I woke up at 7 and took a shower in the electric shower.... a european thing that I've become somewhat familiar with. I had to adjust Lindsay's water for her because she came back into the room in a towel saying she couldn't get it to work. Ahh, what a local I am.
Theresa made us bacon & eggs for breakfast, and after eating, we packed up our things and waited for Eugene Ferris (Theresa's husband) to direct us down the road to where we were getting our horses at. It was only down the street, but Eugene made sure we got there safely. We met John, our jaunting car driver in front of his house, in a place called the "OK Corral". Originally, we were all going to go horseback riding, but Theresa suggested the 3 of us could go in a carriage (or jaunting car), and Lindsay could follow us on horseback since they didn't like to take unexperienced riders on horse. John was a great and friendly man, and we instantly felt comfortable in his little car under a blanket. He told us we'd go for a 4 mile roundtrip ride into the Gap of Dunloe, and it would last about 90 minutes. Barbie (the horse) pulled us along at a slow pace. Lindsay rode behind us on Sandy. The views were absolutely majestic and I can only imagine it being prettier when everything is in full bloom. Lindsay was in pig heaven and I don't think the smile left her face the whole ride. Don't worry, I got about 89 pictures of her on the horse.
John made the trip even better. He sang to us as we rode along. He sang Christmas in Killarney, the old Bing Crosby Christmas song that had been stuck in our head all weekend. He sang Molly Malone and Irish Eyes are Smiling. It was perfect. Riding in a car through the mountains listening to his lovely voice. We passed Echo Lake and I shouted and heard the echo. Which John told me was actually his cousin or maybe a leprechaun. We went towards the gap and stopped at an old hotel which is now an open air stone structure that John told us has a great ventilation and plenty of vacancies. We passed a lot of old famine farms, were people lived and often emigrated out of when the potato famine hit.
(It was a little cold... so we bundled up...some more than others).
Surprisingly there was a lot of car traffic on the road. John said only about 25 homes are in the mountain and that this region was the last to get electricity in Ireland not too long ago. On the way back, we passed some hikers and a dog that chased all the sheep that were hanging around.
When we got back to the OK Corral, John let us all get on Sandy and take her for a little spin around. I mounted her without a step... and had a great time up there. I think Lindsay and I are going to go horseback riding when I return to the US at a family friends of the B's. We paid John for our trip..20 Euro a person..and he even gave us some horseshoes for good luck. A perfect souvenir from Killarney.
We rocked out to our Irish music as we made our way through Killarney. We stopped at the Muckross House & Gardens...but we decided to drive through and continue to the Torc Waterfall. We were driving through a forest and it was so green it was unbelievable. It is a green you don't see in the US. Kelly Green maybe. We found the Torc Waterfall path and parked the car. The trees are so mossy and beautiful. I climbed out onto a tree, careful not to slip. It reminded me of the old tree along the Des Plaines River that Brent, Charlie, and I used to go to as our "fort".
The waterfall was majestic (I told you that's my new descriptive word). It reminded me a lot of Manoa Falls in Hawaii and it was kind of ironic that me and Lindsay were seeing this one together too. I climbed out onto the rocks, and made sure not to plunge into the slippery rocks.
Me and my favorite travel buddy, by another majestic waterfall
After sitting for a bit, and Lindsay getting some good shots of the waterfall, we decided to hike up the hill and see what could be seen. The path seemed to go forever, and when we reached the top we saw a breathtaking view of the forests and mountains and lakes in the distance. It was a place I know that Blythe would enjoy. Both Lindsay and I said we could see her here. Lindsay found some clovers, but no 4 leaf ones. Bummer. It was a definite work out for the legs, but how many times can you climb to the top of a waterfall.
The view from the top of the hill.
