Thursday Morning in Ballinskellig

It was a calm, foggy morning. I did have plans to go for a little walk but wound up doing postcards instead. I decided to wear my new teal blue sweater today as we are going out on a boat to the Skellig Islands. Layers are good. I got myself organized and then Maureen and I made breakfast and made our lunches.

There was a small moment of panic with regards to the payment for the boat. I thought I could use my visa and that it cost 80 euros. Maureen thought it was cash and that it cost 40 euros each. In the process of finding out that the price was in fact 40 euros each and had to be in cash, I learned that the phone system in Ireland is different than our own. There you dial the number and wait to hear someone speak, then you put in your coins. It felt like too much pressure for me and I actually screwed up the first time and then didn't get all the right information the second time. The fellow from Germany with his two sons was gracious and loaned me 60 cents as I had run out of the proper coins.We told them about the trip to Cape Clear island and they told us about cycling all over Ireland. We all had a very sociable morning.

Doing the dishes looking out at the hills of Ballinskellig I saw a bunny playing in the brush along the wall to the hostel yard. Fauna. It was cute. Packed up our room and headed out.

I am getting tired all ready. It was still foggy at 930.

I decided to bring both my cameras, the waterproof one for the boat and my digital for the island.

So far I have taken 1355 pictures. Can that be right?

I got a real chuckle out of one sign on the road.

Bump! Thats a good one considering the roads, although in that area, they actually were not all that bad.

We first went to the post office and mailed a bunch of postcards.

Maureen checked into her phone card but no help there (but in a very nice way)and into mailing a parcel. 30 euros for 5 lbs! Maureen said she'll wear everything.

Stopped for a coffee at the little coffee shop on the beach and what a beach. I can just see thousands of people there in the summer and there would be room to spare.

There was an old abby that we would have liked to get out to but we ran out of time

On to the the boat wharf. Maureen left her lunch at the hostel and I didn't think to ask her if she grabbed it when I packed the food out into the car. Oh well we will make one out of the food that got brought.

My finger hurts. Left hand, middle finger, middle knuckle, little bruise. It will get better. I don't remember banging it on anything?

Life.

Wednesday in Ballinskellig

We found the pier that we were going to be using the next day to go to the Skellig Islands. There was this odd kind of abandoned building in the field next to the beach. Maybe it was an old cannery or maybe it was old housing. The beach by the pier was rocky and we did not spend a lot of time there. Of course the weather might have had something to do with that too. Even though the sun was trying to come out, it was windy, grey and cool. Or it might have been the fact that there was no washroom.

We went in search of the grocery store. We found it.

It was the grocery/hardware/gas station for the area.

It was being manned by three young girls who were I believe keeping one of them company while they worked.

We picked up some cheese, pasta, bread, eggs, juice and postcards.

The hills which rise from the shore in Ballinskellig are gorgeous. Ballingskellig is not so much a town as an area. Now there is a town very small.

There were lots of houses up on the hills but we found out that they were mostly used in the summer by holidayers.

The sun did manage to come out and it changed the countryside enormously. We found a church with a bar right next door.

We decided to go to the church first. It was a very simple church but it had two beautiful stained glass windows. One was the most gorgeous stained glass window of St Michael and the Skellig Islands and the other was of St Teresa. the Irish really like St Teresa.

After we visited the church and the church yard we went into the bar. There were only a few people there. The Barmaid was very helpful and told us that her Murphy's was not bitter as she cleaned out her pipes on a regular basis. And you know what, her Murphy's was not bitter. There were three gentlemen sitting at the bar and one tried to strike up a conversation with us.

I couldn't understand very much of what he said because of his accent, but his companions translated. He wanted to know if I was married or divorced.

I told him I was single and not interested. I asked him what did people do around there for work. were they fishermen or farmers? He said they worked on computers. or they didn't work as they were retired. that's when the barmaid, Rosie, found out that I was an O'Brien and she told me her cousin was an O'Brian and that we were probably related.

She took my email address and said that when she talked to her cousin she would get him to contact me. Turned out that he was related to the Kennedy's and I know that we are not so I figure that we are not related.

We went back to the hostel and I had a shower. It was a bad shower. the water went all over the floor! in the whole bathroom! We made ourselves a dinner of mac and cheese and played a little rummy with a nice cup of tea and went to sleep.

Wednesday Killarney to Ballinskellig

We had heard a few tales that made

us a little nervous about the road but it was fine really. After the Caha it was practically a piece of cake.

Gassed up in Kilorglin. They have a goat with a crown whose name is King Puck. They also have a big river and a festival once a year.

Maureen did very well on the traffic circles that she had to navigate as she sang 'we are going to Kildenny'.

We were on the N70 which was a narrow road but not as bad as some. Every town that we went through had a big church. Too big for the size of the town it seemed.

We went through a little town and there was a farmer on a tractor.He was using it like his car.

Maybe it was his car. Such a stereotypical picture of an Irish farmer. Rubber boots, jacket, tractor. I loved it.

