Day 7
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Well a good week draws to a close with another long driving day.
Out by about 10:30, destination the Dingle Peninsula. We had been torn about going there. It was at the top of our list, but after spending some time here we realized it was a lot further away, time-wise, than we had hoped.
Turned out to be about 2.5 - 3 hours to Dingle town. Then factor in the time to tour the peninsula and it was a 9 hour driving day. Way too much, but when will we be back in Ireland again?
Back over Moll's Gap, through Killarney National Park. A great day again today - about 75 and sunny.
Out by about 10:30, destination the Dingle Peninsula. We had been torn about going there. It was at the top of our list, but after spending some time here we realized it was a lot further away, time-wise, than we had hoped.
Turned out to be about 2.5 - 3 hours to Dingle town. Then factor in the time to tour the peninsula and it was a 9 hour driving day. Way too much, but when will we be back in Ireland again?
Back over Moll's Gap, through Killarney National Park. A great day again today - about 75 and sunny.
Dingle town was a crummy looking British tourist type town. It probably had some redeeming features but we only stopped for the girls to use the loo in a pub.
The countryside in Dingle was a little less mountainous and more rolling than the Ivergah (Kerry) peninsula. A little easier to drive too, but not much. |
The highlight for me was the Galarus Oratory. A church built around 500 AD, it is still completely intact. We spent a while talking with an attractive on site tour guide who told us all about it. They can tell it was built as a Christian church because the (apse?) window faces east. There's also a grave with headstone that began life as a pagan item but was repurposed by the Christians when their time came along.
We waited several minutes for a couple of tour busses of Italians and Germans to return to their vehicles, then we pretty much had the place to ourselves for a few minutes (till the French tour bus arrived.) Some genius who owns the adjacent field put up an official looking visitors' center with slideshow and charges 3€ per person to access the Oratory. But those with the Rick Steves guide know that you can just walk up for free after a short drive up a lane! That paid for the guide right there! The guy with the field must be making a half million bucks a year from his ingenuity. |
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Back home after a long drive was made longer because we hit 5:00 traffic in Killarney and were delayed almost an hour. Beautiful views across Killarney National Park.
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D. O'Shea's
Back in Sneem by 7, we again could not resist the pull of O'Shea's. A couple of Guinness, a couple of Chardonnay, Garlic Ciabatta for Kristen, great fried cod, chips & salad for Dave, and a salad with smoked chicken for Jill. back home by dark and a quick pack job before an early bed.
Day 8 >>>
Day 8 >>>