We climbed back down and got back on the narrow winding roads. The road reminded me of the Road to Hana, super windy through the mountains. There were look out points along the way and we stopped a few times. We stopped at the Ladies View Look out Point and Lindsay had to pee so bad she went in the woods. All the horseback riding and waterfall noises were too much for her bladder. We literally drove through the mountains, and it all looked like an inspirational poster. We were on top of the mountains on these narrow narrow winding roads. And the speed limit was 100 kph. Which is like 60 mph. These Irish drivers are nuts. The mountains had an occasional rain shower...and then just our luck..another rainbow. 3 days in a row of seeing a rainbow. Reasons I love Ireland. We drove on cliffs and through rock tunnels. We passed farmlands and rolling hills, bays of oceans, and even got stuck behind a sheep crossing the street. Hello Authentic Ireland. It was absolutely beautiful, and I have a thousand photos to prove it. These are just a sampling...
3 Days In A Row seeing rainbows.
Rock tunnel through the mountain.
Oh just a sheep crossing the road.
We drove through more small towns with their bright colored buildings and narrow roads and headed towards the sea. We stopped in a little town to use the bathroom and so we could run to a currency exchange. I waited in the car with Lindsay and listened to the radio. Irish radio is not very good--they only have a few stations that come in and out in the mountains, but in the little town the radio came in well. And what else where they talking about? But the best sitcom to hit TV- FRIENDS. What's the chances... they were talking about how great the show was and how it is probably the funniest and best written sitcom of all time. I'm glad the Irish appreciate it. It was nice to have some fellow fans with me this weekend and we had some good laughs about it.
We drove through the coastal town of Skibbereen where cars were parked against the ocean. The tide was high and the wheels of the cars were in the water... I surely wouldn't want my car to get waterlogged by the ocean.
It was a little windy, but check out how blue that water is.
We made it to Baltimore and the Rathmore House was right on our way. The beautiful yellow Victorian looking house was on the top of a steep hill that had a magnificent view of the bay leading into the ocean. There is a ship wreck in the bay of a boat belonging to both the French and Irish government. Neither one wants to pay to have it removed so it just sits in the bay.
That's the view from the Rathmore House.
Marguerite O'Driscoll met us with open arms and lead us to our rooms. I claimed the one facing the ocean. The sun was reflecting off it and looking so perfect. The Rathmore was also hosting a Wildlife Photography Club for the night so it was bustling with the photographers who were happy and laughing loudly. We freshened up, I changed into my Irish Rugby Jersey, courtesy of Mike Willms, and Lindsay and I walked down the street and explored. We found some cows and I made some cow jokes. Like How's Your Udder Hanging? Lindsay reminded me that these were not dairy cows... so I came back with the clever "What's the Beef?". They stared at us intensely. Guess they don't like my jokes.
We headed into town, hoping to see the sun set over the bay. After a few loops around the town of Baltimore, we dropped the ladies off at Casey's Restaurant (recommended to us by John in Killarney) and head to the pier to watch the sun set. Absolutely gorgeous.
The view of the Rathmore house from town.
Sunset in Baltimore
Casey's was charming and we had some delish flat bread for dinner. Gris and Lindsay had some glasses of Guinness and we watched the Hurling match. We had Bailey's cheesecake for dessert and then headed back to the Rathmore house to digest before hitting a pub.
Sporting my Rugby Jersey with A Guinness in Hand.
Marguerite recommended the Sibin Pub down the street so we headed there. Lindsay was unsure of the place, given there were very few cars in the parking lot but we decided to go in anyways. The place was definitely local but we found a table and decided to play a little cards to pass the time while we waited for the live music to start. We taught Grisell Canasta and Lindsay and I were a team. After coming from behind, we managed to pull out a win. Success. The live music reminded me a minister playing a keyboard but he was this cute old man and all the local couples were dancing. It was precious. We left the bar at like midnight and headed back to our freezing rooms. Heat is not the same in Europe as energy conservation is huge. But luckily our beds had electric blankets so it was nice and snug inside our beds.
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