The weather had changed back to what it was earlier, cold with grey skies and very windy. We came to this little bridge that was only wide enough for one way traffic. It was a very short bridge and we wondered why they didn't just widen it or build another bridge.

From that point on we were following the coast and the water was as grey as the skies.

We saw a strand of sand going out into the bay between the Kerry and Dingle peninsulas. It was very cool. Someone had told us that from the far tip of the sandbar you could see the Dingle peninsula.

I didn't think so that day as the weather was making any visibility over any distance difficult at best. Passed the Kells turnoff without seeing the town.

We did see sheep on the hills. This time they had blue dots or no dots at all. suddenly they seemed to be everywhere.

The road started to move inland away from the coast and it changed back into more of a goat trail type of road with lots of twists and turns.We came up on a tractor on the road and we passed it. Maureen was really starting to get the hang of it by then.

The views were very nice and we decided that now was a good time to listen to Van Morisson. Brown eyed girl in the Irish country side . Could life get any better.

Spoke to soon. There was this bridge that was very narrow. I sure hoped no buses had to navigate that one. The sun tried to come out but the clouds were winning. They were hanging on the top of the hills like a blanket. The road almost went under a train bridge but it fooled us, it was a hairpin turn.

Cahersiveen was our next town and it was lovely too. It is on the river Fertha which flows into the Valentia Harbour. With the Beentee mountain at its back it was very picturesque even in the rain.

There were a lot of bed and breakfasts

in all of the towns that we passed so we were thinking that in the summer this place must be nuts.

I loved this towns very typical main roads with the two story buildings attached to each other in a variety of colours . It was like driving through a rainbow in every town. And of course there were great doors.

So much character. I wondered if the people living there knew how lucky they were or if they had become so used to it that it was just normal for them. Probably. Of course the draw backs are that the roads are so freaking narrow.

After Cahersiveen we went out into the wilds of Ireland,

off of the Ring of Kerry Road.

We found the Kilpeacan crossroads and then the R566 to Ballinskellig and drove through some pretty interesting country. The roads were narrow and hilly with what looked like sea grasses growing in the fields on both sides. There was this great bay with a long beach. We asked a young mother who was pushing her

stroller down the road if she knew where the hostel was and she said it was only about 200 feet down the road and up the hill.

We drove the 200 feet to the corner and there were signs.

Oh well, we were doomed from the start to look like idiot tourists for this trip. We went up the hill and located the hostel. There was a field with sheep next door and no one home at the hostel.

There were two other groups of people waiting for the proprietors too. they showed up and we got our room, a private with twin beds. The Hostel is new, only six years old, but it had a strange set up with three seperate buildings. sleeping quarters in two buildings and the kitchen and activity rooms in another. the latter each had thier own entrances so if you wanted to go from the activity room with the tv and computer in to the dining hall you had to go outside. and then to go to your rooms you had to go outside very odd.

we booked our boat ride out to the Skellig islands the next day and decided to go explore the area a little, try to find a grocery store and just to see what we

could see.

Wednesday Afternoon in Killarney

We walked the streets of Killarney looking for a place to stop and have a nice warm lunch. We found a great sweater shop. The most popular pattern in the sweaters is O'Brien so there were no more sweaters in that pattern. we looked around and got socks and gloves and picked up the O'Brien pattern so we could knit our own sweaters with the family pattern. We found a burger king in Killarney. It was the only burger king we had seen in the country but we didn't go there. we wanted Irish.Found a great little pub Murphy's and had tortellini in a cream tomato sauce

with a half pint of Killkenny beer and Maureen had a huge piece of cod and chips with same. It was very good and the bar people were very friendly too.

We looked at our walking tours card and found our way to the Franciscan Friary. I have always loved St Francis but then who doesn't.

A beautiful statue of him was in the front of the church. The Franciscans had been around that area for about 600 years.

Lets see, Canada was just discovered by John Cabot 600 years ago.

In the 1900's they built this church or added onto it.

It was very nice. Yellow with lots of wood.

Full of stunning mosaic tile walls and stained glass windows by famous Irish artisans. There was also a bell, very nice.

We wandered back to the car, picking up some Van Morrison and traditional Irish music Cd's on the way.

We headed out to the Ring of Kerry. Earlier we had found out that the tour buses all travel the Ring of Kerry only going in one direction.

This makes a lot of sense as, if two buses meet on these roads it would be impossible for them to pass each other. We had also learned that the buses travel on the inside lane so no scary cliff moments.

We wanted to follow the same route as the tour buses so we wouldn't have to worry a

bout meeting any buses coming toward us for the whole way. We did have a kind of Freudian slip of the tongue, we called it the ring of Scary.

My granddaughter Aurora would love Ireland. All the horses.

Wednesday Morning in Killarney

I did have dreams of curling toes and woke up to a heck of a wind and rain storm. It woke both of us up and we closed out window which seemed to have opened up during the night. We both went back to sleep. I got up around 7 and went into the hostel proper and made myself a cup of tea and caught up with the journal. Joe , a teacher from Dublin, was up and starting to get things organized for his 100 students who were on a bicycling tour. He was a very calm man for having to put up with what he had to put up with. He was a cyclist, teacher and cook.The hostel had signs up that you could stay for free in exchange for work.That would be something to check out in the future.

