Day 36, August 3, 2012

Well, our time in Ireland is rapidly drawing to a close after five short weeks. Actually, it has been a good long trip and we're thankful to have the opportunity to take such an extended trip. We like to go beyond a rushed trip merely hitting the tourist spots. When we have this kind of time, we can relax a bit and get to meet common, everyday people. It's been a joy in that regard.

We had one day left on our hop on, hop off bus passes so we decided to see some more local sights. Grace had a sore wrist that required medical attention so Nancy stayed with her. The doctors are of the opinion that there is nothing broken. Most likely, it's a sprain. The rest of our party took the bus.

Our first spot was Dublin Castle. There doesn't seem to be much of the original castle remaining so we decided to just view it from the outside. Next, we went in the Chester Beatty Library which is famous for it's collection of New Testament papyri that date back to the second century. They are the oldest New Testament documents in any language. It was amazing to see copies that were made not long after they were originally written.

From there, we went to two cathedrals that, surprisingly, are only a couple blocks apart.  The first one, Christ Church Cathedral, was founded in the 11th century. A Norman, Strongbow, was part of the first English involvement in Ireland toward the end of the twelth century as his reputed tomb is in the cathedral.

We next walked over to St. Patrick's Park before entering St. Patrick's Cathedral. The park is the site of an ancient well where St. Patrick baptized people in the third century. The ccathedral has the tomb of Jonathan Swift, the author of Gulliver's Travels and other notable literary works. He was the Dean of St. Patrick'ss for many years.

After viewing the cathedrals, we totally switched gears and toured the Guinness Storehouse. It's one of the most popular tours in Dublin. It was a self-guided tour on seven floors. It told the story of how Guinness stout is made and the history of the brewery.

We finished the tour, boarded th bus, and eventually made it back to the guesthouse by mid-afternoon to check on Nancy and Grace.

In the evening, we went to a restaurant that was recommended to us, F X Buckley's. It's a well-known steakhouse in Dublin and the food was quite good. Some of us finished off our meal with a desser known as "Eton Mess". It too was quite good.

Day 35, August 2, 2012

I started writing this blog in June and now it's August. How time flies this summer. Today turned out to be a beautiful sunny day. We purchased two-day "hop-on, hop-off" bus passes in order to see the sights in Dublin. These are very popular. There are about 25 stops where people can get on and off. The buses come by about every 10 minutes so you're not stranded for long periods of time. We noticed that most people weren't getting off but just going for the whole loop. It takes 1 1/2 hours to ride all the way around and there is almost constant narration by the driver about the sights along the way.

We got on at stop number 7 and got off at stop number 19, the Dublin Zoo. It was the perfect day for the zoo. I've been to a lot of zoos and this ranked up there as one of the best I've seen. We spent quite a few hours wandering around viewing the animals as well as the beautiful, garden-like setting.

After the zoo, we continued the bus tour, eventually coming back to the stop where we started. We took a taxi back to our guesthouse. I looked at the name of our driver and surmissed that he might be from Nigeria, like my son-in-law, Kiki. I asked him if he was from Nigeria and he said he was. He has been in Ireland for the past twelve years. Since he is from western Nigeria, he speaks the same language as Kiki, the Yoruba language. I told him about our grandson, Modadeoluwa. He perked up instantly, since Mo's name means "I wear the crown of the Lord" in the Yoruba language. I think I made this man's day. he was all smiles and said "God bless you" when we exited the taxi. I think he made my day too.

Day 34, August 1, 2012

As more days pass, I'm beginning to realize what a long "holiday" this is. When we tell the locals that this is our fifth week in Ireland, they are amazed. We have been able to meet many people along the way, and to me, that's what traveling is all about. Yes, it's great to see new sights, but meeting people and learning about their experiences adds a wider, more rewarding dimension to our travels.

Today, we turned in our rental car that we've had for the past two days. It was another successful driving adventure on Irish roads and we were glad to return another vehicle that was no worse the wear. The Avis rental building was within walking distance of the Kilmainham Gaol, or Jail, the most famous prison in Irish history. Since this was a British prison, many of the leaders in the fight for Irish independence were housed here between the years 1798 and 1922. They also executed a number of political prisoners which eventually turned the tide of public opinion to press for independence from England.  We had a very informative tour that lasted about an hour.

