Girl Gallivanter: Hello from Killarney!

Day 47 (cont.)

I ended up going out with a group of people living at the hostel, and we had a blast! We sang and danced the night away at a place called An Brog. For a couple of them it was the first night out on the town, and I was happy to be a part of introducing them to Irish nightlife.

We got back so late, I was glad I didn't have to catch the train until after noon the next day.

The amazing VW DJ booth.

Day 48 (5/8)

I slept in a little bit, but I technically had to be checked out by 10:30am. I hung out in the hostel with the guys, had some coffee, and just chilled out until it was time to catch the train.

The couple I met at St. Anne's, Karen and John, were on my train, so we chatted on our way to Killarney. It turned out we were staying in the same hostel, so I walked with them and we got all checked in before going our separate ways.

As it was only about 2:30pm, I decided to go for a walk around town. It's an easy walk from the city center to Ross Castle, which is beautiful. It's out on Lough Leane, which borders Killarney National Park. The Macgillycuddy Reeks mountain range is just across the lake, and it's quite a sight. Within the range is Carrauntoohil, Ireland's highest peak.

From the castle you can take a nice little stroll down the River Walk to the water's edge. As I was making my way down I ran into John and Karen again. We seem to be following each other around the island.

When I got back to my room I met two wonderful Canadian girls, Melissa and Lisa, and we decided to go out for dinner, and then a comedy show at a local pub. After the show we headed over to The Grand for a couple drinks, some live music, and dancing. I had such a great time with them! Such a great time we stayed out a lot later than any of us intended. But I did still make it up in time for my tour the next day.

I knew I picked a good hostel when I walked through the kitchen and saw this.

Lough Leane

Castle Ross

All of the signs are in Gaelic and then English, or just Gaelic.

I haven't seen a whole lot of wildlife besides birds and squirrels since I landed on this side of the Atlantic. I think this was my first deer sighting.

Castlelough Castle ruins.

The day started out a little overcast, but by early evening it had cleared up nicely and we got some blue skies.

Me, Lisa, and Melissa

Day 49 (5/9)

It's hard to get out to the peninsulas here, so I signed up to do a bus tour through the hostel of the Ring of Kerry. I'm not a fan of bus tours. I prefer using my own two feet if I can, but the Ring of Kerry is somewhere around 120 miles around. Since I don't have the time, or equipment, for that sort of walk I hopped on the bus.

Our tour guide was quite entertaining, but being stuck on the bus with a group of tourists was a little irritating. No, I wouldn't say I'm a tourist; I'm traveling. Yes, there is a difference.

The whole thing took about 7 hours, and I was completely exhausted afterwards. I guess sitting on a bus will do that to you.

I grabbed dinner with the girls again, and we decided to have a cup of tea, and treat ourselves to dessert. Then we all called it an early night.

Now for what I call Pictures That All Look The Same, But Aren't, or Pictures From A Moving Vehicle, or The Ring of Kerry.

That would be a good puzzle, but not a good way to spend your time in Ireland.

Across the water is the Dingle Peninsula. I wanted to see that one too.

We watched a farmer demonstrate sheep herding. It was actually pretty cool.

We drove through Waterville, which was Charlie Chaplin's vacation spot.

Look, I'm outside!

The water is so pretty here!

That gap in the back is called the Gap of Dunloe, and it's in Killarney National Park.

The Upper Lake in Killarney National Park.

Day 50 (5/10)

I loved being on a bus so much (not), I decided to do it again! This time I was off to the Dingle Peninsula and Slea Head with John and Karen.

We had better weather, and as it turns out, better scenery! We drove around the peninsula, and then stopped in the cute town of Dingle for lunch and a walk. It got a little foggy around the head of the peninsula, but it had cleared up some by the time we got back to Dingle.

Then it was a long bus ride back to Killarney. I grabbed a cheap dinner and spent the rest of the night reading and relaxing. Sometimes you just need a night in.

That's part of the Ring of Kerry there across the water.

Inch Beach

So much green!

This was the view out of the other side of the bus.

The beginning of the Slea Head drive.

Welcome to the tiny port of Dingle.

All of the little Irish towns are so colorful. I love it!

They tricked me.

After that the clouds rolled in and it started to pour. Luckily, I was sitting on a bus.

Day 51 (5/11)

I woke up early and met John and Karen to start my adventure with the Thrifty Fifties (check out their blog here: thriftyfifties2016.blogspot.com).

We rented bikes for the day and rode in Killarney National Park. It was quite the ride uphill. We parked at the bottom of Mangerton Mountain and started the march up. It was quite pretty despite the clouds. You follow a stream all the way up to the Punchbowl. On a clear day you could keep going all the way up from there to the peak, but the path gets quite narrow, so with our low visibility we decided not to chance it. You couldn't see anything from the top at that point anyway.

After that we hopped on the bikes and did some off-roading down to Torc Waterfall. By the time we got there the clouds had cleared and the sun was out. I almost wished I was wearing shorts it was so warm out. We snapped a couple of photos at the falls and then decided to give the mountain a go.

It wasn't a very long hike, and they had covered the trail with railroad ties and rock, so it was pretty easy. It was still a steep climb, though, and my legs were already sore from the other mountain. The view from the top was worth every second though. We got a good view of the upper lake on one side, mountains on another, and the lower lake and Killarney right in front of us.

When we got back to the bottom we rode the bikes through Muckross, past Muckross House, and over to Muckross Abbey. Finally an abbey that didn't look like all the rest! It was mostly in ruins, but still together enough you could really get a feel for what life was like there.

When we got back to town John received word that his daughter had given birth, so we went out for a pint to celebrate. The pub we went to had a room in the back for dancing, and it turned out they were doing an Irish dance called a Ceili. Now I need to find a place to do that when I get home. It looked so fun!
We called it a night after that as all of us were pretty worn out from our big day out.

It starts.