Day 26 - Europe 2010

Again, we didn’t know what we had planned today.  I broke it down into four options: rent a car to go see the Dingle Peninsula, take another tour bus to see Dingle Peninsula, take a regular bus to the town of Dingle and just explore the area there, or skip the Dingle Peninsula together and stay in Killarney to explore more of the park there.  I didn’t want to bother with the rental car and I didn’t want to have the same experience today as I did yesterday with the tour bus, including the expense involved.  So I figured it was a bus to Dingle or stay in Killarney.

When we left our hostel, it was raining, so the weather kind of made the decision for us.  We would take our chances in Dingle and see something new rather than hike here in the rain.  As a little side story, we went to the tour bus place first to see if they had my sunglasses I had left on the bus the evening before.  But we checked the bus and didn’t see them there.  Oh well.  As we walked to the bus station to get our tickets for Dingle, we heard a honk and the tour bus guy drove up with my sunglasses in his hand.  Aw, how sweet!  He had found them and tracked us down.  What a nice guy!

A bus was leaving for Dingle in just 15 minutes so that worked out well.  We made it to Dingle at about 11:30am but we didn’t have much time to spend there.  Our bus would be leaving for Tralee, our final destination for the night, at 4:00pm.  So we only had about four hours.  At least we found a nice guy at a bed and breakfast who let us keep our stuff there so we could explore uninhibited.

What to do in Dingle!  Honestly, as I mentioned to many of the locals always to the amusement of Nick, I just wanted to see a puffin!  A puffin is a very silly but cool-looking bird, in my opinion, that has a little history with me.  When I got my first parakeet, God rest his poor soul and all other birds that came into my care, I thought it was funny how he puffed up all the time.  You know how birds puff up their feathers when they’re happy?  Anyway, I named him Puffin because of it and thought it was such a funny name.  Then I found out that there is an actual bird called a puffin and I thought that was so funny!  A puffin!  Well, I didn’t even know there are puffins in Ireland until I saw lots of photos of them on brochures and stuff and I thought, ‘How awesome would it be to see a puffin!’

But, it was not meant to be!  The bed and breakfast guy said our best bet was an EcoTour which left from the harbor there – Dingle Is right in a little bay – but the weather was weird with lots and lots of fog so no tours were leaving.  Oh well, no puffins this time.

What to do now?  Nick and I decided to just walk and see what we could see.  We saw a man walking along a green field bordering the boggy beach there so we thought we would follow and see what adventures we could find.  Well we did have an adventure!  The walk itself was neat because you had the foggy green field to our left and the boggy waters to the right with gulls digging for food.  It was almost eerie but still enchanting.  “This is what I’m here for,” I told Nick.  “To walk the green fields of Ireland!”  Then we saw a little old tower in the distance, also along the beach, so we continued on toward that.  The entrance had been filled in with stone but Nick helped me scale the wall to sit on the window ledge there and we took some photos.  Who knows how old that was or what it was for.

Then we walked down to the beach which was so alive!  The tide must have been really low because the beach was filled with sea life.  There were jellyfish all over the sand, those blobs that are somehow alive.  There were lots of rocks covered in living shells and an abundance of sea snails and seaweed.  We spent quite a while journeying over the rocks but it took some time with the rough terrain and us trying to not kill anything with every step!  But I loved the whole experience, that opportunity to explore all alone.  Nick said it’s funny how curious I am, how I always want to keep going and see what’s around the next corner.  I told him I just love to explore, especially when I have to concentrate on crossing difficult terrain.  It makes me feel part of the land.  It digs deep into some basic human instinct, that desire to discover the Earth with no boundaries.

We had to turn back after a time, grateful we had found a spot to do some exploring.  We went to this grocery store that was almost as big as one at home!  We were so excited!  And it was cheap too!  We were able to get a lunch of six drumsticks and lots of potato wedges for about $7.50.  That is incredible!

There isn’t much to say about the rest of the day.  We took the bus to Tralee and found our hostel there.  We were sleeping in a room with ten beds and it was pretty tight.  We also had some very interesting characters.  One old man slept with his prosthetic leg standing upright next to the bed so that was pretty different.  It almost looked like his leg was hanging out over the edge of the bed except that it was too high up by his head to look natural.  Then we had the sipper and sigher dude.  This guy, about middle-aged, would go on his bed and sigh this big long sigh very loudly and you weren’t sure if it was a “this sucks” sigh or a “this is nice” sigh or a “I just can’t get comfortable” sigh or what!  But it got really annoying.  Then he grabbed his mug and was slurping and gulping some drink for a while.  I was about to kick that cup out of his hand, he was so loud!

