Our last week in Ireland

After getting all fresh and squeaky clean, we were ready for our last 10 days in Ireland!

Just to make sure we would have seen enough old stones by the time we left, we checked out a couple of very well preserved stone forts from the 10th Century before we kept driving along the Ring of Kerry, probably Ireland's best known road trip.

This rather ruined ruin stood next to the forts

Ring of Kerry, because it's in the County of Kerry, which, so far, is most certainly our favorite county. The weather might have something to do with that, though, so it's a bit unfair, really.

Portmagee, Waterville, Sneem and Kenmare are just some of the towns and villages we stopped along the way, all very cute and picturesque, boasting plenty of pubs and ice cream shops for refreshment along the way.

Humans are just so infuriating!

On the way to the Glengarriff Nature Reserve, we stopped to check out the EWE Experience. Two artists bought a great piece of land some 30 years ago, with woods and a river and ponds, and transformed it into a rather interesting and informative outdoor art space. And if I say that, ...

It took my human 90 min to walk the 1 km trail, there was so much to see and read.

I need a man like a fish...

Please note the pig in the bath tub

This one was weird

Nature is calling

Once in the Nature Reserve, she did a couple of shortish walks and by the time she got back from the second one, the skies had turned very dark and winds were high. She made it just in time before the first rain we had seen for two weeks.

Here comes the weather!

We then drove out to Mizzen Head, the most south-westerly point of the country.

The towns of Schull and Skibbereen led us to Loch Hyne. They say it's very special because it is a saltwater lake. But clearly, it is connected to the ocean. So, how is it a lake? Nevermind, it is pretty and you get a great view from the hill standing alongside it.

Michael Collins was a key figure in the struggle for Ireland's independence

Pretty laid back tree

We made our way to Cork, the capital of the county with the same name. It's another city of many bridges, since the river Lee runs right through it. Orientation is slightly confusing, you never really know whether you are on real land or an island and which way to turn to get anywhere. But amusing at the same time.

There is a wonderful covered food market right in town, called the English Market. Cheese, meat, bread, fish, so much fish!

My human also visited the University College of Cork. Why? I am not too sure, actually. Wasn't all that spectacular.
It was probably to make up for all the colleges in Cambridge she couldn't visit when we were there.

A statue depicting the famine, pretty striking

From Dungarvan to Waterford runs another of those Greenways. Yes, there is a whole network of them. This one runs for almost 50km, entirely car free, flat and wonderful. By the time my human got back she was more than ready for a beer!

Literally a green tunnel

Early the next morning, we drove to medieval Kilkenny, a town of less than 30000 people. This area was particularly badly hit during the potato famine and so there is a "Famine Experience".

Where there used to be a workhouse in the 19th century to house the poorest of the poor in exchange for back-breaking labor, there is now a shopping center.

As they dug the foundations for it, they found almost 1000 skeletons buried in mass graves.

Today you can follow an audio-visual tour through the shopping center, which gives you insights into how horrendous the situation must have been during those times.

Kilkenny also has a nice castle, lots of craft shops and galleries, a lazy river flowing through it and plenty of pubs to quench one's thirst - the weather is still great!

We stopped in Glendalough for the night, right in the center of the Wicklow Mountains. Well, we've discussed this mountain thing before, haven't we? It's meant to be a very spiritual and grounding place. There has been a monastery here since the 6th Century.

Our last stop in Ireland was Dublin. Go out on a high, right?

We parked about 5km outside of town right on the beach. We were wondering why no one was swimming. Once the tide was out, we knew why. It's just way too shallow. At low tide you can walk out to meet the sea for about 1km!

Poolbeg Lighthouse

Molly Malone, fishmonger and prostitute made famous by Irish songs

Can't be in Dublin and not have a pint of Guinness The Spire

Millennium Bridge

At the time of construction in 1865 probably the largest diving bell in the world

I didn't know that about da Vinci

Another poignant memorial for the famine

My human and Carmelo spent the next three days exploring the city. The archeological museum was rather interesting for the bog bodies. Bogs preserves really well and so people keep finding bodies which have been there for hundreds of years and are really well preserved.

A 15m long dugout canoe, found here in 1902

Trinity College is hard to miss because of the line of people waiting to see the Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript gospel in Latin, dating from 800AD. Someone said it's like seeing the Mona Lisa, you wait for an hour to then have 10 seconds in front of it to take your photo and off you go. You guessed it, no queuing for my human.

A sphere within a sphere

They visited the Chester Beatty Library, one of the most significant collections of Western, Islamic and East & South East Asian artifacts, texts and books, as well as the National Gallery. No photos allowed in either.

The Temple Bar district, which nowadays is the amusement quarter of the city, used to be a hub for artists, musicians and poets in the 70s and 80s. Efforts are being undertaken to get some of that flair back and to counter the hundreds of Hens and Stag parties happening here every year.

They went on a walking tour with Keith and I could write a whole post just about the stories and the history he told during those three hours. But you don't have all day. It's not like I would have liked to be around during the Uprising, but it must have been a very interesting, if dangerous, time to be alive.

Just one example is this lady here:

Not the most flattering, I admit

She was a journalist, reporting on the drug issues which were revenging the city in the 90s. When she started exposing the drug lords and their suppliers, she was shot - and survived. Six months after the first shooting, she was back on the streets. Six months after that, she was shot again, this time fatally

There is a very good movie with Cate Blanchett, named "Veronica Guerin".

Maybe the best part of our visit to Dublin was the surprise catch up with Roger. He was in the city for work and they caught up in town for lunch, then came here to sit in my shadow for a few hours, drinking (alcohol free) beer (because Roger still had to drive), snacking and chatting their way across the world. What a lovely surprise!