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.