5TH DAY-DINGLE PENNISULA

October 2, 2018

The Dingle Peninsula is said to be the most beautiful area in Ireland.  You can see mountains, the sea and lots of green farmland all at the same time. The town of  Dingle is so picturesque. This was one of  my favorite places in Ireland.

The first thing we did was have a boat trip into the harbor.  In 1983, a dolphin moved into the harbor and never left.  It is getting old, so it doesn't come as often as it used too, but it is still there. We were lucky to see several sightings. His name is Fungie.

Fungie

We saw a couple of local fishermen, they had caught lots of seafood

Dick Mack's Pub. Years ago it was a combo shoe repair and pub. Dick Mack realized he made more money selling drinks, so he closed the shoe repair and just sold drinks. There is  a room in the back that was just for women, so they could drink privately.

He left all the shoes in place

Of all places to see Seattle's Best Coffee! I was surprised

Dingle Town

Views around Dingle

4TH DAY-KILLARNEY

October 1, 2018

We are now starting to head West. While driving to Killarney, we passed thru beautiful scenery.  This picture is very typical of Ireland countryside everywhere

Before we went to  Killarney, we stopped at our hotel, the Cahernane House. It was one of the most beautiful hotels we stayed at.   The first estate was built in 1656, then demolished in 1877 to build a more modern Victorian Home with indoor plumbing.  In 1914, it was leased to a hotel. The family still stayed on the grounds until 1966. 

Before we went back to our hotel, we stopped at a "Unlicensed Shop" to get a bottle of wine to enjoy on the patio.  That is what they call a shop that sells alcohol. Wonderful evening. 

Haven't seen one of these phones in years. It  was in our room.

In Killarney, we took a jaunting car for a tour of Killarney National Park.  It is a beautiful park. The ride was lots of fun. We actually got to sit up front with the driver.

We had a few hours to walk around Killarney. Such a beautiful town.

 Ireland doesn't have big grocery stores. All of the different departments we have in one store are all individual storefronts. 

This was the largest one we saw.

This is the pub we stopped for lunch at, wonderful Irish stew and a pint of Guinness.

3RD DAY-KINSALE

September 30, 2018

After leaving Blarney Castle, we traveled to Kinsale to stay the night. Kinsale is a tiny town, but considered the gourmet capital of Ireland. One of the top ten restaurants in the WORLD is there, Fishy, Fishy.  We took a walking tour of the town before dinner

 This was our view in front of the hotel

The  small towns in Ireland are so well kept and tidy.  Ireland has a tiny town contest to find the best town every year. The towns go all out to win.  Th buildings are all so colorful

The  hotel floors in Ireland are a little deceiving. Our  first floor is actually the 2nd. The first floor is 0. If you think you are up two floors, you are actually on the 3rd floor. Luckily, all our hotels had elevators. 

Very few people speak English in this area. All of the signs are in Gaelic.

MNA is the woman's restroom. We were told the easy way to remember it is NO MEN ALLOWED

FIR is the men's restroom, but I can't remember the saying how to remember it. 

There is actually  someone staying in this little truck/RV.  It has power and water hooked up. It was on the  front lawn of our hotel. A tad small for us!!!

3RD DAY-BLARNEY CASTLE

September 30, 2018

After staying in Dublin for 2 nights, we were finally off to see Ireland. Going south, we stopped to view the Rock Of Cashell off in the distance.

Our first destination was Blarney Castle.  It is the best  known  and  most photographed attraction in Ireland.  The legend is that if you kiss the famous Blarney stone, you will get the gift of gab.  The first tower was originally built in 1446. The 2nd tower 100 years later. It has 18' thick walls.  

Notice the seam in the middle of the tower. That shows the 2 different towers, the one on the right being the oldest.  The skinny windows were built for security, you could shoot out of it, but little area for your enemies to hit you. It was very unusual for it's day because of the built out window at the lower right. It was the Kings bedchamber, almost like a garden window of today

Interior

Notice the hole at the top.  After walking up  this is where you lean  BACK over the empty space to kiss the Blarney Stone. There is a man there the holds you while you lean back. I didn't want to kiss a stone that had been kissed by millions of people. UCK!  We didn't walk up, but many people did.  Guess that's why we don't have the gift of gab!

They had a garden to mix up potions to give to their enemies that they  didn't like and wanted to die. It was quite extensive.

This is the house where the people actually lived that bought the Castle.No one live there now.  Beautiful