Friday, June 30

Great ride! Fun, informative driver. [We saw] hedges of fuchsia, Foxglove and heather in bloom. “Weeds with huge tropical-looking leaves—like ragged nasturtiums crossed with dandelions, but almost three feet across— called Gonnera—or something like that.  The thatched cottages of the reconstructed bog village (showing 19th century life) looked familiar, with lots of old farm equipment lying around, à la Cook Hill.

Lunch was lamb stew at a restaurant looking over Kenmare Bay (River) at 3:30 PM! We’ll have only a snack in the room tonight. Very much fun. We saw a group from the Cotswolds in England as we passed through Sneem for a brief stop. Fun.

Our traveling group was good. 11 people at the start in a 12-13 passenger van. Two got off south of Killarney to walk back to Kenmare. Twenty miles.

The “Singing bus driver” —Deklun?—was really a great guide. Only sang a few times.—humorous songs. Great views of interior valleys, lakes of Killarney, bays and Atlantic coast. Saw Dingle peninsula from Kerry peninsula. Saw Skellig Islands through the mist.. Was Valentia—the “slate” island. Saw the clear shot to North America.

Bak in Kenmare, we had a snack supper in the room, then walked to the Kenmare stone circle. Not well cared for—needed mowing. Sort of small, actually. We saw the Morris dancers again on the square in Kenmare. Those guys get around! Inter-generational group—ages ca. 20s to 60s. In Sneem a fiddler played; in Kenmare an accordion. The Dance with sticks looked real polite compared to Brazil!

Here’s a video of the Morris dancers.

I have no idea how that video will show up on different browsers on different operating systems. Let me know if it doesn’t work for you. I’ll send you a copy. 😉

Saturday, July 1

“Rainy. Not going to do much today.”

And we didn’t.

I walked around a while in the morning. Stopped in Holy Cross church, but they were preparing for a funeral. The coffin was there in the center aisle, draped in white, with a bible and a flower on it. I didn’t talk to the nun, who was getting things ready. I just took a picture of the Telford (186_?) and left. Also stopped at Mary’s Well. Not worth the walk.

Later, we both walked through the town again, then hit the car to drive to Glenngarigg and from there to the Bantry house. That was the plan, anyway.

​Getting to Glengarriff, across the Beara peninsula, was like driving on Mull so far as the scenery was concerned. But, although there were two lanes on the roads (except where there was a bit of wash-out along the sides), this time we went up and over the mountains, along the road that teetered along the crest of a ridge, through 19-century hand-carved tunnels, and out the other side, down the hills to Glengariff. We stopped for a break, had a dessert snack, and went back to Kenmare. Driving there was too much to take, but we had to go back over the same mountain pathway. I had to do it while I still had the nerve.

Dinner was fish & chips at the bridge bar, after the world cup game. (England lost.) Noisy people in the street didn’t slow me down. I slept.

Sunday, July 2

After breakfast, off around 9:00 for a pleasant drive to Killarney and then on to Tralee. Stopped for gas and to wash the car. Then into center of town, looking for the Tourist Office.

Wow. Parked in the street in front of the Kerry County Museum and found we were in the middle of a huge park, next to a stunning rose farden (part of the park). Really enjoyed walking around. Actually saw “the” rose of Tralee, which wasn’t nearly as striking as some of the others. Then a walk through the ‘Medieval Experience’ in the Museum,. Not too great, and we moved fast to stay ahead of a cub scout troop.

After that we drove to Blennerville, to see the restored windmill. Seeing the different gears, and the way the whole thing worked was much better than the Medieval exhibit. At least it was real, and we coult climb ladders to see each level of the works.