Exploring Our Backyard and Shopping in Dingle

It's laughable to think that there was a single day of this trip where we claimed to be "taking it easy."  We decided on our last full day that we should finally take advantage of the beautiful property right outside our rental cottage.  We stopped and said hi to the donkeys and then headed for the mountains for a leisurely stroll.  Once again I had to stop myself from singing "Climb Every Mountain" out loud.  I realize that was a different country but trekking through mountains in Europe with little children just evokes images of "The Sound of Music" for me. Dan was sad we wouldn't be heading to the top of the fourth highest mountain in Ireland, but sometimes you have to let some dreams go when you have kids.  Instead we settled for making it an hour up the hill to a small wall.  Everyone but me was excited to find some sheep bones lying in the field.  We had to stop every once in a while to pick "prickle pines" (that's what the girls called them) out of boots and pants.  And of course we stopped for multiple photo ops.  Dan decided it would be a good idea to head into a small gorge to get back because it would be drier.  I vetoed this because it was steeper.  I was then blamed for a somewhat traumatic trip through a peat bog.  Gabby and I went first.  She panicked when we started sinking.  My strategy was to just keep moving because standing still made us sink more.  Dan wasn't wearing his Wellies and was carrying a little more weight so he had some problems and Lottie kind of freaked out.  When I started laughing at them that only made things worse.  Luckily we all made it out relatively unscathed. 
In the afternoon we drove to Dingle for more souvenir shopping.  The stores there were significantly cheaper than Killarney.  The one store we went to exchanged money for us without a fee.  The town and the harbor were beautiful and it was a great day to walk around.  This was a great end to our time in Kerry. 

Gabby told everyone that she prefers to feed them carrots because then her hand stays further from their mouth and she doesn't get bit

Playing with sheep bones

Finally a day where we had to take our coats off

Dan's shortcut

Dingle Bay

Beautiful town

Couldn't have asked for nicer weather on our last day

The Gap of Dunloe

To take it easy after the previous days adventure we decided to set out for a long walk in the Gap of Dunloe.  We opted to walk instead of take a "trap" because that's just how we are.  Once again "Climb Every Mountain" was looping through my head the whole time.  This was a scenic walk past some lakes and towards the gap in the mountains.  We made it to just before the road starts to climb before we turned back.  The temperature dropped considerably as the wind picked up in between the mountains.  Having the wind at your back is far preferable to walking into it.  The scenery was stunning.  Thankfully this was one of the nicer days weather wise of our trip.  It makes it a lot easier to drag your kids on a 2 hour walk when they aren't being pelted with ice. 
After our stroll through the mountains we attempted to do some shopping in Killarney.  At this point we passed our prime with the girls and the prices were less than desirable, so this wasn't the most successful shopping trip.  We headed home to try and finish off some more potatoes and sausage. 

This man stopped his trap to let Gabby pet the horse

So many nice people offered to take our picture on this trip

These people gave Gabby one of their carrots to feed the horse

Dan decided to brush up on 4-H skills and catch a sheep for us

Lottie made it through the first hour on her own two feet and then required a nap.  Gabby was a trooper the whole time!

Stopping for a picnic at the furthest point of our walk where the wind was the strongest may not have been the wisest choice

Shopping in Killarney

My Birthday in Killarney

Pretty much the entire time we were in Kerry I had the songs "Christmas in Killarney" and "Climb Every Mountain" stuck in my head.  I suppose I should just be happy I finally stopped waking up singing "Let It Go."  We'd seen the signs for Killarney on our way to our rental and Nick told us we should take a day for each Killarney and Dingle.  We'd already crossed off Dingle (sort of) and so we set out for Killarney with Dan behind the wheel.  Happy Birthday to me I got to give up control of the driving and instead dig my nails into the passenger seat.  Considering he'd never really driven a manual transmission and now had to do it both on the "wrong" side of narrow sometimes mountainous roads I'd say Dan did pretty well.
Killarney National Park is a pretty big undertaking.  In the interest of keeping the girls happy we started with Ross Castle.  Unlike the previous two castles this time we had a guided tour with a real person not just an audio tour.  Gabby was RIVETED.  This kid followed tour guides around like a puppy dog.  Lottie was acceptably behaved and came away with some fun facts about castle potties and pigs blood in the plaster.  Both girls were fascinated by the hygiene habits of people way back in the day. 
After Ross Castle we went to Muckross House, which was my favorite.  I was irrationally excited that I already knew about a lot of what the tour guide was telling us from my Downton Abbey watching.  It was like being in a version of Downton.  This was like my version of Disney.  We also thankfully got to see some chamber pots and potties from the early 20th century, so the girls were happy.  Gabby was upset we didn't get to see the servants chambers in the attic (I secretly was to since that would be where all the good characters lived).  The tour guide mentioned parents in the house would only see their children for four hours a day.  If only I could go back in time and be super duper rich.
The last stop of the day before birthday dinner was Torc waterfall.  The girls were getting a little tired at this point, but that is of no concern to us when traveling.  We must press on!  So we dragged them up to the waterfall.  Dan convinced Lottie there were leprechaun holes along the way.  Once we got to the falls instead of turning around to go back to the car we made the poor choice to go just a little farther.  We ended up walking for probably close to an hour and of course during this time the weather took a turn for the worse.  We dragged them up and down some more hills and got a little worried because the trail wasn't so clearly marked towards the end.  We finally made it to the car and were completely soaked.  Thankfully they fell asleep almost immediately. 
We tried a couple pubs down the street for dinner but I think because it was their off season they didn't have food.  We went back into Milltown and had dinner at a place called Larkin's.  Everyone was much happier after some food.  We headed back to the house for ice cream and apple tart. 

