The Ring of Kerry

Today was AWESOME! They say, "You haven't seen Ireland until you've done the Ring of Kerry" and it is true! It was absolutely beautiful! We went through all sorts of terrains. Our cottage is just a couple minutes off of the Ring of Kerry.  We began by going through Killorglin, which is just a little Northwest of our cottage.  Our first stop was a beach called Rossbeigh Strand. It was stunning. The sun was just starting to peek through and the skies were blue.  They had a company that offered horse rides on the beach and a couple people were out with their dogs.  I think it may be my favorite stop on the Ring of Kerry.

Our next stop was Catherciveen.  There we went a little off the beaten path to a castle called Ballycarberry Castle.  Because it was about a 5-10 minute drive off the ring, no one was there. It was a castle, out in the middle of nowhere, from the 14th century.  We were able to climb and explore the castle all by ourselves. It was awesome. This was Thom's favorite stop.  (Look at the picture below to see if you can see Thom on the castle)

We then drove through Waterville to Catherdaniel where we had lunch. The drive from Waterville to Catherdaniel was described in my book as, "squiggle your way for 12km along the Ring's most tortuous stretch past plunging cliffs and soaring mountains to Catherdaniel." That was putting it lightly...We ate at O'Carroll's Beachside Bar.  I ordered the fish and chips and Thom ordered the house special pizza. To those of you who know me well--yes, I ordered fish-be proud. (Laurie and Lynn--I tried this because this meal is what we spent your gift on. We've always agreed experiences are best-especially foodie ones, so I was thinking of you! :) ) On our drive we saw the Skellig Islands. Thom was super excited to see this. Our view for lunch was lovely-the small beach was so cute! 

Our next stop was Sneem. We stopped for some good ol' souvenir shopping. Thom got a Guinness glass, and jersey.  Sneem means "the knot" which is thought to refer to how the river swirls near the bay.  

We continued on to Kenmare for more shopping and Thom found a bog oak sculpture of the Murdoch's Cross from Monasterboice.  He did a paper on this sculpture in Dr. Connor's Irish History Class and was incredibly excited when we found it.  

We then drove through the Killarney National Park (with a quick stop at Ross Castle and the Ladies' View) back to the town of Killarney to come home.  

The most EXCITING part of the day---(not really)---I got to DRIVE! whoohoo me! It was awesome. I think I did a great job.  Thom thought I was driving a little too close to the edge of the road, but after the Ring of Kerry, he doesn't know the meaning of being close to the edge. (...but it honestly was harder than what I thought it would be)

Let's talk about the roads....Oh  my goodness, I have never seen roads like this before.  They were so squiggly, tight, narrow, confusing, and I cannot even put into words how small these roads were.  Thom did an amazing job driving through them, however, how we got through it without a scratch is beyond me.  I think the world's worst job would be to drive a tour bus on these roads. There were times when we were on cliffs and the road went from a very skinny, narrow two lane to a SURPRISE everyone drives in the middle of the road--it doesn't matter which way you're going. I am so thankful that I was not driving, however if one is claustrophobic (Eric Zoske--I'm thinking of you) you would NOT like being in the passenger seat on this drive.   At one point, there were even sheep (Thom's favorite new meat) and goat on the road! 

We've had an enjoyable stay at the Killarney Country Club and are a little sad to leave our on-site pub friends, however, Ennistymon is calling our name! We cannot wait to meet Richard and Mary who are friends of Dr. Connor's (same Dr. Connor who taught Thom's college class) and Dr. Connor was beyond generous to give us a stay at Richard and Mary's. We are so excited--pictures to come tomorrow!