Oh Beehive...

Aside from all of the castles, Ireland has almost as many churches.  Of course some of the great examples are in ruins now, but even the ruins are beautiful. 

In County Kerry, we went into the ruins of Kilmalkedar Monastery, within eyeshot of the home of St. Brendan the Voyager (who is a pretty cool guy. I suggest reading John Joseph O'Meara's short book "The Voyage of Saint Brendan" if you're in the mood for a historical fiction version of a dude who hops in a canoe with some buddies, and sails in search of the Garden of Eden.  Rumor has it he may have landed in Florida? Sheesh.)  Anyway, this monastery dates back to the 7th century.  Pretty amazing that any of it is still standing.

St. Brendan's home, and the cemetery in front of the monastery

One of the more interesting "churches" was the Gallarus Oratory in County Kerry.  Projected to be between 1,000 - 1,200 years old, this stacked stone beehive resembles either the bottom of an overturned ship. 

 More a chapel than a church, local legend says that if you exit via the window, your soul will be cleaned.  Note that the window is barely larger than our tourguide's head.  Alas, my soul is sullied.

On Dingle

Albeit saddled with a downright silly name, Dingle has been rightfully titled as one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Trust me when I say these photos don't do it justice, nor could anything I try to say about it. Enjoy.

Not a bad view for all eternity.

Castles, castles & more castles

Relatively short day today, but absolutely feeling worse for the wear.  I don't know how those rich folks did it back in the day, hoofing it up & down all of those steps in their castles, and wandering the grounds.  In shoes which were probably not as sensible as my own.  Regardless, today we hit Bunratty Castle which was casting a shadow over the bar with my second favorite name so far: Durty Nelly's.
  

 Our next stop on the road to Killarney was a tiny spot called Adare.  Adorable little town with thatched roof cottages, either occupied as homes or turned into quaint little artisan shops.  Exactly the type of building I think of when I think of Ireland.

When we arrived into Killarney, we spent the majority of the day at Muckross House and gardens. Gorgeous, yet humongous place and sort of tedious for a guided tour; everything is an antique and you can't touch or photograph anything, so just trust me when I say it was nice. Apparently, in 1855, Queen Victoria gave the owners a 6 year warning that she would like to come visit.  So they worked on improving their castle and commissioning ridiculous pieces of furniture and art in preparation, and the Queen came by in 1861. And stayed for 2 nights. And they went broke. Sucks to be them.

After Muckross, we wandered the town of Killarney.  Lots of fun little shops, and everything seems to be just a little more expensive than in Galway.  And it has it's own Banksy copycat copyrat.

Good Galway, Miss Molly

Short story... Ireland is gorgeous.

If you want the long story, you're in the right place:  We landed in Dublin yesterday, then drove to Howth.  They don't pronounce the W, so I was expecting to visit the site where the Battle of Hoth occurred.  I mean it was a major victory for the Empire, and the single worst battlefield defeat suffered by the Alliance during the Galactic Civil War. Sounds like it would be a touristy stop. Unfortunately, it was only a gorgeous little fishing village...

Fibber Magee's!

Then on our way to Galway, we stopped in a tiny little place called Athlone.  I will never forget Athlone, as the ATM ate my debit card! So that sucked, and I'm still working on getting it back, but Athlone also has Sean's: the Oldest Pub in Ireland. We're talking like since 900 A.D. old.  It has about 4 bar stools, and about 100 people trying to take pictures.  After Athlone, we settled into our hotel in Galway.  Nice place, very pink.  Only 1 block away from a great pedestrian-only shopping/pub area. We also wandered to the center of town, which had a pub with my favorite name so far.  

A little liquid sunshine to start the day, but it cleared up before we hit Ashford Castle.  Nice place, for sure...I wonder if RUPCO will help me buy it if it comes on the market. 

A stone's throw from Ashford Castle is the town of Cong.  Everyone kept talking about how it was the town in the John Wayne film "The Quiet Man".  I guess I should watch it & see if it's true.  The town was cute, and we got to explore a little section of woods that held a monastery back in the day. The coolest part was this fishing hut. They built it a hole into the floor so they could sit inside & fish.  So clever! Apparently fish is brainfood.  It's hard to tell scale, but the walls are only about shoulder-high. (I'm thinking this is more the size/condition that RUPCO has in mind...)  

Our big stop for the day was at the Cliffs of Moher. Cliffs + Coast = WIND!! It was certainly cold, and everyone returned to the bus with horribly disheveled hair.  Even the bald guy, I'm sure. But I think the purpose of the wind is to put air back into your lungs after the breathtaking views (God, who says crap like that?)  Seriously, gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous.

Two Very Important Lessons

1. If you choose to chew gum during the flight, don't fall asleep with it in your mouth.  When you wake up, it may very well be in your hair and/or shirt.
2. Using an ATM card internationally may be difficult. Even after you fill out a form with your bank, stating where & when you may be using your card, it may be retained for "security reasons". Also, don't use the foreign ATM on a Sunday, in a small town in which you will not be returning, especially when your bank in the US is closed on Monday as well. You will not get your card back. Ever. More than likely.

Other than that, good times!