The Dingle Peninsula

Our morning driving on the Dingle Peninsula started
with this view of Inch Beach!

Pretty good way to start the day (Sunday)!  Actually, the day started with breakfast at our B&B and an interesting conversation with the owner.  She inquired about our dinner last night, knowing we had gone to Phoenix.  She had heard from other lodgers that the food was good, but had not ever dined their herself.  We explained that the place was "different" but that the food was fabulous.  She then explained to us that the place was quite the story in the area.  Apparently, a few years back, it was the subject of a Irish reality TV show "At Your Service" where these two brothers who are hoteliers go in to flailing hotels and restaurants to help them remedy their issues.  So, as the story goes they showed up and were pretty horrified about the mess of the garden, no adequate signage, etc.  And, they stayed in one of the gypsy caravans, so apparently that is an option.  We were glad to have been at the "improved" version of the place, because the food really was exceptional!

We were off an on our way to tackle the final peninsula of our trip down here.  Out came the Rick Steves' section of the tour book to guide us on our way.  But our first stop was to Inch Beach (photo above) which was just down the road from our B&B.   Not sure how it got its name, but it went on forever, so inch must refer to somebody's name rather than the length.  It hosts several surf schools, but waves were barely a ripple at 9:00 a.m.

This day involved another "loop" around a peninsula - clockwise again.  Not sure why, but maybe just a courtesy since the roads are, again, so narrow and winding.  But fewer tour buses, and the whole area was less touristy than the Ring of Kerry.   It is the most Gaelic region of Ireland - so many street signs were Gaelic only.   It is also the most Western portion of Ireland (and Europe).  Several movies you may have seen were filmed here (Ryan's Daughter, Far and Away) and made the most of the stunning scenery as well as the challenge the land must have presented to farmers trying to survive the famines.  Rocky, steep, not much vegetation other than grasses.

Our first stop on the ring road was Dunberg Fort - another Iron Age structure.  As with several other places we stopped, it is on private property so the owner is outside collecting a few Euros.  Not much to see on this one because it was fenced off due to the precarious nature of the eroding land.  But a perfect view of what this area is filled with. Stone-walled grazing for sheep.  

At this spot we also ran into our fellow Rick Steves' guided travelers from Arizona, although they didn't have the Dingle instructions.  So we became the leaders of a two-car caravan and we continued our morning together.

Nest stop was another privately owned property with "Bee Hives".  These are a series huts and a fort - stacked stones, no mortar.  For our 2 Euros/each, we were able to walk around their sheep ranch to explore the various structures.

Here is Jim with our travel companions

Up close and personal

Rick Steves' also guided us to this amazing view by telling us
to look for the cross road marker.  Not hard to miss this one!

View of the Blasket Islands - and the large one referred to
as the Sleeping Giant

Street Musician playing tunes from the Blasket
Islands

The next view photos were taken at the end of the peninsula - and the most western tip.  But my camera battery died, so can't share the views from our hike out to the very edges of the rocks

But a kind soul at the end, from Boston, took pity on us and was kind enough to take a few photos and email them to us, so thanks Paul!

With most of the drive done we headed to lunch with our new friends, and then we were on our way back to Dublin - but with a fresh battery in my camera we stopped at one last vista point to capture these glacier formations.

It was a fabulous, not to be missed, day!  On to Galway today...

Special Ks

Friday and Saturday were days filled with "Ks"...in multiple ways.  For the first K, I will say that we (Jim driving, me navigating) have covered many kilometers.  We left Dublin early Friday morning  to head to the southwest corner of Ireland - 4 peninsulas. We first went to Kinsale, a harbor town near Cork.  This was our first of three "K" cities in one day.  It was also where, for the first time since we arrived in Ireland, needed to don rain jackets and open an umbrella.  We were starving and stopped at one of the first restaurants we saw, and after dripping off a bit, we enjoyed walking around this colorful, quaint town.  

This "tax code" was in the city's museum - enlarge the photo by clicking on it so you can read a bit of it.  Who needs Turbo Tax...