Another plus was that the bathroom is attached to the room – yeah, one bathroom for ten people – and you could hear everything happening inside.  So people would go in there and pee and some of them, including leg man and sigh man, had some pretty strange pee patterns going on.  I couldn’t hold it in with sigh man and burst out laughing when he walked out of the bathroom.  He stopped to look at me and I just stared at my laptop like I was looking at something funny.  When leg man went, Nick was holding his mouth closed and had to leave the room, he was shaking so bad with laughter.

At least it had free wifi though so I was finally able to spend some time getting caught up with the blog.  But we were happy to be spending only one night there!  What a winner!

PHOTOS:

We found an old bag lady in Dingle, bundled up because of the fog and the cold.  She seemed sweet but something about her was a bit creepy too.

The fog was intense.  It added a kind of eerie feel to everything but we thought it was cool.

Nick helped me up into that window.  Cool, eh?  Who knows what the history of that building is.

The rocks were so alive and the fog made everything seem like a dream or a fairytale.  I was waiting to see a mermaid out there.

We found this good-sized skull on the beach.  My guess is a sheep but I have no idea.

We found this jelly in the water, waiting for high tide so he could detangle himself from all the plant life down there in the water there.

This guy was waiting for high tide too.  Something about a beached jelly is kind of creepy.  I just don't get how that blob is alive.

Nick has conquered Dingle and heads back the way we came.

Nick was determined to buy and eat a berry in Dingle.  So here he is, eating a Dingle berry.

I guess back in the ealry 80s this dolphin decided to make Dingle Bay his home.  He is still there now and I guess you can go swim with him or see him on EcoTours and stuff.  The residents gave him the terrible name of Fungi - I guess when you are a loner dolphin, a name like Fungi might fit - and made this statue of him in 2000.  Go Fungi!

Day 25 - Europe 2010

Happy birthday to me!  It came – the day I would turn 27 on the 27th!

We had nothing specific plan today.  Originally I had planned to explore more of the park, which would certainly be lovely, but I was concerned, with us having no car, that I might not be able to fit in both the Ring of Kerry and Dingle Peninsula unless I tackled one today.  So we headed out to search our options.

We found a tourist office and asked about it.  We thought we might rent a car just for the day but the car rental place was closed because it’s Sunday.  But there were three different bus tours leaving for either the Ring of Kerry or the Dingle Peninsula at 10:30, in just about twenty minutes!  We thought that might be our best option so we went to the nearest one and hopped on the bus for the Ring of Kerry, costing about $65 for the both of us.

We were both a little sleepy but I wasn’t about to pay for a bus tour so I could sleep my way through it.  Good thing!  It was gorgeous!  We were passing these green mountains – you couldn’t fit more green on them, they were green to the max – and incredible views of valleys, lakes, and the ocean!  Whoa.  You should have seen me.  I was the only one on that bus who was going from one side to the other taking pictures out the windows.  Hey, maybe it got annoying – it wasn’t that often – but I didn’t care.  I paid for this tour and gosh darn it, it’s my birthday, I can do what I want!

So we made a few stops along the way, mostly to take pictures of some incredible views.  A huge plus was the weather.  It was supposed to be rainy but we had mostly clouds and that’s all.  Sometimes it was even sunny!  So I was thrilled for that and the opportunities to take good photos.

The best stop was at a farm where this cute old shepherd guy showed us how his border collie dogs herd his sheep.  It was so cute, these two dogs were just laying there on the grass and the guy made this whistle sound and all of a sudden one dog leapt up and scaled this steep hill to the top where the sheep were and brought them on down.  Then the shepherd made another whistle and the dog stopped and plopped down on the ground.  I was amazed that the dog was so quick to respond, that he ran up the hill so fast, and that the other dog didn’t leap up to join him.  Once the sheep came down, the shepherd showed us a lot of other calls and had the dogs move the sheep from side to side and even separate a few of them out.  He had six sheep, for example, and then made a series of whistles to have both dogs separate the shape into three pairs.  It was very impressive.

He was very good at explaining everything too.  He starts training the dogs at about four months or so and it takes about a year and a half to train them.  He said he doesn’t use a reward system or they would leave the job.  Wow, explain to me how you can get a dog to be so obedient without a bone on the other end!  He said it’s in their nature to herd though so I guess that works out.  He also said that each dog has his own whistle sound for the different commands.  That makes sense so he can tell one to go left and the other to go right.

