Saturday April 11, 2009

Today we woke up for the included breakfast of toast and jam…yum. Then it was onwards to the majestic beauty that is The Dingle Peninsula (the most western point in Ireland). It was a rainy start to the day so in hopes of the weather clearing we stopped in the fishing village of Dingle to walk around for an hour. Of course shortly after our filling toast and jam breakfast we were already hungry again so we stopped in a small organic café for coffee and scones. Yum!

Then it was back to the bus to continue further along the Dingle Peninsula where the film Far & Away with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman was filmed…I want to see it now! The Gaelic speaking peninsula is filled with beautiful landscapes and archeological treasures. We took the most incredible scenic tour around the peninsula’s Slea Head. We got out many times to breath in the sea air and admire the Ireland’s beauty. At one point Mike dropped us off and then drove ahead for awhile so we could walk for a stretch of the drive.

We came to a beach right before the very tip of the peninsula that we walked down to and explored. It was breathtaking! It was set into the cliffs that had crevices with plants and fresh water dribbling down and pools of blue ocean water in the sand. I’m terrible at describing these places so hopefully the photos will do it better justice. The drive continued with a few more pit stops along the other side of the peninsula. Our last scenic spot was an ancient cemetery with the remains of church.

By now it was time for lunch so we cut back across the peninsula to the town of Dingle where we started our day. Mike suggested eating at Murphy’s pub so we did of course. Since Dingle is a fishing village, it was only appropriate that we order fish n’ chips. Another not-so-light but very tasty lunch.

Then it was off to Killarney about an hour away. Here we took a jaunting car (aka carriage ride) through the Killarney National Park passing a few lakes and Ross castle among other things I don’t remember. Our ride started out sunny but ended in rain unfortunately. It was a beautiful park but the carriage ride itself is overrated and overpriced. After our ride we warmed up with coffee in town and then continued down the road.





That night we stayed in Cork, the Republic of Ireland’s second biggest city (Belfast isn’t part of the republic) which was still quite small. It was a fun little town with English inspired architecture and a variety of ethnic restaurants and shopping. For dinner we took a break from Irish pub fare opting for Chinese food instead. I had the House Special Lo Mein as always…it was delicious but not my 119th street Chinese Palace.

After dinner we met up with the rest of our tour group at a pub that Mike suggested to hang out for the rest of the evening. It was more like a oversized commercial bar playing mostly classic American music. This wasn’t the atmosphere we were looking for so we moved down the crowded street to another more "authentic" pub.