We then took a taxi to the Glasnevin Cemetery, where we also had an excellent tour. This one, however, lasted 1 1/2 hours. There were many notable people buried here including Daniel O'Connell and Michael Collins. The Memorial to Daniel O'Connell, who to the Irish would be like Abraham Lincoln is to Americans, is a 168 foot tower. A number of years ago, radicals placed a bomb in the tower which destroyed the spiral staircase which asccended to the top of the tower. The tombs were largely unaffected by the blast. They hope to have the stairway reconstructed by 2016.

We ate lunch at the Gravedigger's Pub near the cemetery, which is one of the ten top pubs in Ireland. In the evening, we went to a dinner show called "Food, Folklore, and Fairies" at the Brazen Head Pub, also one of the top ten in Ireland. The pub has been located at it's present site since 1198, although the present building only dates back to the 17th century. We had a nice 4 course dinner interspersed with storytelling and music. The storyteller talked about the Irish peoples' belief in fairies and how that affected their lives. It was a most interesting evening. Most of the people who attended were from American but their were also people from Canada and Wales in the room.

Day 33, July 31, 2012

I'm finally getting caught up with the blog. I'm actually writing about present day events. We left the guesthouse this morning for some historical sites north of Dublin, the first one being the Hill of Tara.

The Hill of Tara is one of the most sacred sites in Irish history. It's been in use for the past 5,000 years and has been visited by Irish kings for centuries for ceremonial purposes. There is a stone on one of the mounds that  is said to have the power to acknowledge the person who is to be the next king of Ireland.

The only problem with our visit to the Hill of Tara was the weather. I commented to the receptionist in the visitor's center that our visit was great except for the howling wind and the pelting rain. We had fun anyway and had a good group picture with our umbrellas in various stages of disarray.

Next, we headed off to the town of Trim. Trim was founded by a Christian priest in the sixth century. Abour five hundred years later, the Normans built a castle known as Trim Castle. You might recognize it as it was the site for the fiming of the movie, Braveheart, starring Mel Gibson. The filmmakers were working on location for six months in 1994. They modified the castle for the movie then removed all the modifications once the filming was done.

We ended up spending about four hours in Trim. We had an excellent tour of the castle which took close to an hour. We did quite a bit of walking around, just taking in the history and beauty of the area.

When we left Trim, we decided to head to the monastic site, Monasterboice, which has three of the largest high crosses in Ireland. One of the crosses, the tallest in the country, is eighteen feet tall. It was carved from stone in the tenth century A.D. and had many Christian themes in the carvings on the cross.

We drove back to Dublin and picked up our laundry which we had done for us while we traveled. After dinner at a nearby restaurant, we headed back to our rooms where I know that some of us watched the Olympics. It was great to see the U.S. women's gymanistics team win the team gold medal and the men's 4 by 200 freestyle relay also win the gold. It was a good night for team USA.

Day 32, July 30, 2012

Last night, we came up with the idea of a "road trip". The forecast was for nice weather on Monday so we made the decision to rent a small van or SUV for two days and see the countryside. That's just what we did.

Today, we headed for the Cliffs of Moher, south of Galway. It was a 3 1/2 hour drive to get there and even longer coming back since we took a "scenic" route. The weather was fair so we were in for a good day of sightseeing.

The Cliffs of Moher are spectacular. They rise over 700 feet over the sea. There is a fence warning people to not go past due to the danger of falling off the cliffs. Dozens of people ignored the warning and hiked up to the top of the cliffs. Fortunately, we didn't see anyone fall but we did see people getting perilously close to the edge. Each year, about 10 people fall to their deaths off the cliffs. We heeded the sign and played it safe.

We were able to see the cliffs from a number of vantage points. If we ever visit again, I would be tempted to take one of the boat rides to view the cliffs from the water. There is an interesting visitors' center built into a hill. They have excellent exhibits and photos of the cliffs. They also have an audiovisual presentation of the cliffs from the perspective of a bird that nests on the cliffs. It was well done.