After the demonstration, which was so fun and really amazing, he showed us some of his sheep.  He has a bunch of them in a little pen to kind of show off the different types from around the world so it was interesting to see the variety.  One sheep, he said was from the Middle East I think, had two sets of horns, one set going out to the side and the other set going down around his face.  That was different!

So that stop alone was worth the whole excursion and definitely the highlight of the tour, besides the incredible views all along the way.  We did have another exciting stop for lunch at a place called Waterville.  We got off the bus and the driver told us we had 50 minutes to eat and come back.  He recommended a place just outside his stop but we checked in and, as expected, it was more than we wanted to pay.  So we thought we would just find a grocery store.  We did, but it was tiny and the food there was pretty expensive.  We had few options at too high an expense so we figured we would keep looking.

We found a little place just outside the store that was honestly just as expensive as the first place but the menu looked good and I asked the lady if we would have enough time to eat there.  She said we had “loads of time,” so we sat down and I ordered two appetizers: chicken wings and potato skins.  They were very good but somehow the time was ticking by so fast that we ended up having to shovel our food down and weren’t able to enjoy it as much as we would have liked.  Nick was bummed to have to hurry with his fish and chips especially.

We finished up with just about five minutes to get back to the bus.  As we approached, we saw that the bus had its blinker on ready to head out.  OH NO!  The driver must have seen us in the mirror though and waited for us to get on.  As we sat down, the guy next to us said, “I thought he was going to leave you behind.”  We had messed up on our timing and that we had arrived ten minutes later to Waterville than we did.  So we were very lucky that the driver had waited as long as he did, about eight minutes, for us idiots to get back.  Otherwise our day would have turned out much differently!

We ended our tour going around the National Park where we had spent our time the day before.  Some of the best views of the tour were in this area.  What a place!  It made me want to explore it even more.

We got back at 5:00pm and went back to the hostel before heading out again into the little village of Killarney.  After hitting up an internet café – our hostel has no internet, unfortunately, though it is very cute – we had to figure out what to do for dinner.  All I wanted for my birthday dinner was a stack of yummy waffles with strawberries and cream, but that wasn’t happening.  The grocery store here was limited and all you would get at a restaurant was more European food at European prices.  So I spent my birthday dinner at… McDonalds.  Pretty sad but it was actually good and didn’t cost $30.

I thought it would be fun to see a movie so we went and saw Letters to Juliet, which was predictable but cute.  We went home and played cards before going to bed.  I told Nick it didn’t at all feel like my birthday, with no phone calls or singing or parties or presents.  But at least it was a good day with good weather so I am not complaining.  And hey, I’m in Ireland!

PHOTOS:

This was one of our first stops.  What's fun is that you will see these green hills and all these little white dots all over them.  The white dots are all sheep, as you can see here on this hill in the background.  And that dog with the man, her name is Daisy.  I pet her, of course.

I had to be very selective about the photos I post because there are too many scenic ones.  I got this bridge as we passed by on the windy road.  Always the primary color of any picture in Ireland is GREEN!

Before the little demonstration started, one of the dogs was rolling around on the grass.  He may work hard but he's still a dog after all!

Here is one of the dogs herding the sheep, going wherever the shepherd whistles him to.

The sheep come down the hill and both dogs plop down on the grass as soon as they are commanded to do so.

At the end, he had the dog herd the sheep up back the mountain.  But on the way up, the dog kept looking back like, "Do I keep going?  All the way up?  A little more?"  That's what he's doing here.

It was cool to see the variety of sheep.  I liked the thicker guy on the left.

Here is the guy I described with his very unique set of horns.  He was butting a few of the other sheep around.

Once we got around one side of the peninsula, we found the other side to be a bit more windy and foggy.  Nick and I were both captivated by this scene, we wanted so bad to go and explore!

This was an interesting river at a town we stopped at near the end of the tour

Again, I am trying to capture the incredible view - the scenery, not me - and I just cannot do it.  You really just have to be there in order to appreciate this vast expanse of wild greenness.

Here we are looking out over the National Park of Killarney where we enjoyed our exploration the day before.

One final look over Killarney National Park before heading back to town to end our tour.