Our Irish weather luck - the clouds part to help us enjoy the scenery!

From Kinsale we headed to Killarney (the 2nd K city of the day - it is at the top of the peninsula that ends in the Ring of Kerry. 

 It is where all the tour buses begin, and tour folks stay, so we wanted to avoid staying there (per Rick Steve's advice), but did want to enjoy the scenery and it was just a bit of a detour on the way to the B&B we had arranged for the night.

It was a bit full of tourists, but we managed to find some peaceful spots.

The Killarney area has a series of lakes before heading over the mountains on to the east coast of the peninsula

We arrived at our 3rd K city of the day - Kenmare.  Again, on Rick Steve's advice we had decided to stay here as he recommended it as the best "starting point" for the Rink of Kerry drive.  This is the B&B we stayed in just outside of Kenmare.  The owner explained that her husband built it about 10 years ago - they also designed it themselves.  Their thought was that since they were outside of Kenmare versus in town, they needed to offer a different experience.  Hence the thatched roof cottage.  We were greeted with tea and brown bread and some advice for planning our next day.

We headed into the nearby town of Kenmare - another colorful village. 

All of the restaurants had live "Irish" music, and we were so pleased that the one we picked had a great duo playing.  Tim O'Shea and Friends.  Can't find a better Irish name than that!  We bought their CD and it accompanied our driving the next day.

After our B&B breakfast, and with our Rick Steve's step-by-step instructions of how to best see the Ring of Kerry (so a whole day of a "K" experience), off we went heading clockwise.  His advice was by leaving from Kenmare, we would be going the opposite direction of the tour buses (that leave from Killarney and head counter-clockwise).  Sounds complicated, but it will make more sense later.

Jim needed his capaccino and scones to "take away" for the drive, so we made our first stop in Sneem

A very strong sense of community was noticeable, from the "fairy" garden community project

to the town square decorated with photos and quotes from citizens.

So, a bit more about the importance of the direction of the driving.  The road is beyond narrow.  Even when it is two lanes, they are each more narrow than even the smallest compact car.  No shoulder on either side.  Sometimes down to one lane.  Often thick foliage on one or both sides, or stone walls - so when you have to pull over to let another car pass you are swiping branches.  We ended up turning in the side view mirrors.  And even with all of that, the speed limit was way higher than we felt comfortable driving - but cars would whizz past us. So another "K" would be Jim wanting to "kick" me out of the car for my gasps and "oys" as we took the narrow turns.  Even he admitted when we stopped for lunch that his shoulders were very tense from the stressful driving.  But the views were spectacular and well worth it.

Here you can see the cows also enjoying the view of the hilly farmlands, the bay and hills beyond that.

So glad to be out of the car even though we just finished 4 km of a one-way road

to see Staigue Fort, from the Iron Age.  Built with stones, no mortar - this "caher" (stone fort) is one of the best preserved in Ireland.  Here we also met up with a couple from Arizona.  They were following the same Rick Steve's plan - so we ran in to them several times more throughout the day.

The sheep were not interested in us.

Ran into the Arizona couple again at this vista point

Lots of little island of the coast

Typical hillside farms/ranches - lots of sheep and cattle

The reward for our treacherous yet scenic day of driving was the B&B we had booked for tonight on the top of the west side of the Dingle Peninsula - "Mountain View".  Whereas Friday night's place was "cozy cottage" - this was Southfork (remember Dallas?).  We could have even brought our horse - stables out back.  Just gorgeous, spacious.  I actually found this place because I had first seen a website for an organic/vegetarian restaurant/B&B, but they were full.  Mountain View was nearby, so figured we could do dinner at the organic place.  Glad it worked out the way it did - great for dinner (we even bought their cookbook) - but sort of an odd place. 

This gypsy caravan was in the garden of Phoenix House B&B
We don't think it was for guests - but who knows

But they grow most of their veggies and herbs

After sating our appetites we were able to walk back to our place and settle in for the night.  Tomorrow - the Dingle peninsula (I think more narrow, winding roads) then back to Dublin

The view from our window.