Maureen came down and we had a lovely breakfast of tea, cheese and bread planning the days activities.

We had pulled card number 37 from the village walks and were going to park at St Marys and walk from there.

We headed out to town. St Mary's cathedral was our first stop.

It was truly impressive in its neo-gothic style and was huge.

It was built in the 1840's and is the only cathedral in County Killarney.

It had a giant redwood tree planted outside of the church that was actually to mark a mass grave of famine victims.

The stained glass windows were spectacular. We lit candles in the church and took a lot of photos.

A short walk across Cathedral street and into Killarney National Park to walk down Cherry tree walk and we saw a jaunting cart.

Well that was the coolest thing we had seen so we asked one of the cart drivers where we could get a cart. He gave us directions and we headed there lickety split.

We found the jaunting car area set up across from the theater in town and booked Bob the Horse and John the Driver.

John had been doing that for 32 years and Bob for several. John was very knowledgeable in his history of the area.

He brought us into the National Park and along the lake. It was a bitter wind that was blowing that day and We were glad for the blanket and tarp that covered our laps.

We saw deer up close and cattle in the distance that are only raised in the park.

Ross Castle was very cool. It was the last stronghold in Ireland to fall to Cromwells army. We stayed there for about half an hour. there are tours that you can take but we did not have enough time to go on one so we just bought some postcards and poked around the outside of the castle.

Then back onto the jaunting car and out to the road by Muckross and into town.

We did pass a racetrack but there were no races that day.

We let John and Bob know that enjoyed our jaunting car experience very much when they dropped us off back downtown. We decided to find a place for lunch before continuing with out tour of Killarney.

Tuesday - On the way to Killarney

We went back to the highway and headed towards Killarney. you have to love the names of little towns in Ireland.

The river Sheen was very wide.

We stopped at a little weaver shop that had a sale sign out.

Joan and Jean were the proprietors. We met Joan, a sweetheart of a lady. While attempting to get down a sweater that we wanted to try on, she slipped off of the chair she was on and hurt her leg.

We felt awful. When she told us that they didn't take visa as it cost too much for them in their little business, we knew that we had to get some cash and come back.

So with some directions like the shop was in Killabanone then there is the area of Banone

but we needed to go to Kenmare which was just 8 minutes up the road we headed off. We found Kenmare about 15 minutes up the road, a really nice little town that was having a horse show that week.

Found the bank with no trouble and checked out a sweater shop on the corner. Then back to the weaver shop in Killabanone. My sweater was a lovely teal blue and Maureen's was grey white. We got 2 scarves, mittens for Rose and 2 hats. What a great little shop. The ladies must be in their 70's and they still knit everything. Joan also told us about one of the terms they use,' bumpfree' was junk mail.

When we went back through Kenmare we saw two kids. Now this is noteworthy as we hadn't really seen any kids on this trip yet. Where were they all?

We saw a sign that said Killarney was 32 Km. We started to see cyclers. Most were single file but a few were side by side on a narrow road. I went through a small rant about inconsiderate bicyclers in the car but was over it fairly quickly.

The road was becoming very narrow and curvy again and going up into the hills with more traffic. There were some great views but it was not nearly as scary as the Caha.

Molls gap was a break in the rocks literally.

There were sheep with red dots this time in very rocky fields. Lots of sharp corners in the road and lots of sheep both sides of the road up on the hillsides.

Very pretty. The sun was trying to come out but only succeeding every so often.

Lakes started to dot the lowlands below the road and became one long lake winding its way far down the valley.

We entered the Kilarney National Park. It looked rugged with craggy rocks and no more little fields with stonewalls.

We came around one corner and there was a little

lamb in the middle of the road. Maureen slowed in time to

not hit it and honked the horn to try and scare it off the road or it probably would get hit.

It was so darn cute. We pulled off at a viewpoint and got some great pictures of the park. The road brought us through a few tunnels and down to follow the lake.

The trees alongside the road were big all the way to Muckross and into Killarney. Killarney is literally at the edge of the Killarney National Park.

When we came to a traffic circle Maureen mentioned that she was always a little unsure of which way to go as in Canada we go the right and here we had to go to the left so I said If you want to know which way to go just go to kill Denny referencing of course my position in the car.

We both enjoyed that one.

Killarney has great roads, wide roads, clearly marked roads. We followed the ring road along a river and by a very large church.

We located the orange pub and then the Killarney International Hostel. We saw bunny rabbits on the way up the driveway. Everything was going great until I went to check us in and they said our booking was for the next night. They were booked up solid with a school tour and had no rooms available.

I was very sad and confused as I had booked us in . In the end they did find us a great room and after we settled in we went for dinner to the Gold Nugget (the Orange pub) just down the street. Maureen had corn chowder and I had fries and we both had harp beer. I like harp . Sleep came quickly once we got back to the hostel.