The Ring of Kerry
The foggy mist lifted a bit and after breakfast. We told Louise that we would be interested in the guided bus tour of the Ring of Kerry which she offered up as a suggestion the night before. Driving this route would have been impossible for the driver to catch any of the sites along the way due to the twisting narrow roads into the mountains. Well, turned out the tourist thing worked quite well in this case. We climbed aboard the tour bus driven by an older Kerry islander with a bow tie, fedora, and distinct accent as the drizzle started back up. Off we were, traveling to a tourist village of old thatched roof houses, peat fireplaces, bog ponies, and other things you think of in the “old Ireland”. We however opted for an Irish coffee in the souvenir shop/pub next door. Too many tourists… too little time. The Americans and Germans are driving me nuts at this point btw.
On our way, we stopped at one of Ireland’s best attractions. We watched as a shepherd commanded his border collies to herd a flock of sheep down a steep mountainside. It was amazing to see how the dogs listened to every word and whistle the shepherd uttered, even at a great distance. The demonstration was cool and worth the 5 Euros indeed. We continued the journey through small towns, valleys, peaks, and viewed some amazing scenery that cannot be captured on camera. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant on top of a peak overlooking a deep valley that ran to the ocean. Shepherds pie and seafood chowder were the crowd pleasers here. Yes, people in Ireland actually do eat shepherds pie, corned beef, fish & chips, Irish stew etc… and they do not drink their Guiness warm…and yes, it does taste better here. I think it’s the freshness factor…. Past the gap of Dunloe and under the “kissing bridge” we approached Killarney. The bus driver broke into song with (you guessed it) “Too rah loo rah” as we past some wild hogs and red deer by the side of the road. The day was long and filled with touristy things, but well worth it all the same. We walked down to the city center and ate at Quinlan’s Fresh Seafood restaurant. You can’t get seafood more fresh than on the west side of Ireland. I’ve noticed that everyone we have met has been very friendly or kind of cold… yet friendly. Very different than in the states. Also, there are a lot of foreigners working in the shops and restaurants. We were told that there was a big job boom years back and a lot of Polish, Malaysian, and Asians came for the big CelticTiger computer revolution. The jobs disappeared and many of them stayed. At the same time, very many Irish are emigrating to Australia right now due to job shortages. Interesting day, and we ended it with some traditional music in some sort of an old man pub… yet cool....
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