OK so funny story about these things.  When we were getting our lunch in Waterville, we stopped at that grocery store and decided to get a goodie.  I got this packet of individually wrapped "wagon wheels" because none of the goodies were familiar to us and this sounded similar to another goodie I like.  Well, they are disgusting.  It's like a crust with marshmellow inside and chocolate on the outside.  Sounds normal but the crust part is like cardboard.  So Nick and I were just laughing about these things at the end of the day.  Nick said, "It's made of REAL wagon wheel, and we stuff it with marshmellows too!"  Then we saw the tag line on the packaging, "You have to grin to get it in."  Nick laughed at that and said, "You have to frown to get it down."  LOL!!!  So here are our wagon wheels all lined up and ready to go.

Day 24 - Europe 2010

We weren’t entirely sure how today was going to unfold.  We had no specific plans other than to explore the nearby National Park, though we weren’t sure exactly how big it was or what there was to see.  The weather looked nice – partly cloudy with a cool breeze - and we were grateful for that.  In addition, the owner of the hostel here, some quirky guy with an odd accent I can’t place, happens to rent bikes at the incredible price of $12 a day, up until 7pm.  What a deal!  So we figured what with the lovely weather and the cheap bike rental, we would go ahead and do exploring by bike.

We headed out toward an old castle, built sometime in the 1400s.  Some of it is still intact and it was more of a fortress as we read about the defenses built into it.  You could go in for a fee but we have seen plenty of similar sites.  We were more interested in the incredible lake a stone’s throw away from the ruins.  We spotted a bunch of row boats and wondered whether you could rent them.  We asked around and found the old man in charge, bracing ourselves for the cost.  But it was only $6 per person per hour.  We didn’t think that was bad so we hopped on for a quick lake adventure!

It was so much fun!  The oars were a bit interesting because they were more like sticks.  There was not really a flat rounded part on the end.  So it made rowing a bit of a chore and the windy conditions added to our labor as well.  But we laughed at the whole excursion and drank in the gorgeous view.  There were mesmerizing green mountains in the distance, with a backdrop of numerous clouds in every shade of gray.  I could not stop taking picture, trying to capture some of their mystery and presence.

We arrived on a little island, Innisfallen, in the middle of the lake.  There was an old building there but it was mostly ruins.  It reminded me a bit of The Chronicles of Narnia, just this old ruined building on this island in the middle of this big lake with these mysterious green mountains in the distance.  And we were alone on the island, at least as far as I knew.

We went exploring and found some very interesting things.  We saw a lot of purple foxglove flowers, the bell-shaped ones, which were beautiful and buzzing with bees.  We also noticed some very interesting rock formations on the shore.  It looked like plate upon plate of brittle stone had been layered diagonally all along the island.  I wasn’t sure what in nature caused that though I would imagine the wind might have something to do with it.  It is definitely windy there.

After our quick tour of the island, we got back in our boat and back to the castle.  There was still so much to see in this park!  We got back on our bikes and explored more around the lake where we found some really unique places.  We found a sort of swimming hole where the water was kept undisturbed due to a little bridge of rocks separating it from the rest of the lake.  It was fantastic with the view of the lake and the mountains right there from the peace of the pond, complete with lily pads!  Just behind this area was an old mine where people had been extracting copper and such from around 2000 B.C.!

The whole area was just too enchanting.  Everything was covered in green and the only sounds were the birds and the waves and the breeze.  And Nick and I were completely alone in this forest, with a bed of leaves covering the ground and moss and ivy on every tree.  I said to Nick, “You could almost believe in fairies in a place like this.”  One of my all-time top favorite things to do is to explore forests and mountains and rivers completely uninhibited.  It makes me feel free and alive and helps me to forget the craziness of the lives we live.  So I was on cloud nine doing just that, in this beautiful place, and in Ireland to boot!

We explored a bit more and then headed back to grab some lunch.  I got me a yummy salad and we found a park nearby where we ate with a view of the river flowing into the lake.  We took a nap on the grass there before heading on to more adventures.

We cycled a bit before coming to some sort of old mansion.  It was really quite charming and pretty big, with ivy growing on it and gorgeous trees around the immediate area.  But what was most amazing was the setting.  There was a park just below the mansion that bordered the lake and the lake had scores of trees on either side, creating a sort of frame for the green mountains in the distance.  It was stunning.  I kept commenting again and again, “This is so beautiful.”  I could not imagine having my home there with that unbeatable view.

