Hi all and welcome to the second installment of our Ireland tour! When you last left us, we were in Kilarney after visiting the Gap of Dunloe. The following day, we set out to drive the Ring of Kerry, a 175-kilometer scenic loop that looks out over some beautiful Irish countryside. If you recall, this is the same loop that had hosted a charity bike event the day before.
This was a beautiful drive but also long and tiring - I think it took us about 4 hours and I'll admit I slept the last hour in the back seat of the car. (I'm glad we didn't ride it on bicycle!) And it was another challenging drive for Glenn on very narrow roads. It was also tricky because pull-off areas were not marked, so we were unable to stop and get pics sometimes.
We did pull off at Torc Waterfall early on, which was just a short walk into the woods.
We also stopped at Ireland's version of a beach and had lunch at a little waterfront restaurant which was nice.
We also came across this very photogenic sheep who seemed delighted that I was taking pictures of him.
So that's it for the Ring of Kerry and Kilarney. The next morning, we headed to Cork, which was a last minute change of plans but a shorter drive and closer to some of the places we wanted to go. On the way to Cork, we stopped at Macroom, which was billed as a medieval town, but was in fact a crappy little town with a few cool medieval buildings. You can't tell this from the pics, but take my word for it.
We finally arrived in Cork - which is a large, rather grungy city but not without its charm - and got to our hotel, which we didn't like for various reasons. It then became a quest for Glenn to cancel our reservations there which took about 400 phone calls and several hours. Ugh. At any rate, we ultimately got a much nicer place at the Radisson Blu, but by the time we got all checked in it was 5:00 in the afternoon. We decided the only attraction we might have time to see before they closed was nearby Blarney Castle (home of the Blarney Stone).
Of all the places we had planned to see, I had relatively low expectations of Blarney castle because I was thinking it was probably touristy, but it ended up being one of our favorite stops.
Also, I should mention that we got whipped ice cream there - which we pretty much got every day we were in Ireland. I think "whipped" is just their cool way of saying "soft serve" ice cream, but oh my goodness it was amazing.
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| Something no home should be without, a Murder Hole was a room with a hole through the floor so you could throw rocks or boiling liquids on unsuspecting visitors. I don't have a pic of the actual room - it was just about as small as a closet with a hole in the floor. |
Because we arrived so late in the day, there were hardly any visitors there - usually people will wait in line for 2 hours or more to get into the castle and up to the top to see the Blarney stone. We went right in. For this reason, I agreed to go to the top of the castle, despite this combining all my worst fears - being essentially trapped in a steep spiral stone staircase in a very narrow dark passage. There was a rope attached to the wall to use as a banister.
At any rate, we made it to the top, but opted to not wait in line to hang upside down and kiss the Blarney stone for eloquence. We decided we were eloquent enough.
After the castle, we toured around the beautiful gardens. They had a poison garden - which I thought was cool - plants in cages to teach people what poisonous plants looked like so they could avoid them. They had deadly nightshade and henbane and oleander, etc. Like a murder hole - who wouldn't want a nice poison garden? I didn't take any pics of this - it wasn't all that pretty, unlike the fern garden we discovered through a path in the woods.
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| This is a massive Western Cedar. |
This is the Blarney House - built after people decided that a house is a lot more comfortable than a castle. It was closed when we got there so we couldn't see the inside, but the outside was nice enough.
So Blarney was just lovely. And that night, we went to dinner in Cork to a restaurant called Greene's. It was in the middle of this very industrial district, and then we stepped off this little side street and found this oasis. (Note: our pics did not come out well, so I stole these off their website.)
We sat inside along a row of windows looking out on this waterfall and had an amazing meal. Atta way, Cork!
The following day, we headed out early to see some more castles. Our first stop was the Rock of Cashel in the county of Tipperary ("It's a long way to Tipperary!"). The buildings on this site date back to the 11th and 12th centuries and sit a top a pastoral hill overlooking the small village and countryside.
There was hardly anyone at the site the first thing in the morning. We stopped at a cute little coffee shop near the parking lot for some coffee.
Cashel had a different feel to it for me than the other castles - more peaceful - it felt more like a holy site. It's main buildings were a chapel and a cathedral, and there was a graveyard with some graves so old that all writing had been worn off, some from the 1500s, and some as recent as this past year. Instead of being cramped and dark, these buildings were soaring and full of light.
On the way back, we stopped at another castle - Cahir. This was right in the town of Cahir and was nice, but not as spectacular at Cashel.
We were told to take a short (2 km) walk to see the nearby "Swiss Chalet", but apparently the Irish have earned their reputation as liars because Glenn and I felt like we walked for miles...it was exhausting, we were starving and I was not feeling great, so when we finally made it to the Chalet, we didn't even go in and see it (you'd have to pay...). Instead we called a cab to take us back to our car.
Anyway, I hope that's enough castles for you guys, because that's it.
The next day was our last full day of the trip. We left Cork and headed back to Dublin. We took a scenic detour on the way and stopped for lunch at a seaside town called Kinsale. It was cute but packed with tourists - and they were having a farmer's market/festival so it was a little crazy. Again, you can't tell this from our photos.
We drove back the 3+ hours to Dublin without stopping, which was rather exhausting, and got back into the city during rush hour. It was a mess. I am amazed that 50 bicyclists aren't killed every day in Dublin. But eventually, we made it to our hotel.
We then walked to a nearby place for dinner which wasn't that great, and along the way, I learned why no one in Ireland wears high heels. (Cobblestones are not my friend, and I had a dramatic fall but other than a few bruises I was ok.)
After dinner, we returned to the Temple Bar area of Dublin and after buying some t-shirts, went to the actual Temple Bar itself, where some nice people let us sit with them right near the stage. We listened to some fun Irish music, as well as American music like Wild World by Cat Stevens and These Boots are Made for Walking. It was a very festive atmosphere. At one point, a trash can caught fire and filled the place with smoke, but it was quickly addressed, and no one stopped singing.
So that's it, folks. The next morning we jumped on a plane and headed home.
Hope you all enjoyed our Ireland adventure - it was an amazing way to celebrate our 25th anniversary. Love to you all.
