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...