Tuesday, May 29
We clicked pictures, but it was hard out the window through the raindrops. You could see where it came to the ground in hazy colors over a farm field. I wanted to find the pot of gold.
We took the ferry across the River Shannon in a steady rain. Bob and I got out to walk around, but it was hard to see in the wind and stinging rain.
We went through a couple more quaint little towns and stopped in Tralee to walk through gardens, eat a pastry and have a comfort stop. There was a statue there for the Rose of Tralee. Sad Irish love story. I actually saw a Curves in Tralee and Henry pointed out a domed event center named after Dolly Parton as they love her so much.
The Dingle Peninsula is long and narrow and Dingle Harbor is very safe as it is sheltered by the hills.
It doesn't get the wind and is a good fishing port. We stopped there and ate their famed fish and chips and seafood chowder. We finished it up with homemade Sea Salt ice cream from Murphy's.
It is nice on this tour that we stop and walk and have comfort stops at least every two hours. Toilets as they are called here are usually quite clean and easy to find. The trouble is, when someone has a place to rent, the sign says "To Let." You tend to walk towards these signs thinking they just forgot the "i."
It doesn't get the wind and is a good fishing port. We stopped there and ate their famed fish and chips and seafood chowder. We finished it up with homemade Sea Salt ice cream from Murphy's.
It is nice on this tour that we stop and walk and have comfort stops at least every two hours. Toilets as they are called here are usually quite clean and easy to find. The trouble is, when someone has a place to rent, the sign says "To Let." You tend to walk towards these signs thinking they just forgot the "i."
We left Dingle and climbed up and out onto the Peninsula. We climbed a very winding narrow road with rugged sea coast was on the left and houses and fields on the right. I am always surprised to see the occasional Palm Tree in some of the tiny little garden yards of the houses. We stopped for a magnificent view. We were high up on the hill with rocks and crashing waves below.
Henry told us we were at the farthest western end of Europe. A craftsman was there that Henry said was talented and reputable, who made necklaces from tiny stones from the area with symbols of trees that symbolized each month of the year. Bob bought me a reddish stone that had the symbol for the Holly tree which is the one for my birth month. It is a sweet remembrance that I'll cherish, a little piece of Ireland. I picked up a tiny stone on the beach at the Isle of Skye in Scotland. I'm all set for souvenirs.
Henry told us we were at the farthest western end of Europe. A craftsman was there that Henry said was talented and reputable, who made necklaces from tiny stones from the area with symbols of trees that symbolized each month of the year. Bob bought me a reddish stone that had the symbol for the Holly tree which is the one for my birth month. It is a sweet remembrance that I'll cherish, a little piece of Ireland. I picked up a tiny stone on the beach at the Isle of Skye in Scotland. I'm all set for souvenirs.
We came down into Killarney which was once just a little village by the Lakes of Killarney. Once the railway came to town in 1850 it began to develop. They make world famous Lieberman Cranes that are exported all over the world. They have a wonderful National Park right in town that Henry says is one of the finest in the British Isles. There is a Cathedral in town with a lone Redwood standing in front as a memorial to those who died in the Potato Famine.
We arrived at a very nice Holiday Inn and everyone was in a rush to quickly sort laundry, pack it in bags and get it to the laundry. It was pouring rain so we took a taxi with three other ladies. It was a moment in time speeding through narrow, quaint streets listening to the Aussie lady English accents discussing how outrageous it was that one Launderette charged five pounds for a pair of nickers. It was like something out of a movie with scenes I must hold on to.
After dinner in the hotel, bob and I walked the mile into town to an ATM and listened to the music come out of the pubs. At one I heard the sweet Scottish ballad, "Row Lassie Row" and felt a misty homesickness for Scotland and home.
Another good day has come and gone.
