So now we arrive in Ireland, the land of green. We drove down the wet, I mean, west coast from Sligo through Westport to Galway and finally Killarney. Along the way we saw endless beautiful and sometimes barren terrain. The Connemara National Park was half tundra-like and half treed with the beautiful Kylemore Abbey in the middle of it. We would have seen more of it but all the good weather luck we'd been having ran out on us. The most popular natural tourist attraction in Ireland awaited us at the Cliffs of Insanity (The Princess Bride) otherwise known as the Cliffs of Moher (over 200 metres high). The winds were incredible so the park workers weren't collecting admission from visitors because they didn't want to be held responsible. They just stood there and advised us not to go or go at our own risk (preferably without children). I asked what the wind gusts were and was told 140 kms per hour. We fought our way to the edge, took our pictures, and then struggled back to the car. We have never felt winds like that before. The real kicker was when we drove down to the next coastal town where the winds were only slightly less violent, we saw golfers hacking away despite the extreme weather. Just put a toque on and aim strategically (perpendicular comes to mind). And then on the bluff overlooking the ocean, they were putting up Fair Rides like a tall Ferris Wheel. These people are a different breed!
We took the Shannon Ferry and arrived in the Killarney region at one of the most welcoming Airbnbs we have ever experienced. We would still be there if they let us move in. Adah and her family made our time in the Land of Kerry memorable even without the sights.
There are two main peninsula excursions in Kerry - the Dingle Drive and the Ring of Kerry. Our Dingle Drive was unforgettable from the sunshine to the cliffs to the extremely narrow roads (have I mentioned them before?) to the breathtaking views. We fell in love with the colourful streets of Dingle and enjoyed wandering through the shops. We celebrated our amazing day by visiting Killarney (half a gazillion other tourists joined us). We looked forward to a similar drive around the Ring of Kerry.
The next day Hurricane Gert arrived (or what was left of it) and socked the whole area in fog and rain. We drove the twisty narrow roads all day with barely any visibility. The only highlight (besides the Skellig Chocolate Factory) was when the fog lifted a couple of feet so we could enjoy some of the quaint towns. We will have to come back some day to see the infamous Skellig Islands where Star Wars footage was shot. The next Star Wars film is set to be shot on the Dingle Peninsula in December of this year. It's easy to see why film crews would want to use this unique scenery for their settings. (The photo of Skellig is off a poster.) Queen Victoria's little cottage getaway at Muckross finished our time in this scenic corner of Ireland.
We headed off to Dublin with a couple of stops in the middle of Ireland. Rock of Cashel is a very impressive castle just north of Tipperary that is still in very good shape. It was home to the kings of Munster before being given to the Church in the 1100s. Kilkenny has a beautiful castle overlooking the River Nore and a colourful (what else is new in Ireland) downtown. And then it was time to experience Dublin.
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