Castle #3:  Ross Castle

Muckross House is my dream home.  I'd totally let lots of people come live there with me so as not to be selfish!

Gabby really wanted to pose for this one

This is where we should've stopped

Feeding our children more lies

She was sure she found a leprechaun hole.  I never knew they lived in holes?

Apple tart and whiskey ice cream float

Church in Milltown and Shell Collecting in Castlegregory

Naturally the day after we drive close to 3 hours to see the cliffs the weather was gorgeous.  We drove around and found a church a few towns away that had a mass that would be starting soon.  Turns out the priest there had been in Mobile, Alabama in the 60s.  It was sort of amazing throughout the trip how often people and places we visited had connections to the states.  Maybe that shouldn't have been surprising but it was to me. 
In the afternoon we headed off to do some shell collecting.  The man we rented from suggested one of their favorite beaches and suggested we go up the road through the little "town" of Camp.  This road rivaled those in Costa Rica.  Driving through mountains makes me so tense my back hurts afterwords.  This road about gave me a heart attack.  At one point we had to back down a hill to a pullover spot because a car was coming from the other direction and I don't know if two bicycles could've passed each other on this road much less cars.  Once we made it through that part of the drive things got a little easier and we found an incredible beach scattered with gorgeous mother of pearl shells.  This may be the first time I've ever collected shells in a winter coat. 
Once we'd filled our bucket we went off in search of music in the town of Dingle.  This involved another terrifying trip on windy mountain roads through the Connor Pass.  We noticed people pulled off at one spot and decided to follow suit.  People were hiking up the mountain to a prehistoric lake at the top.  We were once again assured it was ok for the kids to climb too.  The view from the top was spectacular.  After another brief stop at an overlook we made it to Dingle.  We failed on the music because the band was going to be starting too late for us.  Instead we had some beer and ginger ale at  O'Sullivan's Courthouse.

A view from the top of our little roadside climb

The lake hidden up on top of the rocks

These signs only add to my anxiety

Scenic overlook on Connor Pass

 

Bunratty Castle and the Cliffs of Moher

Since we’d spent the previous day in the car for eight hours we figured we might as well get more driving out of the way.  The first morning in Kerry we got up bright and early and headed up to Shannon to see the Cliffs of Moher and Bunratty Castle.  On the way the weather reports were grim at best.  When they mention gale force winds in Ireland that is no joke.  It was sleeting and the roads were icy in the mountains.  At lower elevations there was constant rain.  We of course just kept going. 
By the time we got to the Cliffs of Moher the weather was just miserable.  At home I would sit inside and be worried my electricity would go out in similar weather conditions.  On  vacation we dragged our kids out on a walk to the top of some cliffs.  Even with the wind, sleet and rain it is hard to deny the beauty of this area.  Sadly we could only stick it out long enough to walk up to the top snap a few pictures.  Lottie literally couldn’t stand on her own and we were getting pelted with ice.  I set her down on a step to get my camera and a gust of wind blew so hard she stumbled off the step.  It was time to move on.
We backtracked to Bunratty Castle and enjoyed a warm meal at the creamery.  We were able to find some local police patches behind the bar.  The weather stayed pretty awful, but castles seem to have a magical way of perking little girls up.  After exploring inside the castle we walked around the little village and discovered the potent smell of peet fires.  Then time for a long drive home with a pit stop for groceries.

The Cliffs of Moher under a sort of ominous sky

Huddling together for warmth as they get pelted in the face with little balls of ice

Don't be fooled by the slightly brighter skies

Smiling because we are headed back to the car

Hiding while Dan walked around to take in the scenery

Hooray for more beer and fish and chips to perk everyone back up!

These steps were like mountain climbing

Lottie was a little concerned about the turtle shells above the fire

Bunratty Castle

Irish Wolfhounds are HUGE!!!!

Rainbows everywhere

From Northern Ireland to Kerry

Our brief stint in Northern Ireland was over and so we moved onto almost the complete opposite corner of the country with a brief drive through Belfast along the way.  Our navigation skills improved greatly.  We didn’t make any wrong turns heading onto the dual carriage ways and made good time into Belfast.  Since we had to cancel our black taxi tour due to the aforementioned car rental issues we decided to stop and see the wall that divided the Catholics and Protestants on our own.  We should’ve left this sight seeing to the professionals.  It would’ve been far better to hear real stories about what this wall actually meant to people of Belfast.  It was impressive to see, but would’ve been better with stories.  After snapping a few pictures we got back on the highway and continued to Kerry. 
We made it in okay time although apparently could’ve done much better if we’d not taken an unintentional detour through the mountains past Tralee.  Our cottage in Kerry was gorgeous!  The kitchen alone would’ve kept me there forever.  We found out later that Nick and Annie bought the property and built the cottages themselves.  They had sheep and donkeys on their property.  The view out the back window was the fourth largest mountain in Ireland.  Another great success from vrbo.com.

This place was slightly larger than the last one.  By slightly I mean about 3 times the size.

The girls LOVED black pudding.  Dan and I thought it was like goetta with sheeps blood.

The view from the kitchen wasn't so shabby.

Absolutely stunning mountains in back of the cottage.