Killarney, The Dingle Peninsula, through Limerick to Galway

Today was an "on the road" day. I drove from 10am until 5:30pm, mostly because I couldn't help myself but stop for another picture of Irish coasts, sheep or green grass. I, honestly, had a blast today. Every few minutes I'd get out of the car, climb around a bit, take a picture or two and marvel at the view, my life, the weather, just everything.

That being said, I'm utterly exhausted. I might let the captions do the talking today. 

When driving through towns that must've had populations of 1,000 or less I'd occasionally see a local church and a cemetery for the locals. There were actually two funeral processions on my drive today.

That white area along the horizon is heavy surf. These sheep have got it good. 

The wind at this beach was like nothing I'd ever experienced and the waves were coming like the dickens!

Windy!

But worth it!

And then I turned a corner and the weather changed.

Mr Sheep says, "What are you looking at?" And I respond, "Why, you, Mr Sheep."

The paired off sheep are babies. There were two and two and two all around the farm.

The town of Dingle. Another adorable town.

There is an aquarium in Dingle. (No dolphins were harmed in the taking of this photo)

And then I decided to take a detour on the Wild Atlantic Way (Slea Head Drive).
Maybe the best decision ever (also a great decision not to bike or walk it, as it is LONG)!

The drive was so fun. Everyone on the road would stop and take pictures and everyone else would patiently wait for them, or scootch around them at a leisurely pace.

This is my kind of road!

More sheep with a good view

It was a remarkable day with fantastic views and roads and weather. The only downfall about such a day is that I couldn't take pictures of everything. Sometimes beautiful things aren't near a place to pull over. And sometimes, you just have to decide NOT to pull over anymore because this "50 minute" tour of the peninsula has been 2 hours already. And no matter how beautiful the green hills are and all the adorable lambs and calves and foals, you just have to keep driving if you're ever going to get to your hotel. Oh, the hard choices. 

Oh and I made a friend when I stopped for lunch

This was my first Irish Rainbow!

Just look at that windblown hair! What a great day.

Ireland: Blarney Castle, Stone and Grounds

This morning, I set my alarm to wake me up early so I could beat all the tours/coaches full of people to the Blarney Stone. Job done. I was punctual (as always) and the third one into the Blarney Castle Grounds which are about 20km of walking paths and interesting gardens.

Since my goal was to Kiss the Blarney Stone, I started there and beat the other two up the many narrow winding stairs. 

The view from the top of Blarney Castle

Green green green views!

I'd heard that you had to kiss the Blarney Stone upside down, but I had no idea that you had to get upside down and then lowered into a crevasse that would surely kill you, if you fell down it. But I didn't climb up all those stairs for nothing. So, I took off my glasses, put my phone in my bag, emptied my pockets and trusted this Irishman to hang on tight. Back I went. Tight I held to the iron bars and DOWN I went to kiss the stone!

Legend has it that whoever kisses the Blarney Stone will be endowed with the "gift of the gab". After reading up on it, I think this means that if you kiss the Blarney Stone you'll be able to talk a lot of shit without ever actually making a point. Either way, it was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. 

Smiling, but not wanting to let go of the safety bar. =)

See the very top? See that hole with the iron bars.
Yup, that's where I was hanging on for dear life to kiss a rock. Ha!

The Blarney Stone isn't even the coolest (or deadliest) thing here. There are miles of paths to walk. I decided to try my luck in the Poison Garden!

Some poisonous plants made me think of Harry Potter

Wore my ear muffs for this one

This one made me think of Dracula

After surviving the Poison Garden, I took a leisurely walk through the greenest of green places. The Fern Garden.

The weather held out for me this morning, though it was due to rain. Not a drop hit me while touring around in Blarney. The drive to Killarney was not so dry, but it was beautiful. More green to see. Winding roads. Cute towns and even a train crossing. My camera didn't process those photos for some reason.

