Today was such an eventful and interesting day! We woke up in our adorable B&B to a full and gracefully prepared Irish breakfast. We had tea, bacon... Irish bacon (once you've had it you'll understand its different), eggs, three diffent types of break with butter and two different spreads. We had cottage cheese with three different fruits. We have four different cereals, freshly squeezed orange juice and milk. We had sauted mushrooms and omelets with cheese and the most amazing tasting tomatoes you'll ever have the pleasure of tasting. We had sausage and a mystery meat that was quite divine. We had thingys and doodads, we had it all! So delicious. We then bade our wonderful hostess Camel goodbye and made our way to Killarney national park!
It was beautiful! We stopped every 5 minutes to take "just one more picture". This continued for a few hours. Its just amazing in every direction, everywhere you look. And of course, wouldnt you know it, we found ourselves another castle ruin. This one on the side of the road behind a very poorly maintained fence that hasnt held anybody back since the 1970's, so we of course could not be left out. We found ourselves exploring the ruins as im sure ever visitor and teenager has in the last 40 years. It is a beautifully preserved castle, im sure only preserved as it is from natural foliage cover. Ivey and ferns covered and lined the walls and moss covered the floor. It was straight out of a fairytale to be sure.
We continued our drive, as well as continued to stop every few minutes. We continued to round a bend or come up over a hill and just be wowed all over again. Not to mention the leaves are starting to change, so it just makes it THAT much more amazing and beautiful. How could we be so lucky as to truly be enjoying such an amazing place like this?
Well... as always, tradgedy struck. A rude, or more likely oblivous bus driver hogging both lanes that dont really exist ran us off the road and into a jagged rock, slicing open our tire. After a struggle to figure out the foreign car jack, we finally got the spare on. On the plus side my sister finally learned how to replace a tire! We called the car rental company, and because I am paying the $5/day for tire and glass coverage, they will fully refund me for the tire replacement. The only downside is I have to take the time out of my day tomorrow to go and get that fixed.
After this short mishap, I was left in a rather grumpy mood, so we set our sights on the downtown area, having heard that the big finale of a huge tournament was supposed to be happening. However we got distracted and found ourselves standing at the base of Ross Castle! What an absolutely stunning and beautiful castle. I had seen pictures and had started to opt to skip it, and what a crazy thought that was. I dont know if I was having a stroke of stupid or what, but how grateful am I that we did not miss it! It ended up being one of our absolute favorite parts so far. So for $5 (for the two of us!) we got an absolutely phenomenal hour tour of this grand castle. Having been a tour guide myself I tend to be a bit harsh on my judgement of other tour guides, however this wonderful kind Irish lady was fantastic, knew her stuff, was confident and oh so kind. Thanks a million darlin! We learned so much and had a truly enjoyable time moving from room to room to room learning the history, what the rooms were used for, how they were made, why they were the way they were, etc. And as two people who love that kind of thing, we were simply in heaven. It had a great tower with a wonderful spiral staircase that led to the top- what a view! Unfortunetly photos were not permitted in this historical landmark, but it is not something I will forget. I will hold those images dear to my heart and mind forever. And just to let you know, I would gladly pay double... no triple what I paid for the same experience. Loved it!
So after that wonderful experience we were indeed pretty hungry- so we did find ourselves downtown just in time for the game. The pubs were roaring with activity and excitement, the town festive. The streets were lined with flags and decorations, nearly every person had on a jersey and most festive painted faces. Street vendors were out offering cheap goodies and virtually every store had its doors open and tv playing so you could wander through the town and still not miss a beat! It was quite a unique experience to watch these people celebrate! They would wander pub to pub, store to store, guiness glass in hand, gretting everyone they met, hooting and hollaring, enjoying themselves and supporting their town (Killarney is based in County Kerry. The game was Gaelic Football, Kerry vs. Donegal. Gaelic football is this overly exciting sport with little rules. You can push, shove, block, trip, punch gravel with anyone. You have a soccerball type object in which you can kick, hold, dribble, pass, bounce, throw... anything. You basically are only allowed to take four steps while holding the ball before you literally have to do SOMETHING with it. So they often run at full speed while bounding this ball off their moving feet, or drible it like a basketball, or bounce it off their opponents heads, or whatever! They then must score either between two football like fork spokes or in a soccer like net underneath. It is a truly interesting and fun game to watch- and I would personally love to learn to play!). We did ultimately find ourselves a quieter pub to enjoy a delicious meal and watch the game while privately trying to figure out how it worked, then made our way over to a lively pub simply to enjoy the festivities for a while.
We then made our way to tonights B&B. After arriving at another adorable place on the outskirts of town with a beautiful view of the mountains and lough (lake) we settled in for a quick nap. But not before we discovered the overwhelmingly comfortable beds (that I am currently denying myself sleep in) and the imaculate... may I say IMACULATE cleanliness of the place. We then awoke ourselves and hopped on over to the locals pub to enjoy a nice night of music and desert. I had the most delicious thing I have ever had. I really earnestly wish I could remember what it was called. It started with a B and it was supposed to be a BERRY, but it was a pie that tasted caramel like. We ended up having a fun and lively conversation with the folks at the next table before returning home and heading to bed, which is where I must depart you and set myself to.
Tomorrow... a quick tire change and then Gap of Dunloe and then TO THE BEACH!
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