mandolin | Still playing catchup.

Continuing my earlier commentary along with Jen's Ireland itinerary today.

Realized I forgot to note some things in my Day 2 commentary. Added it to my prior post, and the new stuff is also below:

The views from Lough Cong when we went out on the boat were awesome. We didn't even need to enter Ashford to get some great views.

Returned to the Vista to discover that the lights had been left on and the car wouldn't start. It had been about two hours, and we got a jump from the nearby petrol station. A lot of cars about the same age as the Vista would start up after only a two-hour drain, but then again the car had been abused by tourists galore. This put us a bit behind schedule, so we hopped in the car and got moving.

Got slowed down, however, while going through Ballinrobe - seemed we managed to pass through town when the races were starting. Some kids were trying to hitch rides to the race track. We jokingly considered giving two younger boys a lift. (We didn't.) When we passed by some older boys trying to thumb a ride, we wrote them off because they didn't meet the "cute factor."

Lunch consisted of the apples and the soda bread we'd picked up at the Super Valu. Wish I could get bread that good at the supermarket at home...

Because of the delay in Cong, we couldn't stop in Westport and settled for driving through town. Bit of a shame, since it was a nice place, but we didn't miss out on anything major.

Interesting adventure when getting into Murrisk: there was a bar over the entrance which allowed clearance for 1.8 m.
Robyn: "Can we make this?"
Us: "Sure!" "Yeah, it'll fit!"
(Cue scraping sound as we just get beneath the bar.)
Jen: "Well, we made it!"
Turned out the scraping sound was the antenna. :)

Okay, here we go.

Day 3: 31 August 2003

Fortunately for all involved, I'd whacked my circadian rhythms into shape by that morning. Got comments of, "Wow, you can actually be coherent in the morning!" Hey, it does happen occasionally.

Trish (the owner of Adria House) had one of her little ones "helping" at breakfast; that is, the toddler came out to see who all the new people who could pay attention to her were.

We decided to hit Killarney, since it was ideally situated between Dingle and Cork, and we wouldn't have to drive quite as far.

Drove past Kinvara, didn't stop, but I still got some nice shots.

Cut through the Burrens for real this time, and stopped at a craft shop (one that actually had some nice things and not simply touristy plastic), and bought gifts for people. Did buy myself a sweater.

The Poulnabrone portal dolmen was, oddly enough, fenced off by ropes (which I found odd since a lot of old monuments we'd seen up til now were not fenced off at all). Looking up some locations to get the spelling right, I found out this was because the state only bought it 2 years ago in order to protect it from vandals - apparently, tourists and visitors had scraped it up by standing and walking on it, and some idiots had sprayed graffiti on it.

Other interesting thing about that spot: the exposed limestone pavement all around it. I actually took some ground shots with my camera, and a gap in the rocks tried to eat my foot. I was picking my way over the rocks, misheard Jen shouting something (she just wanted me to move, but I heard her wrong) and my foot went into a crevice. Lucky me, I didn't turn my ankle or anything.

We came around a curve, with the windows open, to find a bunch of tourists with cameras standing in and beside the road. Jen, very loudly as we passed: "Look! More sheep in the road!" (Pretty accurate. :) )

Dropped off to sleep in the car on the way through Limerick, partly because I refused to remind myself that Lough Gur was not far away. (If I see the Grange Stone Circle, I'm going to spend the whole time realizing what I got wrong in "Ride the Wild Winds." No way.)

Woke up in Adare, where we stopped to make a phone call. For an incidental stop, it was a lovely village. Spent some time shopping and admiring the thatched-roof cottages, the window boxes, the visitor center and the nearby park. Added more postcards to my collection.

We lucked out in Killarney: we were going to stay at a B&B a ways from the center of town, but then the owner of the 4-star guesthouse pointed out they had an open triple that could fit a guest bed. We got a good deal, too, and spent 2 nights there.

Killarney, like Galway, does not close every non-food shop at 6 (even on a Sunday), so we managed to get in some shopping. Finally called home to say, "Hey! I'm not dead!" Phone card service was actually very clear.

Got some quick dinner and went back to the room to watch Sky channels and write postcards.

Day 4: 1 Sept 2003

And yet more Adventure Driving ensued. We decided to take Conor Pass through the mountains to get to Dingle town instead of taking the main road. More sharp drop turns, the occasional tour bus that wouldn't stay on its own side of the road, and one point where we literally drove over a ford. (Cameras were not out at the time, though.)

Didn't see Fungie the dolphin in Dingle town, but I did have the sense to pick up a small notebook that I could put in my pocket. Proved invaluable later.

Had to get photos at Slea Head Beach just to amuse friends at the fact that yes, I went to Ireland and went to the beach.

Blasket Islands were also neat, and it was at this point when I decided that I'd have to bite the bullet and buy another memory card.

The bugs at Dunbeg Fort didn't bother me, since it was right down by the water and the breeze carried. But the gnat swarms up by the beehive huts, sadly, did really get to me on top of my asthma acting up. Felt like a yutz going back down - the huts were neat - but you could tell why the cows around there were making good use of their tails.

Almost bought something at the pottery shop, but changed my mind because of cost and the need to buy the person in question something practical (i.e. something she doesn't have seventeen of). The sun came out at this point - yay!

We stopped at a cemetery (I need to check Rick Steve for the name), took some shots and dodged schoolchildren. (Yes, it's September. First day of school in Ireland.)

Stopped at another beach at Inch, where "Ryan's Daughter" was filmed. Smooth, wide open crescent of sand, a lot different from the rocks of Slea Head but no less gorgeous. Going to thread together pics into a panorama shot.

I second Jen, the Boxty was a great dinner.

Passed by McSorleys on the way back, and noticed that the band playing that night had the same name as a local band that Robyn and Sara recognized, that was apparently from Baltimore. We went down to see them, but it turned out it was a different band. They were good, but we had to take off the next morning, so we went back to the guesthouse and crashed.

Yay! Lunchtime!