Instead of apologizing for the lack of updates lately, I'm just gonna skip forward and get to what I've been up to lately.
My goal with my new job was to take one weekend per month to go on a roadtrip to see more of Ireland and thus far, I've stuck to my goal. Luckily, Jonny gets one long weekend off per month so he has been able to join me which is great for good company.
The first weekend was a multi-city weekend down in the Southeast tip of Ireland. We rented a car and headed on the road. Now let's just say that it's not as easy to brush up on your skills on how to drive standard in Ireland as everything is opposite: all the gears are on the left and you're driving on the opposite side of the road but with a few stalls here and there, my courageous roomie Jonny (I didn't want to break the car so I played the navigator) got us from point A to point B (and C, D, etc.) safely and efficiently. Lucky for us we opted for the collision insurance as, poor Cleo (the car), we believe we got a bit too close a stone wall lining a road we were driving on and got a wee scratch on the bumper...oops....beware of VERY narrow roads here in Ireland.
Our first stop was for dinner at a great steakhouse we discovered walking the streets of Limerick. We first stopped off at Shannon River, as well, it's pretty self-explanatory. With the sunset just coming down, she sure did look breathtaking. :) We had a really amazing meal at the Texas Steakhouse and it made our tummies warm and full for the next couple hours towards Killarney for the night.
With a few glitches in our GPS, we finally made it to our hotel in Killarney and headed out for some of the Killarney nightlife. It was a quaint city and the pub that my boss recommended to us, Mc Soroley's, was pretty neat. At first we thought it was just ok and the live band was pretty good, minus the karaoke efforts made by the lead singer, but then we went to find the toilets and discovered the other side of the bar and it was pretty neat. It was an open-concept outdoor smoking area that reminded me of the high wood ceiling back at the Landreth homestead, complete with another bar, pool tables and high-top tables and a projector screen playing old-school music videos...pretty neat. Since we didn't arrive to Killarney till after midnight, we just stayed for a few pints and headed back to the hotel as we didn't want to be wrecked for the next couple of days as playing tourists. So, we got a small snack after witnessing the typical Irish drama (drunken disorderly sightings) and got a taxi back to our hotel as it was a bit of a stretch and it started to downpour on us and we had to save our food from melting in the rain...ha.
The next day, we got up and headed out for a quick lunch and walked around the downtown core and then found the tourism office to find out what were the things to do while in the Killarney area. We decided to go to Killarney National Park and if we had time, go to another spot before we headed to Dingle. The weather was off and on so we played our chances and headed towards the park. We parked the car near a horse and buggy drop-off area and then got our gear and started our venture. It was a long walk through the park but the scenery was breathtaking and the weather held up somewhat. We had to hide under a few trees here and there due to some rain but that's the life in Ireland, I guess. Here's a few of the views we saw.
Once we got to Muckross House (historic landmark in pic above) we decided to spend a few shackles and take a horse and buggy ride around the rest of the park to make it a bit more quicker and it also took us up to the Killarney Falls. Our guide/driver was a old man from Killarney area and he was the owner of the carriage ride business. He told us the history of how long he had been doing the carriage rides and how he treats his horses like children. We also suspected he has quite the Irish green thumb as he knew about every tree in that park...pretty fascinating and it reminded me of all my aunts and cousins in the family as they are quite the gardeners...except for me, of course. I can't even seem to keep a pot of herbs alive longer than a couple days....oh well. Here is a few pics of the falls and our carriage ride with our friendly transportation, Suzy.
After we departed Killarney we headed to Dingle which is the most eastern tip of Ireland and very amazing. My boss, being a 'Kerry' man (Dingle is situated within Kerry county), said it claims to be one of the most beautiful towns in all of Ireland and well, from what I've seen thus far of Ireland, it definitely lives up to its reputation. We did lots of walking around the downtown area, the harbour and we stayed in a very nice B&B up on Slea Head drive. The couple who owned it was very kind, provided a personal map for tourists including Dingle and Slea Head Drive (i'll get to that shortly) and the breakfast was remarkable. I felt like a queen with everything they provided and it was all fresh, right down to the hand-squeezed juices and homemade brown & white bread. Even though I was stuffed by the end, I had to have a couple spoonfuls of the homemade rhubarb stew as I haven't had it since Gramma M passed away and it was just like hers. Luckily for Mom & Dad, I booked them two nights at the same B&B when they come to visit and I'm sure they will enjoy it just as much as we did.
After we checked into our B&B we got ready and headed back into town. We heard a lot of great things about a seafood restaurant called Doyles so I made sure to pop over to make a reservation and glad I did because we got the last one for the evening...and it was worth it. Jonny treated me to a belated birthday dinner as I was in Canada when my actual birthday was celebrated. We had the most delicious risotto I've ever had - prawn and scallops in a tomato and basil sauce with asiago cheese...yum. Then we had the fresh lobster dinner. I've never had lobster in a restaurant before and it was such a treat. We got the last two and they were both the biggest they had in the tank. Some of the green stuff grossed me out but Jonny was a pro and showed me how to make sure I got every last bite. It was served, melted butter (naturally) with roasted rosemary potatoes, green salad and steamed veggies. Of course we had to have some wine to make it extra special and all in all, likely the best Irish meal I've had yet.
After the meal, we headed out to see what the nightlife is about. Likely, one of my favourite things about Dingle was the quirkiness about some of the local pubs. There are about 3 or 4 pubs in town that during the day they are a retail-type business and then by night, they turn into a pub....no lie. The ones we went by were Foxy John's (Hardware store by day), J. Curran's (men's clothing store by day) and the one we spent having a few pints at, Dick Mack's (shoe cobbler by day). I loved this pub because it felt like I was just at someone's house having a few beers because it was almost like an old house turned into a business/pub because the rooms still had furniture, stoves, fireplaces, etc. in them. We sat out back where there was a firepit and picnic tables for a bit and then went in and sat in a room by ourself infront of the fire and it was great. After the pub, we walked down by the harbour as the moon was full and then headed back to the B&B in a taxi. Here's a couple pics of the pubs and Dick Mack's.
Foxy John's - hardware store
J Currans men's fashions
Dick Macks - cobbler by day
Dick Macks
After our very delicious breakfast, we headed out onto Slea Head Drive which is pretty much a long drive along the Atlantic coast with many great views along the way including a few historic monuments. It does pretty much a full circle where you end back at Dingle and then it would be easy for us to jump onto the road again to head back to Galway. We stopped at a Fort that was around 500 BC, saw a couple of 'beehives' which are old stone houses that people long ago stayed in, saw some great views of the ocean, stopped at Coumeenoole Beach and had some beach fun (see pic below), saw the 'Sleeping Giant' which is a really cool rock formation you can see from land and many other great views.
mysterious Irish fog with 500 BC Fort behind me
Coumeenoole Beach
Personalized postcard
'Sleeping Giant'
After a quick pitstop in Dingle we headed back to Galway with a quick stop in Tralee for lunch. All in all, it was a really fun first roadtrip and the car came in handy as we picked up some groceries along the way and I even got a ride to work from Jonny the next morning before he returned the rental so no queasy busride for me...at least in the morning.
Next stop....Cork with some fellow Stratfordites!