I really wanted to linger but we were running short on time and there was still more to explore.  We found a waterfall nearby that was, you guessed it, awesome!  What was cool about it was the layers to it.  There was one waterfall higher up and then another to the left of it farther down and from there it split off into different little chutes coming from a third layer into the stream below.  We stayed a while looking at it and enjoyed climbing all over the rocks to get a closer look.  The water was cold and clear and Nick wanted to wade in.  I don’t blame him.  Everything about this place lures you in!

We got lost a bit after that and then found our final trail which turned out to be quite fun.  It went up and down and twisted and turned so it kind of felt like a little pleasure course through the beautiful forest, with open views of the nearby lake from time to time.  We got to this place called the Meeting of the Waters, where the two lakes meet.  It was peaceful.  The water was calm and there was an old bridge in the distance.  Overhead were bundles of gray clouds, showing up just in time for the expected stormy forecast of tomorrow.

We met an old couple in that little spot that were just adorable!  They were from Cork which isn’t too far from Killarney and were just a hoot to watch and listen to.  Their accents were so fun and the woman was so lively and cute.  She kept saying lovely all the time – “Oh, you must do that walk, it’s just lovely,”  “Honey, isn’t that whar we get those lovely chips?”  “Killarney is just lovely.”  I just wanted to pack her up and take her home.  The two were so funny together too.  She kept hitting him on the head or on the shoulder with her little paper and telling us not to listen to him when she would suggest we do one thing and he would suggest another.  “Wifebeating,” he said.  “Well, you can do that aftar farty years of marriage,” she replied.  Haha!

We only had an hour to get home after that and we were beaten after a full day of riding and rowing!   My left knee was bothering me for some reason and felt like it had something inside of it.  Meanwhile, Nick had been in pain since lunch from his uncomfortable seat.  His “undersection” hurt, as he put it.  While we were painfully pushing up hills getting home, Nick was grunting and calling for his mother to make it stop, all to my amusement.  He expressed, “My crotch is going from hamburger meat to a bloody pulp.”  I was bent over laughing at his dry humor despite his miserable state.  I’m telling you, it’s a good thing we’re doing this trip now.  If it’s bad at age 29, who knows how we’ll be by retirement.

So we pushed ourselves home just before 7pm and just in time to escape the rain.  It started pouring down just a minute or so before we pulled back into the hostel.  How lovely was that!  We couldn’t believe what an incredible day it was but our legs also couldn’t believe how worn out they were.  I was afraid to sit down thinking I may not be able to get back up!

We freshened up a little in our private room (no dorm-style room for my birthday, thank you) which is very cute with the nicest bed yet and its own little shower and toilet!  Yay!  We headed out for some grub.  The lovely Irish lady had recommended me go to Hannigans – “It’s good food, good value, and don’t farget tha name now!” - so we found the place and got a table.  Well a good value is apparently a $18 - $28 plate!  Yikes!  So we ordered the cheapest thing but it was admittedly good and Nick said that, after all, it is my birthday.

We had considered going to the movies nearby but we felt broken and would be better off laying down.  So we headed back to the hostel and Nick went to bed while I wrote about this fantastic day that will be hard to beat.

PHOTOS:

Here we are entering the park.  This guy with a horse carriage rode by and asked if we wanted our picture together.  How sweet!  So he took it and then his horse started going toward the ditch for some grass.  Whoops!

Ross Castle in Killarney National Park, built in medieval times.  It's so cool how it's right on the lake!

Nick tries to row and enjoy the scenery at the same time.  It can be hard to get places when your oars are just long sticks.

A view from our row boat of the breathtaking mountains.  Honestly, there are so many scenes like this where my camera just can't capture the beauty there.  They look so much less impressive here than in real life.

As we neared the shore, I saw the very creepy rock!  It look like a woman coming out of the water but her face seems a bit melted!

We leave our little row boat to go have some adventures on Innisfallen Isle!

Find Andrea!  OK so I went into this bunch of brush here and I either got stung by a bee or had a serious reaction to the plants there.  I felt this sting in my arm and then my arm broke out in all these little bumps.  It was pretty intense but the bumps went away after a while.

Nick was getting into the Irish spirit while on our abandoned island and did a little jig down the grassy lanes.

We saw some foxglove in the area, also called Dead Man's Bells because just about every part of them is poisonous.  They were buzzing with bees.

Nick found a Level 11 staff on the island, +3 intellect +2 stamina, and cast a spell.