After a good long stay at the cliffs, we continued our road trip by driving through the Burrens, an area with much historical and botanical significance.

We ate at an excellent restaurant in Athlone, the Olive Grove, which was named the most popular restaurant in West Meath (County). The food was delicious and we enjoyed the view of the River Shannon from our table in the restaurant. 

I was the driver, and after a long day, I was pretty tired when we pulled in at about 11 p.m. I was ready for some much needed rest before we embarked on Road Trip, Day 2.

Day 31, July 29, 2012

It looks like I have some catching up to do on this blog. I haven't posted for the past three days. Much has happened and there's lots to tell. Let's start with this day, the 31st day of our visit to Ireland.

We are not going to be too ambitious today. We decided to visit Trinity College and the famous Book of Kells. It's only about a mile from our guesthouse so getting their with local transportation was not a problem. We signed up for a tour of the college. Our tourguide has been a philosophy professor at Trinity College in Dublin for the past 28 years. He has a very dry sense of humor and gave a very interesting presentation. We walked around the Trinity campus and learned that it has over 16,000 students in a variety of disciplines such as law and medicine. It's an old school, dating back to the seventeenth century.

After the tour, we waited in line to see the Book of Kells exhibit and the old library. It was very interesting. The Book of Kells is an elaborately decorated book dating back hundreds of years when the books were printed by hand on vellum, made from animal skins. The pigments used for the various colors came from many parts of the known world.

After seeing the Book of Kells and the old library, we visited the Science Gallery, also at Trinity College. The gallery was showing ideas that futurists came up with to deal with population growth in the world's cities. They have some interesting ideas, such as planting   bare areas using balls of dirt and clay that have seeds inside. When it rains, the balls break apart and the seeds germinate.

We also stopped at the National Gallery. Bruce wanted to see an exhibit on the artists and artwork for the Punch Magazine throughout the years. It was a very entertaining exhibit.

At night, we had a delicious dinner at the Clyde Court Hotel Restaurant, not far from our guesthouse. Nancy and I spotted it and it turned out to be a great place to go.

Day 30, July 28, 2012

This morning, we bid a fond farewell to our faithful rental car. It was a Skota Superb 5-speed diesel, made in the Czech Republic. I can't say enough good things about this car. It had a smooth ride and we made use of the large trunk (boot), which handled  all our luggage. The check-in at the Avis rental car return at Dublin Airport couldn't have been easier.  I think the car detailing paid off. We were soon on our way back to Dublin.

We're staying this week at the Pembroke Town House. We're within walking distance of many of the major attractions of Dublin, such as Trinity College, the museums, and st. Stephen's Green. Nancy's brother and sister-in-law, Bruce and Caroline, arrived this morning from New York City. We have 3 rooms in the hotel.

While Bruce and Caroline dealt with their jet lag by catching a few hours of sleep, I walked to the Museum of Natural History and the Museum of Archaeology. They were both interesting. I was able to catch part of  a lecture by the resident geologist at the Museum of Natural Museum about meteorites. He had a number of specimens on display, including the Limerick Meteorite which came to earth in the year 1813. I took a heft of it and later learned it weighed 45 kg, which is over 100 pounds.

At about 3 p.m., the six of us met up at the hotel lobby and took our own walk. We had an afternoon snack and walked to the river Liffey. Nancy and I took the DART train back and the others took a taxi (the taxi was definitely faster). We went out to dinner at the Clyde Court Hotel Restaurant and it turned out to have some of the best food we've had on our trip.

Day 29, July 27,2012

Today, we're visiting the city of Athlone, which is in the very center of Ireland. We boarded a "Viking" boat on the River Shannon, at Athlone Castle. The trip was from the castle to the Monastery of Clonmacnoise, founded in 545 A.D. by St. Ciaran. At the beginning of the tour, the boat entered a lock which lowered the water level about four feet. About an hour later, we reached Clonmacnoise and toured the site for about 90 minutes before returning to athlone on a bus.