The Weather We Were Expecting

We have been told by many of the people we meet, and it has been proven to be true, that the Irish talk a lot about the weather.  So now I will do the same.  When we were planning this trip we assumed that it would rain a lot and hoped for the best.  Jim's cousin Andrea emailed us a week prior to our flight and just summarized:  "pack for everything except snow."  And that is what we did.  Since we have arrived we have been most pleasantly surprised - the weather has been wonderful.  In the 60s and 70s, either sunny or partly cloudy save a few brief drizzles the first few days.  One of our tour guides (at Kilkenny Castle) explained that if it is the least bit warm or sunny, the Irish are outside.  Explains the throngs of people heading to the Sandy Cove beach last week to dive into the 55 degree water!  We daily track our weather apps on our phones before we make our plans, and while the 5-day predictions change almost hourly, we had stopped even thinking about taking an umbrella.  But yesterday (Wednesday) we went in to Dublin and it began to drizzle lightly, and once we got home it was more "rain".  So, today (although so far no rain) we are just taking a day to kick back and relax, as we had a busy couple of days.

So, to get you all caught up...

Back in Time:

On Saturday we drove about an hour north of Dublin to New Grange.  This is the site of a "passage grave" and mound.  Built in around 3200 BC, it was not excavated until the 1960s.  Archeologists then discovered that at dawn on the winter solstice (Dec 21) rays of sun enter the tomb and light up the burial chamber.

A short walk over this river took us from the entrance to
the shuttle bus to the site.

A view from the path leading up to the mound

The walls around the mound were rebuilt using the stones found at the site.

Entrance to the mound is only through the tour.  Groups of 16 go inside at a time due to small size of the passage and chamber

Below you can see the entrance to the passageway.  

Above the entrance is the roof box through which the beam of sunlight travels on the winter solstice.

The elaborately carved stone stands in front of the entrance.  The tri-spriral carving has many different interpretations, which the tour guide explained and left it up to us to choose the one we thought was best.  This design also appeared inside the chamber.

Once we went through the VERY narrow and low passage we found the chamber itself to be surprisingly roomy.  The winter solstice is then recreated for our visitors pleasure - amazing.

A lottery is held to be one of the 16 people who can be inside for the brief moments on the winter solstice - of course, even if you get to be one of the 16, it all depends on the weather - if the sun isn't shining, then the "event" doesn't happen!

In the area surrounding, were other burial mounds.  We had noticed similar mounds off in the distance when at Stonehenge in 2010, and wondered what they were, so this was a great opportunity to get a close up view and understand what they are and see the inside.

Around the site were other structures

And beautiful views of the Irish countryside

From there we drove to Malahide Castle.  This burial ground helped us to transition from ancient burial site to "modern" castle.

Malahide was built in the 14th century as a fortress, but later (and until 1973) became the residence of the Talbot family 

The grounds were lovely

including this unique hideaway that Gilles discovered

Medieval Town:

On Sunday we took another day trip to Kilkenny, about 1.5 hours south of where we are staying.  We toured the castle, built in the 12th century, primarily occupied by the Butler family (Marquesses and Dukes of Ormand).  Probably the most interesting bit of trivia offered up by the docent was that when the Butler family decided they were no longer interested in owning the property (which was in complete disrepair) the property was put up for sale, and sold to the city of Kilkenny. Apparently the day of the ceremony to celebrate the sale, Mick Jagger was in town and commented that he wished he had known it was up for sale because he would have bought it.  The citizens of Kilkenny are glad that didn't happen.  However, Jagger has maintained his interest in the area and is an occasional visitor.

The "smaller" house/residence of the Butler family

We headed in to the village for lunch

Very charming streets and shops, although many were closed for Sunday.

