Our Travels Near and Far

We said goodbye to our gracious hosts and set out in the rain towards Cork. Thankfully the storm that came through last night did no damage in our area but the high winds did knock down some trees along our route that we're being hauled to the side of the road and cut up.  Because it was not going to be a long trip to Ringaskiddy, we decided to take a detour through West Cork along the coast. The rain continued and we lost our way a bit but we did get down to Bantry Bay with the goal of going to Mizen Head. However, the coast was fogged in and we saw little of anything along the way. So that plan was cancelled. When we arrived at the final road to Rooska Cottage in Ringaskiddy, it was blocked off for local traffic only and had huge equipment..a bulldozer and a backhoe working in the road. Picture the photos that I have posted before of the very narrow one lane two way roads with this equipment on it. Now picture us trying to squeeze by. Maybe 1 inch clearance on both sides if we...

Just another beautiful day and this one on the Ring of Kerry. Our hosts once again served us breakfast and gave us great information as to how to approach the Ring of Kerry plus the Skellig Ring which is below the Kerry Ring. When we were here in 2002, we toured the Ring of Kerry fully but only partially did the Skellig Ring. We stayed in a B&B in Ballinskellings and for some reason only toured part of the Ring. At that time we took a boat tour of the Skellig Rocks as the seas were calm. Today the wind was kicking up in anticipation of the storm coming in tonight. All the boats we're pulled out...no excursions today. We started the Ring of Kerry at Killorglin on the upper side, stopped at Ballycarbery Castle and went on to Portmagee and onto Valentia Island. We caught a foggy view of the Skellig Rocks and had, once again.spectacular views throughout both Rings. We tend to stop a lot to see everything we can and of course to snap pictures. Our hosts told us that when we ge...

We arrived at our charming AirBnB late yesterday afternoon. Right away we were made to feel very welcome by our hosts Adah, Seamus and their two children. We got a late start out to the Dingle Peninsula but the sun was shining brightly and we had a wonderful day despite the high winds. Around every corner there was another glorious view. The roads once again were a challenge as the one lane roads had traffic going both ways. Especially coming back over Connor Pass. Seamus had given us excellent directions and advice as to where we should stop. I think we stopped more often than we should have because by the time we had dinner back in Tralee we were driving in the dark back to our lodging. The beach, the cliffs, the crashing waves, rolling green hills made this one of our better days yet. From Tralee to Slea Head and back to Curraghmore West...stay to the left! Curraghmore West Pet Llama and Emu Dingle Harbor

Cliffs of Kilkee Today we traveled through Lehinch to Kilkee and beyond to the Loop Head, Carrigault Bay and Ross Bridges.They call the west coast the Cliff Coast for a reason. First we saw the Cliffs of Moher the other day and today we saw more spectacular sights at the Kilkee Cliffs and at the Loop Head. Getting out of the car to take pictures was a definite chore as the wind do today rose up to 60 or more. They would just about knock you over. The seas are rough with huge crashing waves. The roads to these outlying places are even more narrow than normal even for Ireland and they are still two way. When an on coming car or God forbid a  tractor or a truck comes we have to just about climb into the bushes! Makes for quite the adventure. We made it to the tip of the peninsula though! From there we took a car ferry across the Shannon River from Killimer to Tarbert which cut down our driving by 70 kilometers. Nice! Ireland is expecting a really bad storm by the 12...

The howling winds continue today, but thankfully no rain. Today was another relaxing do nothing in particular day. We started out by driving over to Ennistimon on the other side of Lehinch to do our laundry. Picture below. Never saw an outdoor laundromat before. While we were there we were able to have coffee and a muffin from the deli and gas up at the pump. One stop servicing for sure. Around the corner from the laundromat we walked to the falls running right under the main road of the town Some of our other interesting sights along the way were a church ruin and old cemetery overlooking the Atlantic, the Lehinch golf course where when they say you’re in the rough, they really mean it. The beach in Lehinch we saw from the road but couldn’t figure out how to access it...oh well, the wind would have blown us over anyway. We stopped at a woolen shoppe and a rock store surveying their goods. Once we put the laundry away, we drove over to Doolin to the Gus O’Connor Pub for Irish Stew...

The Wild Atlantic wind is howling today at least at 45 miles per hour and the sea is white capped. Luckily we took the ferry yesterday. Today would have been a “no go” for us. This has been a rather lazy day for us. We had a big breakfast today at the Liscannor Hotel. Tim actually had the traditional Irish breakfast of blood sausage, bacon, beans, tomato, potatoes and who knows what else. Pancakes for me. We stopped in at the Moher coffeeshop owned by our hosts before walking across the street to St Brigid’s Well. Supposedly, if you see an eel in the well, then you will have good fortune and if you are ill you will become well. No eel for us. Pilgramers have left all kinds of things in adoration from rosary beads to statues to hair ribbons and pictures. From there we took a drive into Doolin to go into the two shops open today..Sunday. Then it was off to Lehinch and a drive along the coast. On the way back, we stopped at the Liscannor Hotel to listen to Irish music for a bit. We...

What an incredibly beautiful day. Blue skies, sunshine, white puffy clouds but still a little chilly. Today we took a ferry to the smallest of the Aran Islands called Inisheer. The trip took about 30 minutes. There are only 350 year round inhabitants. It’s 2 kilometers wide 4 kilometers long. Everything is on the southeastern side away from the wild Atlanta winds. When we arrived we were greeted by many folks looking to take us on a tour of the island ..horse and buggies and tractor pulled carriages. It was well worth the 20 euros for the 2of us. We had a first hand experience of the island as our driver was a 7th generation inhabitant. They speak Irish Gaelic unless it’s tourist season and then they speak English. Our first stop was at a shipwreck from 1960 called The Plassey. Only the rusted steel frame remains as a carcass on the shore. Next stop was the church ruins called Cill Ghobnait at a cemetery on top of the hill. At one time it was at ground level but now it is below g...