One of our goals today was to get our rental car washed and vacuumed. Four weeks of Irish roads and weather put the car under a layer of dirt that would put an Irish bog to shame. We arrived in Drogheda at our B&B around 4 p.m. which keft us plenty of time to get the car washed. It sure looked better once it was cleaned. There was actually a car under all that dirt.

Irish roads have letter designations that determine speed limits. The M roads are the high speed freeways, with a 120 kph speed limit (about 75 mph). The next roads are N roads, with a maximum speed of 100 kph (about 62 mph). R roads are rural roads with a maximum speed of 80 kph (about 50 mph). The lowest designation are L roads, which range in width from narrow to narrower, and have a maximum speed of 60 kph (about 37 mph). We road on all of these types of roads in the past four weeks.

Day 28, July 26, 2012

I'm looking at the blog  day number and see  that it's been four weeks since we left for this trip. Time has sure gone by quickly. Some may wonder how we can spend so much time in an area as small as Ireland. I must say, it's not too hard. Ireland is so unique and different that we will only scratch the surface of all it has to offer. We have loved staying in B&B's and meeting so many wonderful people. The B&B owners have been kind, caring and interesting people. They love to talk and share their experiences. I don't think you can really get to know a place unless you have a chance to interact with the people. I think we've been very fortunate in the opportunities we've had so far. If I had it to do again, I don't think I'd do a thing differently from what we've done. it pays to do some advance planning and set up your itinerary. That way, you can make reservations in some of the best B&B's. We used tripadvisor.com to see how other people rated the B&B's in the places we stayed. By booking several months in advance, we were able to get the places that were rated the highest. The prices have been very reasonable too. Most of the places we've stayed have been about 70 to 80 euros per night, which is under 100 U.S. dollars.

Today, we had another beautiful day. Since it was raining when we drove through Connemara two days ago, we decided to drive through it again, but this time in the sunshine. That turned out to be a good idea. We saw it so much better the second time around.

We eventually made our way to the B&B we're staying at tonight, St. Ruth's Farmhouse. It's a wonderful place. Helen, the owner, made us some delicious rhubarb tartlets and served us tea after dinner. She then shared her experiences growing up in Ireland. Her father died young, leaving his wife with five children to raise. They lived in a thatch roofed house and were very poor. They lived on a farm and their mother had to rent out the farmland. She was a good money manager and eventually, she was able to take back all the farm land she had rented out, start a dairy, and put two of the children through college. Helen contracted tuberculosis and spent three years in a TB sanitorium. Her own story was as interesting as that of her mother.

Day 27, July 25, 2012

It's sunny today, a great day for touring. We left our B&B in Westport and headed north. Our first stop was at the town of Newport, where we hoped to get some good pictures of the aqueduct known as the Seven Arches. It has been converted into a pedestrian walkway but the exterior looks the same as it has for many years. We were in luck. The sun was in the perfect position to create striking reflections of the bridge, clouds, and buildings. We got some great pictures, some of which I posted on my Facebook page.

We left Newport and drove onto Achill Island. There were some stunning views, especially from the seaside cliffs. It made for some interesting driving too. I think I can truthfully say that I've experienced about all the types of roads that Ireland has to offer. If I can make it two more days without any mishaps, I will consider my driving in Ireland a success. We turn the car in on Saturday, so on Friday, we plan to have it cleaned inside and out so it won't show much off the wear and tear from four weeks of use.

When we left the island, we headed north again, this time heading for a World Heritage Site known as the Ceide Fields. This is considered to be the largest neolithic site in the world. Fields, fences, houses, and buildings from 5000 years ago were gradua

lly covered with peat through the encroachment of bogs. After 5000 years, the fields were covered to a depth of 5 to 10 feet. When farmers were cutting peat to use as fuel, they discovered the fences and building under the peat. The ancient farmlands under the peat extend for several square miles. It is too costly to uncover all the fields so they have determined the extend of the fields and fences by using metal probes and bamboo sticks to show where objects lie beneath the peat. It was very interesting, to say the least. There were also sheer sea cliffs nearby which were quite appealing.

