Thursday, March 14, 2013

To sum up: Doolin to Dingle

We've made our way to Dingle Peninsula. From the west coast in Doolin, where we went to the top of the Cliffs of Moher, visited Doolin Cave, traveled round The Burren, dined and listened to trad music at 0'Connor's pub, we headed southwest through Cork, to Kinsale. Kinsale was part of a wine fleet that transported wine from France and Italy to other parts of the world. So if you know me at all, Kinsale would be my favorite town. It being a wine port, how could I not fall in love!? Unfortunately, the castle containing the wine museum, was not open this time if year. Thus making our trip back in 2018 that much more necessary. We enjoyed our stay in Kinsale very much. I was grateful we found a B&B that was open and had availability. You see, as we made our drive into Kinsale, we drove right through a mild snow storm that followed us all the way into town. When the locals are taking pictures of the snowfall just as you are, you know it's a rare occurrence. We settled into our B&B, I took a shower and we sipped on cider before we headed out to dinner. We got a few recommendations and found ourselves at the White House. An excellent pub/restaurant/B&B that served amazing seafood dishes and of course my new found favorite, Bulmers Cider. I believe Jacob already posted about the Americans, so I'll skip that. We turned in fairly early in hopes for a somewhat early start the next day. We wanted to tour the town a bit before heading out to Kenmare and we needed a post office .....which ended up being closed. However, we did find a chocolatier, Jacob bought a new flat cap, and I got a wool throw blanket. We did the most shopping we've done so far, in Kinsale. I loved this little town and can't wait to go back. There were many places we saw and plenty more we would love to discover! We got on the road around 12:30 (earlier than our past departure times) and after a couple of detours, thanks to our gps Garwin, we were finally on our way! Traveling through beautiful countryside and mountains dotted with snow, we eventually made our way into the small town of Kenmare and checked into our B&B, Riverville House. It was just off Main Street right along side the river. We had an excellent dinner that night, no live music that evening and we turned in pretty early. Our drive from Kenmare to Dingle was pretty pleasant. It wasn't as far as other drives and it was all scenic. We took the northern part of the ring of Kerry, through Killarney National park. I'm glad we took this route for two reasons. 1, it was shorter, so it wasn't an ALL DAY drive. And 2, the scenery was gorgeous! We stopped to view Torc Waterfall, Muckross House & Gardens, Muckross Abbey, and Ross Castle. Torc Waterfall was stunning. I imagine even more so once the snow melts and sends the water careening down the mountain. We, or I should say Jacob, took plenty of pictures from all views/angels of the waterfall and down the mountain overlooking the lake. We dint hike all the way up to the top. Jacob went farther than I did, I didn't want to slip and fall on the muddy trail. We skipped the tour of Muckross house and the gardens. Mostly due to time, but also because we had already visited the beautiful Victorian walled garden at Kylemore Abbey. The grounds around Muckross House were quite beautiful though. And we will be returning because the Traditional Farm was closed during this time of year, and we'd like to go back. We didn't tour Ross Castle, because we didn't want to arrive in Dingle to late. However, we did walk around the grounds and along the water's edge. The tour did seem pretty awesome, so we will have to go back to do that. Finishing the drive through Killarney, more countryside and mountains, we found ourselves in Dingle Bay, and we arrived at Greenmount House around 5:30. Stupid Garwin got us on a bit of a detour, again. Thankfully it didn't get us turned around much and we were already in town like we needed to be. I love Dingle. It's a bigger town, compared to Kinsale and Kenmare, but it still has a small town feel. From what I gather anyway. We are having a bit of a lazy day, cozy'd up by the fire at Greenmount House. I'm enjoying the relaxation and not being stuck in the car. Dingle As I look down from Greenmount Upon the harbour scene, I cannot but stand still and gaze At beauty all men must praise. The tourists speed on road below And miss what now I see; A little town at the water's edge Sheltered by hills serene. Brandon and Blasket beckon on, They call and call and claim A rugged and splendid shore and sea And, yes, they deserve that fame. But see, the harbour, the pier, the hills, The church, the road, the streets: Are the cradle, the nurse, the place, the scene Where the father first called me to be. Sr. Canice Barrett

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