Wishing Every Day was a Dingle Day

Day 14 - Wishing Every Day was a Dingle Day

The skies were clear and it was calm when we woke up. After having some breakfast at the hotel we walked out to the lake and castle ruins on the property. In the water and along the path back to our room we saw the blue heron, cormorant, dove or pigeon, ducks, ravens rooting for grubs, a yellow wagtail, greenfinches or Siskin, or Serin, a Tree Sparrow, and a lot of slugs on the walking path. We packed up and headed toward Dingle.

The Kerry Ring was in the Iveragh Peninsula and today we spent the day touring the Dingle Peninsula. They are both located in the SW of Ireland and are on the Atlantic.

The drive and view points today were stunning. Lots of green fields, livestock, and ocean views. We stopped in Inch for a break and a walk along the beach. Some cars were parked on the sand and there were a few surfers.

We drove through and past Dingle to go to the most Western point in Europe. It was also known as a site for filming Return of the Jedi. The wind is back and we were blown up the hill to have a stunning view of the Peninsula and a few neighbouring islands in Blasket Sound. It was so windy that I took my sunglasses off because I was worried they would blow off my face. Bill enjoyed the salty air blowing through his flowing locks (his words, not mine).

The drive back to Dingle was very pretty. We stopped for a few minutes at Cather Conor to see the ancient Ringforts or the Bee Hive village ruins that were inhabited until 1200. They are a cluster of small huts that are made entirely from stone and are shaped like a bee hive.

In Dingle we were lucky to get a table at a very popular and busy spot, The Fish Box. All the fish served is caught by their family trawler. My smoked salmon salad with strawberries, blueberries, apples, and avocados was really good. The crab cakes, mixed fried fish platter (fish box), and fish and chips were all amazing.

Bill had a quick call while Sheila, Doug, and I did a quick tour of the pretty stone church. After lunch we drove up to the top of the Peninsula, Brandon, to get one last beautiful scenic view. It was a bit hazy, so we did not walk up the hill to explore the area more.

Bill was done his calls for a bit so he decided to take over driving us to Ennis. Hard to imagine after the past couple of days but today’s drive was even more beautiful than our drive around the Ring of Kerry.

We checked into the Woodstock Hotel and have a great view of a couple of holes of the golf course. Bill and Sheila took care of some work then we drove into Ennis for dinner. The street that the restaurant was located on was closed and based on driving instructions we thought we were 900m from our destination. This resulted in a cascading effect of poor driving choices - driving the wrong way down one way streets and ignoring the road closed sign. We were able to get a great parking spot near the restaurant which was only a hundred metres away but we were now trapped on the one way street.

We tried to get into The Town Hall Bistro for dinner but it was full so we went to the Poet’s Corner Bar next door. It was also very busy but we were able to order drinks and wait in the hotel lobby for less than 15 min for our table. Sheila’s salmon was great and the leg of lamb was very tender.

We resumed driving through downtown Ennis the wrong way on one way streets for a few more blocks. We only had to drive up onto the sidewalk once to let someone go by. Once we cleared the downtown we were back on track and unscathed.

We stopped and picked up some beer, ice, and snacks so Bill can be well stocked or the football draft with his buddies tonight.

In our hotel bar we played one round of Rummy and Doug was the winner this evening. We went to bed while Bill did the draft for a couple of hours in the closed hotel bar.