We made our way back to Westport and went back to the same restaurant we ate at last night, the West Bar. The reason I was so eager to return to that particular bar/restaurant was due to what I learned about their seafood chowder. Their chowder was named the best chowder in 2012 for all of Ireland. This November, it will be entered in the world chowder competition in Boston. I had to try it and I was not disappointed. It was the best chowder that I ever tasted. I think it will win.

After dinner, we dropped George and Grace off at our B&B, and Nancy and I headed off to take a few evening pictures. We drove to the visitor's center and trailhead for Croagh Patrick, a 2500 foot high mountain made famous by St. Patrict. Legend has it that Patrick fasted for 40 days of Lent, climbed the mountain, rang a bell, and drove out all the snakes in Ireland. Every year, on the last Sunday in July, as many as 30,000 people will climb the mountain in honor of St. Patrick. Most of them are Catholics and they will celebrate mass at the church at the top of the mountain. Some will make the trek barefoot. Some will come back down on sretchers. I guess it's quite a sight.

Day 26, July 24, 2012

Today, we caught the noon ferry which took us from Inishmore (Inis Mor, in Gaelic) back to the Irish mainland. It was a rainy day today, which was not unusual. This summer has been the wettest summer since weather records were first recorded in 1910. The same has been true for the UK and much of Europe. If you're there in hot, dry weather in the United States, just know that this part of the world is not sharing the same experience.

We drove through the beautiful Connemara region today which is beautiful even on a rainy day. It's also a good time to see the water flowing down the mountain sides. We stopped at the Connemara National Park visitor center, saw an exhibit and film about thehistory of the area, then took a short hike to see a bog. Bogs have some interesting properties. If something falls in the bog, it will experience very little decay even over a period of hundreds or even thousands of years. Long ago, the inhabitants of the region would pull out tree trunks that had fallen into the bog centuries ago and use them for construction of their houses.

Another interesting place we stopped at on the way was the Kylemore Abbey. This was a beautiful castle-like house that was built in the mid 1800's as a wedding gift. We think that, considering such a beautiful setting in the mountains of Connemara, the gift was well-received.

We arrived in Westport a few minutes before 6 p.m. and checked into our B&B, the Augusta Lodge. We'll be here for two nights and it looks like we'll have an excellent stay.

I'm having a hard time persuading the rest of the family into listening to the Irish music. They don't start the music until 9:30 at night and, by that time, everyone is worn out. One of our hosts told us that there is a saying in Ireland that you don't leave the pub on the same day that you go in. It's not uncommon for the music to continue well after midnight.

Day 25, July 23, 2012

We started off the day with, hands down, the best breakfast we've had in Ireland. We stayed at the Devondell B&B in Galway and Berna, our hostess, pulled out all the stops tempting us with a wide array of food choices (and that was just the "pre" breakfast before she brought in the main course). I loved the Bircher's Meusli, which was her own creation. Wow!

After regretfully pulling ourselves away from the breakfast table, we drove 23 miles to the ferry to the Aran Islands. We chose to visit Inishmore (Inis Mor), the largest of the Islands. We had purchased a special package which included the round trip ferry and rooms in the B&B, Clai Ban. When we arrived, it was raining lightly. It looked like bike rentals might be a little slow today.

We checked into our B&B, had lunch, then went on a wonderful guided tour in a mini-van. The tour guide was from the island and he pointed out many things that would have gone unnoticed.

The highlight of the tour was a visit to Dun Aonghas, a spectacular cliff-top fort that overlooks the sea. The cliffs up to the fort are 300 feet high. You have to be careful not to get too close to the edge --there are no fences, so you need to use caution. The last accident was about seven years ago when a German tourist was looking through his camera and accidently fell off the cliff.

If you watch the movie, Leap Year, with Amy Adams, you will see scenes that were filmed here in Inishmore.  The place is truly beautiful.

Day 24, July 22, 2012

This morning, we left our excellent B&B at Lough Gur and headed toward our next destination, Galway. We timed our departure so we could attend a worship service at the Ennis Evangelical Church in Ennis, Ireland north of Shannon Airport. We enjoyed rhe service. They sang a lot of songs intermixed with Bible passages.