Not making this stuff up, folks.  Check out that view and the interesting rocks of Innisfallen Isle.

Back at the old abbey, Nick calls for a sacrifice!

Unfortunately, I was the only one around.

Nick goes to get the boat ready for our trip back.  What a man!

Another look at the lake and the mountains before heading to new sites.

The awesome pond with lily pads!  It was so perfect there, all alone with nothing but nature to keep you company!

By the old mine, Nick has a vision.

We now head to another section of the park.  Can it get any better?

The old mansion with an Andrea on the steps.

The view from the mansion - unbeatable.  With the water and the field and the trees and the mountains.  Oh, and there was a huge green mountain to the left as well.

The exposure is too high but we were running out of battery and just turning it on and shooting.  These are the falls.  Pretty cool!

We climbed a bit closer and wanted to wade in.

I put this on just so you can see how the water comes down in different areas and looks neat.  I saw a picture of this place on a postcard and I guess it can flow a lot stronger than it is there.  That must look cool.

And here we are at our final destination, the Meeting of the Waters.  See the bridge behind us?  I guess you can walk across it and I wish we had had time to do so!  You can also see on the bridge how high the water can get.  I guess it has been dryer this year.  That cute old man took this picture.

Day 23 - Europe 2010

We were leaving Dublin today to begin our trip through Southern Ireland.  We were planning on heading down into the Wicklow Mountains about an hour from Dublin to see some of the beauty there.  I guess that is where they filmed some of Braveheart and some other movies too.  There is also a place called Glendalough there with great scenery and some older ruins.

So we headed over to the car rental place to pick up our car.  Driving on the left side of the street, yikes!  But when we were getting everything set up, the guy told us that we had booked through an American site which didn’t include the insurance you have to buy for rentals in Ireland.  He explained our two insurance options, $27 a day or $35 a day.  Um, okay.  I had known about the insurance but thought that was included in my price when I booked online, since the base rate was $90 but the total was $130.  That additionally $40 must be taxes and insurance, I figured.  But now I was paying $27 a day on top of my $130 and that just for insurance!  So I asked the guy what our total would be and he said $360!  WHAT!?!?!

We had to sit down for a minute and figure everything out.  $360 for a week car rental was just outrageous and we hadn’t planned on anything close to that.  And we had to consider the cost of gas too, which is much more expensive here than in the US.  We were just stunned and had had nothing else lined up since we didn’t anticipating paying all our limbs for this rental.  I told the guy that it seemed a little ridiculous, especially since this is Thrifty and they are supposed to be cheap.  He got it down to $300 but that was still double what we thought we would pay.  So we just left.

What to do now?  I already had hostels booked for everywhere else we were going in Ireland and I wasn’t about to spend a week in Dublin.  There’s just enough to see and do here for that.  So we went to a tourist office – they have them everywhere here in Europe – and asked about our options.  These cute little Irish ladies told us the cheapest way to see Ireland was definitely by bus.  So we went to the bus station nearby and found a bus leaving for Killarney, our final destination for the day, in about five minutes.  It cost $60 for the both of us.  Better than the car rental price and, as has become another phrase of ours, “cheaper than the taxi.”

So that was the bulk of our day was getting to Killarney, which is on the other side of Ireland.  We had to scratch our Wicklow Mountains tour – sad face – but at least we found a way to get to Killarney where we will be until Monday.  The whole bus trip, including an hour stopover in Limerick, was seven hours.  So I finally got some studying done, in addition to plenty of napping.  We also got to see lots of the countryside, which was beautiful.  Lots of green, lots of cows, and lots of sheep.

We checked into our cute little hostel and went out for some grub.  We got a pizza and spent the rest of the evening walking around.  I wanted to hear some more Irish music, which you can catch at a lot of the pubs, but we stopped at one only to find them having problems with the sound.  After about a twenty minute wait, we called it good and went back to our place.  We exchanged stories with our fellow hostellers, two guys from California, and looked forward to tomorrow with an exploration of the gorgeous and spacious park nearby.

PHOTOS:

The reality of it all.  I was on a bus for six hours today, quite unexpectedly, and I was none too happy about our sudden change of plans due to Ireland's outrageous car rental rates.  I am studying though, at least, and I did take time to look out the window along the way!

Honestly, Ireland is unbelievably green and so gorgeous.  These hills are just to die for.  It made the bus trip much less painful to look out the window at that!

And that... This is just a sneak preview!  More breathtaking Irish scenery to come!