While we were having lunch, this group of kids showed up with their violins to "entertain" us.  They were not very good, but they did gather up some Euros that sympathetic folks dropped into their open violin case.  I was a little horrified that the mother set them up there and then took off, and the idea that they were playing for money...but there were similar groups along the street with proud moms standing by.  So after coming up with various possible scenarios we decided to think optimistically and settled with the theory that they were from the nearby music institute and were just getting practice playing in public...Of course, quite interesting that the spot the mother chose for them was in front of Kyteler's Inn - built in the 13th century and one of Ireland's oldest inns.  Story has it (and you know about the Irish "stories") is that Dame Alice de Kyteler was the daughter of a banker, married four times amassing a fortune, while each husband died of "suspicious circumstances".  She was accused of witchcraft and tried in what is understood to be Europe's first witchcraft trial.  She was sentenced to be burned, but her "connection" to local gentry ensured her escape to England...

On a more spiritual note...we passed this pub on the way back to the car:

In case you can't read the fine print: "Bravo
Bartholomew, the Field is a great place
to have supper.  We must come back"

More of Dublin:

On Monday we headed back into Dublin (we are beginning to recognize the bus drivers) and started out at St. Stephen's Green - and a return visit (as we did in 2010) to the James Joyce statue there.

Here I am surrounded by James Joyces
(I prefer the live version on my left)

We found our way to St Patrick's Cathedral - rebuilt (was original site of a Norman church built in 1191) in the early 13th century.  Irish writer Jonathan Swift was the Dean of the church from 1713-45 and is buried there.

Swift's grave along with his "partner" Stella

City Hall Rotunda

 We headed next to City Hall - built in 1769.  It was one of the buildings occupied during the Easter Uprising of 1916.  In 1922 it became the temporary headquarters of the Irish Provisional Government under chairman, Michael Collins, whose funeral was also held there.

The day prior, Kevin had been emailing with us and forwarded a suggestion from Taylor to eat at "The Queen of Tarts".  She has not been to Ireland, but had seen it on Instagram.

As it turned out, it was right across the street from City Hall, so we headed there for lunch.

So just to say a bit about the food...OMG, we have never eaten so much bread, pastry,scones, etc.

And the Queen of Tarts provided ample of all of that, as well as fabulous soups, sandwiches and salads.

 From there we did another return visit from 2010.  We had been so impressed with the Chester Beatty Library museum, that we wanted to go back. His collection of artistic treasures of the cultures/religions of the world is huge, so they rotate items through, so exhibits always are changing.  It is an amazing collection of manuscripts, prints, icons, small paintings, and early printed books from across Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and Europe.  Loved it just as much as last time

The Chester Beatty Library - on the grounds of Dublin Castle

From there we saw signs for an exhibit entitled "Ulysses Cylinders" at the Carriage House building behind Dublin Castle.  Since we are doing all things James Joyce on this trip, we had to explore.  Turns out it is a Dale Chihuly (glass sculptures) exhibit - and we love him.  Apparently he and artist Seaver Leslie developed a fascination with Joyce's Ulysses and in the 1970s began exploring creating an overview of the episodes of the book via glass and art.  In the summer of 2013, they decided to revisit the idea.  With Leslies' drawings on paper, they adapted the sketches into fragile glass drawings.  It helped Jim (and maybe even me) to get closer to reading the book!  Stunning exhibit.

 We were feeling bad that after all of the time we had spent in Dublin, we had yet to take Janet and Gilles to see the Liffy or even go over it to the north side of the city.

As we walked over the Ha'penny Bridge, we noticed these clusters of locks. Janet and Gilles explained that this has become a huge problem in Paris on the bridges over the Seine - couples or friends putting up engraved locks as a testament to their love/friendship.  Apparently causing the cities lots of hassle and money to remove them, and even "weighing down" some of the bridges. 

 We ended the day with MORE James Joyce...

 Gilles makes use of a cane for walking, but hadn't brought his because he wasn't sure if he would be able to bring it on the plane.  So instead he brought along an old ski stick figuring he wouldn't care if it was confiscated.  It was not, but it broke the day before, so he thought maybe he could just swipe Joyce's!

A jail, some art (?), and time for beer:

Tuesday we ventured out to a part of Dublin we hadn't visited during our last visit.  Our tour guide on Friday had promoted seeing Kilmainahm Gaol - the prison that housed many of those involved in the fight for Irish independence.  This was one of the most historically interesting and emotionally moving places that we have visited.