After church, we ate at a Hillbilly Chicken Restaurant in Ennis before heading for a region known as the Burren. The Burren is a large area in County Clare with limestone outcroppings that cover the landscape. It's been inhabited for thousands of years. There are many tombs, stone forts, and rock walls that were built centuries or even millenia ago. We stopped at an interesting place called the Burren Perfumery where they make their own herbal perfumes, soaps, lotions, and body care products. The Burren is unique in all the flowers and flora it supports. 70% of all the types of flora in Ireland grow here. After our stop at the perfumery, we went and visited a tomb that consists of a large rock slab balanced on four stones. The slab weighs about two tons. It is hard to imagine how people managed to place it on the four stones 5000 years ago. Obviously, they found a way.

We finished the drive into Galway, arriving at our B&B at about 5:30. We used latitude and longitude coordinates keyed into our GPS to find our B&B. It worked like a champ, bringing us right to the front doorstep.

Day 23, July 21, 2012

I was just checking on the score of the SF Giants game. It's 3 to 3 in the top of the 11th inning. It's unusual to be able to follow a game in real time since I'm 8 hours different from the west coast and 5 hours from the east coast. It looks like they've been doing well since we've been in Ireland.

Today, we went into downtown Limerick and visited the Hunt Museum, St. Mary's Cathedral, and King George's Castle. Rick Steves, in his guidebooks, bypasses Limerick but we think it's worth a visit. A lot of people fly into Shannon Airport which is just west of Limerick. We didn't visit some of the main tourist attractions in the area  such as Adare or Bunratty Castle but we've still had a good time.

In the afternoon, we headed east of Limerick and went on a hike on a national hiking trail called Clare Glen. The trail follows a river with many cascades and small waterfulls. It was a great place to come, and the weather was nice today.

I'm feeling more and more comfortable driving on the opposite side of the road, shifting with my left hand, añd sitting on the opposite side of the car. The unnatural part is driving on roads so narrow that cows have to walk on them single file (I'm kidding, but not by much).

I'm typing using an android tablet with a virtual keyboard that blocks what I'm typing. I can't see what I'm typing until I finish since the virtual keyboard blocks the paragraph I'm working on. It's a bit frustrating. I know I'm making a few typos but it's too hard to fix them. I'll leave it to your imagination to try and figure out what I'm really trying to write.

Day 22, July 20, 2012

Today was planned to be a genealogy day. Nancy and Grace were very keen to trace the steps of their Irish ancestors and walk where they walked. In the morning, they were waiting for an email response from the genalogist in Limerick. That response came at 11 a.m. She was able to find the baptismal record for Garrrett Cops in the year 1838.

While the ladies were waiting for that information, George and I went to explore the local area around Lough Gur. We came across the Grange stone circle that is the largest stone circle in Europe. It was used for ceremonial purposes as long as 3000 years ago. We also found a church that was built by one of the Earls of Desmond in the 1500's. It fell into disrepair but was restored in the year 1645.

After the  ladies got their preliminary genalogical report, we piled into the car and headed off to the town of Shanagolden, which was the home of Grace and Nancy's Nancy's  ancestors. We spent at least two hours in the town, visiting cemetaries and walking the main street of town.

On the way back, we drove through the town of Adare, a very well-known town with many historical sites. We decided that there were too many other people with the same idea of visiting the town so we continued on our way.

We took a short nap then went out to dinner again in the town of Bruff. Bruff is the home of a very famous racehorse, Istabarq. This horse won 21 major races and was largely responsible for making it's owner one of the richest men in Europe. We ate at Clancey's Restaurant which is also know as Istabarq Restaurant. I had a good talk with the owner of the restaurant about horse racing in Ireland. I learned that an owner of a successful racehorse can make 100 million dollars just from stud fees alone.

Day 21, July 19, 2012

Today was a typical day in Ireland...three medieval castles, one Franciscan Abbey, a Knights' Templar Tower, and a beautiful sunset. The weather has improved. After all the rain, it's nice to see the sun.