I've checked into the Riverside Killarney Hotel where I'm watching the rain out my window. Yesterday, I was warned that the Ring of Kerry (which I want to drive tomorrow) is lousy if it's raining. A thick fog blankets the drive and you can't see anything. I believe the warning, as there is fog out, even now. Keep your fingers crossed for beautiful weather in the morning.  

Ireland: Dublin, Kilkenny, Cashel and arrival in Blarney

Good morning, Ireland!

Ok, so the fire alarm in the middle of the night wasn't great. I was pretty tired when I took the shuttle bus from the Travel Lodge back to the Dublin Airport in the morning to pick up my rental car, but I wasn't in a hurry because I wasn't due to pick up the car until after 12.

I had a "full Irish breakfast" at the airport and then went to get the car a little early. Turns out that the car I booked with my prepaid Mastercard wasn't able to be paid for with that card, so I walked next door and got a car from a different company. No biggie. I ended up getting an upgrade to a Nissan Juke (which makes me think of Kriss who used to drive one). It's a manual transmission, black, diesel with a great stereo.

At some point (possibly when having my Irish breakfast), I booked a hotel in Kilkenny. Quick side note here: I never would have gone to Kilkenny if it wasn't for my hosts in Copenhagen who have a travel blog of their own.

So, in the car and off to Kilkenny. 

About an hour and a half later after driving in a heavy rain, I reached my hotel and was so exhausted that I made the executive decision to do a quick tour of the city, pick up supplies (water, fruit, lunch) and go back to the hotel, close the blinds and only leave for a fast food dinner, which was basically in the parking lot of the hotel. I needed (and took) a day off.

The next day, the sun was shining. I was well rested and ready to explore. 

These Irish towns love their colorful buildings

Isn't this just the most charming town you've ever seen

Kilkenny Castle

A garden behind Kilkenny Castle

Kilkenny Castle

Cute shop name!

This massive mural is hidden behind a wall with peaky holes in it. There are "wanted" signs
for Alice Kyteler on the wall, the first person in Ireland to be accused of and killed for witchcraft. 

Having finished my fun morning tour of Kilkenny, I hopped in the car and set the GPS for Cashel. I'd read about it, too, on my friends' blog and thought I'd give it a look. But first, I pulled over to chat to some cows. It started off where they were all spread out in a field, but once I got talking..

They got interested!

I have to say that meeting up with friends in France, Italy and Denmark was just the best. I would not have lasted as long on my travels if I hadn't had time with friends. Being alone does get lonely. But it also has some advantages, like sleeping all day or stopping to randomly say hi to cows. =)

Cashel is another super cute town. It's almost a little Stepford. EVERYONE is super nice and helpful and they keep the place clean. The Rock of Cashel is where I was heading. I showed up, bought a ticket and was told that a tour had just started (see, my travel ju ju IS back). I joined the tour and walked around Cormac's Chapel.

Have a read about the Sarcophagus and Cormac's Chapel here.

Local kids used to play in the ruins, when the roof started
 to collapse, it was removed for safety

Irish  Cross in the foreground, Hore Abbey in the background.
This is where Queen Elizabeth II visited on her first trip to Ireland.

A chunk of the roof that blew off in a great wind storm!

The colors are naturally made (From plants and animal blood)

The Cross of Cashel - 1200's

And then I had lunch and wandered around the town. 

After my delicious Irish lunch of roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, chicken battered and baked and vegetables steamed to death (all smothered in gravy), I got back in the car and drove through Limerick county to Blarney. 

I'm staying at an adorable B&B within walking distance of the town and Blarney Castle (which I will explore tomorrow morning). Tonight, I had dinner at The Square Table restaurant. It was INCREDIBLE. And the people behind me were raving about their food too. Highly recommend. And on the walk home in a beautiful sun shower, I took this panorama. Everything here is so green. I didn't want to overwhelm you with 48,000 pictures of grass. So, here are two pictures.