It was built in 1796 and was an operating jail up until 1924.  The last prisoner held there during the Irish Civil Way was Eamon de Valera, the future President of Ireland.

During the famines, the British outlawed public begging, so many poor, homeless people (men, women and children) ended up here.  As horrible as the jail conditions were, many felt it was better than being on the streets and at least might get one meal/day.

This is the front entrance to the jail.  Initially the area above the top windows was used for public hangings.

Cell door in oldest section of the prison

This corridor of the jail was the most significant in the fight for a free Ireland.  In 1916, on Easter Sunday, a group of rebel leaders decided it was a good time (with England distracted by WWI) to try and take over the British rule in Ireland.  So in a somewhat organized effort, the group of rebels took over various government buildings throughout the city.  The most knows was the take over of the General Post Office.  Things went badly, and the rebels were met with a surge of British troops, and the 16 leaders of the revolt were arrested and taken to Kilmainham.  Initially, the rebels did not have much support among the citizens of Ireland.  But what happened at the jail changed all of that.  One prisoner, Joseph Plunkett, requested a marriage ceremony to his fiancé Grace Gifford.  Several hours later he was executed before a firing squad.  James Connolly, who had been severely wounded during the battle at the post office, was moved from the hospital to the jail and, unable to stand for execution, was tied to a chair and then executed.  All of the 16 leaders were executed.  When word was spread about these atrocities, the public opinion changed to be in favor of the fight for independence.  The tour took us through the jail, and at the end was a three level  political museum.  Very emotional - filled with letters written by prisoners, lockets of hair from the 16 executed, letter from an 18 year old the day of his execution, newspapers from the Easter Uprising and the executions that followed, etc.

Our tour guide pointed out that the "newer" part
of the jail has the same design as the shopping
mall at St. Stephen's Green
(and many other malls around the world)
designed so that from one vantage point
you can see everything - good for prison
guards and shoppers!

I guess Jim wouldn't have lasted long!

The Stone Yard - also where the executions
by firing squad took place

Memorial to those executed after the Easter
Uprising

Memorial outside of the jail 

After that somber but touching experience, we thought we needed something to lift our spirits and headed across the street to Museum of Modern Art

Impressive from the outside, yes?

Some of you may have seen this on Jim's Facebook
page with his comment: "I don't know what to say...
this was hanging at the Museum of Modern Art"

My favorite exhibit was on the lawn as we left...

All that was left in the day was to go to the Guinness Storehouse.  While the architecture and design elements were interesting  - inside it is like walking walking into a large glass pint (5 stories high) atrium - mostly it is a big advertisement for Guinness

Huge installations explain how their stout is brewed
including this water display, explaining the importance of
using good water from the Wicklow Mountains

A great view form the bar at the top - the building is in the middle
of the St James Gate Brewery  - the original house of Guinness.
The buildings cover 4 acres and dominate this area of the city.
Guinness is considered a very important figure in the city as he
has been a major donor.

Free tasting for our efforts (although I really don't like beer/
ale/stout - whatever it is called!)

On Wednesday:

With Janet and Gilles heading back to Paris in the afternoon, we headed back into Dublin to see the Georgian House Museum.  Particularly in the south side of the city, the Georgian architectural influence is seen in the many townhouses.  While they were initially built as homes for the wealthy and for politicians, during times of poverty many were divided up into one room tenement apartments, with many family members living in a small room.  Currently it seems that many are now converted in to office buildings.  Several have been restored into how they originally looked.  So sort of a behind-the-scenes look at how middle-class Georgians lived.  The one we saw was built in 1794.

Here are a few photos from the surrounding area:

Whimsical sculpture in Merrion Square

Townhomes around Merrion Square 

Signature doors of many colors

It was time to head back and let Janet and Gilles say goodbye to "our" Churchtown Village home.

So that brings you up to date!  Tomorrow we head off to a one (or two?) night trip to see Cork and the Ring of Kerry and Dingle peninsula...so keep your figures crossed for good weather as these places are all about the views.