We left Dingle, drove through Tralee and headed northeast, with the Limerick area as our destination. We stopped in the town of Listowel and were treated to a very nice tour of a castle. The sastle has been restored and is as close as possible to it's original condition. There is even a "murder hole", where muskets could be fired at approaching soldiers and gardaroles, which are the equivalent of indoor toilets.

From there, we drove along the mouth of the Shannon River and stopped in the town of Askeaton, where we saw another castle, a beautiful abbey, and a tower that was used by the Knights Templar. There was also an exhibit dedicated to four citizens of the town who were passengers on the Titanic. Of the four, two survived and two perished.

At 3 p.m., we arrived in Limerick and met with a genealogist regarding Nancy and Grace's ancestors. She is working on finding baptismal and marriage records of several of the ancestors from the Limerick area.

After this meeting, we continued on to our B&B, called the Desmond Lodge, which is located next to a very historic lake called Lough Gur. There is eveidence of human habitation in the area for the past 6000 years. We went to the visitor center and took a hike which gave us some nice views of the lake.

We went out to dinner at the Old Bakehouse Restaurant in Bruff. The food was excellent. After dinner, we were treated to a gorgeous sunset.

Day 20, July 18, 2012

Time is passing quickly. We're now at the half-way point of our trip. It won't be long before we'll be leaving the cool, moist weather of Ireland and returning to the hot, dry weather of Northern California.

The fog finally lifted so we thought we'd have another go at the Dingle Peninsula. It was raining lightly but at least the visibility was better. We now have another road hazard to add to our list on Irish roads -- cattle. A whole herd of them marched past our car just like they owned the place (they probably do, at least more than I do). We drove to the west end of the peninsula where we could see the westernmost spot in Europe. 

We completed the circuit on the Dingle Peninsula and decided to head to the city of Tralee which is the county seat of County Kerry. We took some pictures of one of the oldest operating windmills in the world which was built in 1800. 

Next, we visited the Kerry County Museum in Tralee which had some interesting exhibits on Irish history. The city park was next to the museum and it is widely known for it's rose gardens. I also happened upon a photo shoot for publicity photos of candidates for the title of "The Rose of Tralee". They've had a big festival in August since the 1950's where they select one young lady to be the "Rose of Tralee". It's quite an honor because this young lady acts as an ambassador for Ireland and meets heads of state from other countries. There are 32 candidates, included some from other countries such as the United States.

When we returned to Dingle, we decided to splurge by indulging in a 3-course dinner at "Half the Door" restaurant. It was great and I'm still full hours later.

Day 19, July 17, 2012

Alright, already! What's with this weather?! Today was not only rainy, it was foggy too. We were hoping the fog would lift but, unfortunately, it didn't the entire day. We are at one of the most beautiful spots in all of Ireland, the Dingle Peninsula, and can't see anything. We are staying here three nights so hopefully the weather and the visibility will improve.

We waited until late in the morning hoping the fog would lift. When it didn't, we set off anyways making our way from Dingle. We stopped at a pottery shop and admired but didn't buy. From there, we went to the Dunbeg Stone Fort. It looked very much like the Staige Stone Fort we had seen yesterday on the Kerry Peninsula but was smaller. It also had earthen ramparts for defence and was much closer to the ocean than the other fort. It also was built about 2500 years ago during the Bronze Age.

Yesterday, we drove on narrow roads further than any previous day. Today, we also had narrow roads. Between the fog, blind corners, walls and bushes on both sides, cyclists, hikers, tour buses, and other cars, it made for some interesting driving. I'm happy to have driven over 2,000 kilometers in Ireland on some of the narrowest roads imaginable without a mishap so far. I'm hoping that trend continues.

We found a nice indoor activity at the west end of the Dingle Peninsula at the Blascaod Center. Here, we learned about people who lived on the Great Blasket Island which is a few miles off the coast. This hardy group of people had lived on the island for hundreds of years until their numbers declined and they finally left the island in 1952. They had a very interesting story to tell about life on this small and rugged island.

By this time, the weather had not improved so we decided to head back to Dingle. We took a long nap, went out to dinner, then came back to our B&B for a friendly game of "Hand and Foot", a card game our family enjoys. That was about the extent of our day. We're hoping for better weather tomorrow. It's ironic that where we live in California, the weather has been extremely hot and dry, while here it's been cool and wet. I'm sure the people here would take cool weather over scorching hot weather any day.

