room and decompressed from the day. This morning we strolled the grounds where there were all kinds of hidden treasures in the gardens. I wouldn't have been shocked to see Mr. Darcy arriving by horseback as we strolled! (Or maybe the lack of sleep has me fantasizing about Colin Firth?)
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| We like to call it home...for the night! |
Today we went to the coast to see the Cliffs of Moher. They really are stunning. It was extremely windy, so apologies for the video sound. They have a new "visitor experience" now where you can learn about the ecosystems and get a virtual birds eye view of the cliffs. Needless to say I still feel quesy after that- it was almost as bad as Avatar with the motion crap. At least it had a better plot than Avatar (oh just kidding my geeky friends!). Then we drove through the Burren which is a totally different landscape than everything else, very rocky and much more barren than the topography around it. Tonight we are in Galway and are heading out in a few minutes to hear some good "trad" music. Tomorrow some shopping and then we drive to Dublin to catch our flight to Glasgow . Oh and of course we have to do something nice for Mark because it's his birthday. Wait... he's in Ireland ... that's nice enough I'd say! Till tomorrow dear readers.
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| The Cliffs of Moher |
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| The Burren |
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| Galway! |
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