The Rexburg Larsens: Weekend Warriors Part II

After our luxurious stay in a lovely 2-bedroom, self-catering apartment I found for a steal in Killarney, we woke with a mission to see as much as possible. So in spite of a little drizzle and lots of mist, we set off on our great Kerry adventure!

Having as much coastline as Ireland does, most of it is bound to be beautiful. After our stay amidst the gentle rolling hills of Limerick, I was somewhat unprepared for the more dramatic and rugged beauty of the Kerry peninsula. Steep cliffs, actual mountains, jagged rock. Charming thatched cottages, windy roads, lots of sheep and cows. Be prepared for a lot of pictures!

Our first notable stop was to see a sheepdog demonstration near Blenbeigh. We lucked out finding it - there were no signs but Gary remembered seeing a show there ten years ago so we had our eyes peeled. Then when we saw a tour bus stop, we stopped too, and joined the crowd up the hill to see the show. LOVED it. Good doggies! I think they went inside and washed the dishes and helped their master fold laundry afterwards - they were so well trained!

Of course, we're all about the dogs; they were very loving and gave lots of kisses.

I brought along a lot of hand sanitizer, just in case you were wondering. The dogs were sweet but quite dirty that day.

We didn't take any music or videos for the kids to watch - didn't want to distract them from the amazing show going on outside their windows! They never even asked for a movie - too engrossed with the scenery. During the longer stretches we either talked about Irish history or tried to remember the words to some of the Irish songs we're trying to learn - Molly Malone we have down, but we're still working on I'll Tell Me Ma and When Irish Eyes are Smiling.

This is the view from Valencia Island over to Portmagee, where we had lunch at a cute little pub. Notice the ketchup/mayo smiley face, below... being who we are, there has to be a little silliness in the mix!

These were my favorite cliffs of the day. As the weather was so bad, no boats were going out to the Skellig islands that day - we really wanted to go to Skellig Michael so it was disappointing. However, when we stopped at these cliffs by Foilnageragh, I felt like we got a glimpse of what Skellig Michael would have looked like. Very steep, very austere, very turbulent - not a peaceful place to eke out a living at the top of a rock! But so very beautiful.

The beaches were grand - at this one, Gary gave the kids a geology lesson while sorting through the strata of exposed geo layers in the cliffs. Maggie was enthralled at the strata of quartz Gary pointed out to here, and took a loose chunk of it home as her souvenir.

We were sad that the weather wasn't more fine so we could see further, but in a way the mist made the island seem more magical. It was very atmospheric, and added that nice nightmarish quality to driving down the twisty, one-lane roads at 100 km/hour! :-) In spite of cliffs on either side and some close calls, we didn't even get a scratch on our little Nissan micra!

Finding "cockles and mussels" on the beach by Ballinskelligs.

Maggie at Ladies' View; this view of the lakes of Killarney so enchanted the waiting ladies of Queen Victoria in the 1860's that the spot has been called Ladies' View ever since.

At Torc Falls.

We made it the whole day without a throwup incident... until we were two blocks away from our last stop. Then suddenly Spencer burped...but it came up as throwup so we had no warning. Here's the little guy after his washup, decked out dad's sweatshirt and feeling much better!

Finally back in Killarney, we gave our last 20 euro to the driver of one of the famous jaunting cart that go around the lakes. He took us for a little ride, much to the kids' infinite satisfaction, and we ended the day on a high note!