Day 18, July 16, 2012

 I went to do my blog tonight and realized that I hadn't done one for yesterday. Shame on me! Well, here goes.

We left Kenmare on somewhat of a gray day and headed around the "Ring of Kerry" in a clockwise direction. The tourist books all recommend that you travel in a counter-clockwise direction but, not wanting to be conformists, and also not wanting to repeat a part of the route we had already done, we decided to go in this direction.

Our first stop was in the town of Sneem at something that sounded interesting to us, the Kerry Geopark Center. We learned a little about the rocks and geology of the are and, more importantly, we learned that there are dinosaur tracks in the rock on the Island of Valentia which was a sidetrip we could easily add to our trip today.

At Castlecove, we headed inland a few kilometers and came to the Staige Stone Fort, a fort the largest of it's size in the area, that was built about 2500 years ago. It made me wonder who they were protecting themselves from. The history of Ireland is quite fascinating.

From there, we continued west along the Ring of Kerry route until we came to the far west end of the Kerry Peninsula and started a round called the "Ring of Skelligs". There seem to be a lot of rings around here. We drove across a bridge separating the mainland from the Valentia Island. Our quest for dinosaur tracks had begun. We asked about the tracks at "The Skellig Experience Center". If the weather had been better, we may have taken a boat to the Skelligs which are rocky islands off the coast of Ireland where Skellig Michael, a monastic settlement dating to about the fifth century, was founded.

In spite of the somewhat inclement weather, we could still find our dinosaur tracks. On the way, we tried to drive to a well where St. Brendan had baptized people around 500 A.D. I learned that this is the same man who reportedly sailed across the Atlantic and discovered America long before Leif Ericson or Christopher Columbus. This was the first road in Ireland we failed to navigate. It was too rutted and wet to hazard driving on it so we turned around and headed back in search of the dinosaur tracks.

Success! We found the tracks. They were described as being tracks made by a tetrapod, which means "four feet". This lizardlike creature walked across the mud many years ago. The mud solidified to form rock and the tracks remain. They are described as being the earliest "in situ" tracks made by a vertebrate in the world. That's pretty impressive. I have a picture of the tracks on my Facebook page.

By this time, we needed to make our own tracks and get to our B&B on the Dingle Peninsula in the town of Dingle. We arrived shortly before 6 p.m. and checked in. Our rooms have the best view of the harbor and town. Too bad the weather is not cooperating. We're glad we are here for a long time because we can afford to have some rainy days.

Day 17, July 15, 2012

This morning, we left the Kinsale area and headed toward Killarney National Park. Our GPS used some creative routing and took us on roads that made me glad there was no one coming in the opposite direction.

Our first stop was at the Muckross House which was built by the Herbert famiy around 1848. Mr. Herbert was a member of Parliament and fairly well-to-do. He received word that Queen Victoria would be visiting Muckross House in six years (I guess they believed in advance planning back then). He made elaborate preparations which included the construction of specially made furniture and the weaving of fine curtains. He was hoping that the queen would bestow a title on him or give him a large sum of money. The queen and Prince Albert arrived in August of 1861 along with an entourage of 100 servants. The visit lasted two days. No title or money was given to Mr. Herbert even though he had spent a huge sum of money in preparation of the visit. He soon hit on hard financial times and was forced to sell Muckross House. Eventually it was given to Ireland and it was restored and opened to the public.

While visited some falls in the area, we were asked if we would like to take a horse and buggy ride (locally known as a "jaunting car"). The asking price was surprisingly reasonable so we decided to go. The trip lasted close to an hour and we had the best time.

Our B&B tonight is in the town of Kenmare, which is on the famous "Ring of Kerry" route. We had a nice dinner then took a walk to see an old bridge constructed hundreds of years ago known as "Cromwell's Bridge" (although it had nothing to do with Oliver Cromwell). We continued our walk and found a large stone circle that was constructed about 3000 years ago, possibly by the Druids.