Dingle, Ring of Kerry, and Killarney

Hello there! This past weekend Katie, Michelle, James and I headed off for a weekend adventure to the Dingle Penninsula, Ring of Kerry, and Killarney.  The tour cost 100 euro, which was definitely well worth it--I don't think the tour company even made a profit off of this trip, but oh well.  So we departed Galway at 2pm Friday afternoon with stops at the Beattey Castle and Adare.  We arrived in Dingle Town around 7:45 and got some grub.  Dingle Town is the western most part of Ireland, and they say the next parish over is Boston.  It's a little fishing town, and it indeed smells like fish as you meander the streets.  After eating, we stopped in a little store and bought some souveniers.  While there, we saw our bus pass us, and thought it was leaving without us.  So Katie sprinted to catch up with it.  We headed to the hostel to drop some bags off and then headed back into town.  We went to a couple of pubs, but there wasn't anything really going on Friday night.

We departed the hostel at 10 am Saturday and started our tour along the Shea Head Drive.  It was absolutely stunning.  We saw an old ring fort that had an underground path that lead to the cliffs of the penninsula.  We also saw old beehive huts, which were individual stone caves where monks lived up on the hills of the penninsula.  Next, we climbed a little hill on the edge of the mountain, where we had fabulous views of beaches, rocks, mountains, the edge of the penninsula, as well as many islands nearby.  The islands included Skelling Michael, which is 600 feet of rocks and the Blaskets, which are three seperate islands.  People actually lived on the Blaskets until the 1950s when the government forced them to the main land due to safety issues.

Next we went to an old monastic site, that used to be site to an old church community full of those beehive huts.  This was just recently excavated, as it was covered over farm land until about 20 years ago.  There was also an old Celtic stone here, which was pretty neat.

The next stop was Gallarus Oratory, which is the best preserved beehive hut in Ireland.  It's about 1300 years old, and is approximately 8mx5m, and is formed by the gradual rise of side walls from the base upwards.  It's built so intricately, that even today, it is waterproof.  There is no mortar holding the stones together.  Quite an astonishing site.  The Oratory was another place that the Christian monks lived.

Next was the Kilmalkedar Church, which is in ruins.  There were lots of gravestones here, as well as ohm stones, which were used for writing wayyy back when.  An old sundial was also here, which is still useable today.

We continued the Slea Head Drive until we were back in Dingle Town.  We grabbed some lunch and did a little shopping.  Then we headed towards a little village where we were going to a "leisurely hill climb".  Let me just say, Christy was NOT prepared for this.  She should have definitely had an inhaler and 911 on call.  There was no path, and this was like a legit vertical incline. Instead of a path, there were thorn bushes, lamb poop, and mud.  Your best bet was to walk on the thorn bushes, in hopes that you didn't sink into a ditch.  Fun fun times.  However, I did not die (barely--a lot of people were concerned), and made it to the top, where there were stunning views of mountains, the Atlantic, and Inch Beach.  Everyone else continued hiking to the next peak, but there was no way I could have made it. So Katie and Michelle, being the kind souls they are, stayed behind with me. So we took some lovely goofball pictures :)

After the "leisurley hill climb" we headed towards inch beach and walked around.  It was beautiful, especially since the sun was setting.  People were in the water, insane! There were also a bunch of people headed out to surf, also insane...as the water is frigid!

We went back to the hostel and chilled for a little bit before heading back out.  We ate dinner and had a few pints at the Dingle Pub and then headed towards An Dreugeus beag (something in Irish that I can't say or spell).  We met up with our tour guide, Declan (aka Fergal).  He bought us a few rounds and then we left one section of the pub, and went to another, which was a nightclub.  We did some dancing and hung out until like 2 am.

The next morning (Sunday) we departed for the Ring of Kerry. Also quite beautiful with mountains, flora, the Atlantic, and beaches.

We stopped at the Lady's View, which is where Queen Victoria used to always come.  However it was raining and cloudy, so the view wasn't as spectacular as it could have been.  We continued onwards to Killarney National Park where we hiked a trail along the Torc Waterfall.  It was pretty, but definitely no Ricketts' Glen.

Next we stopped at the Muckross House, which used to be home to an American Senator.  It was along the lake, and it was so pretty. 

We then went into Killarney Town for some food and shopping.  While there, I found the best store ever:

It was a great weekend, and I'm so glad I went.  This area is definitely my favorite area of Ireland thus far. 

I also picked out my classes for next semester, and I think I'm going to die:
Forecasting     MWF     11-11:50
Business Professional Communications     MWF     12-12:50
Cosmology     MWF     1-1:50
Intermediate Macroeconomics     T/TH     9:25-10:40
Current Economic Issues     T/TH     1:40-2:55
International Business     T/TH     3:05-4:20

I have been also looking at internships, and I found one that I'm applying for at the Allegheny Conference, which is a nonprofit organization devoted to community development in the Pittsburgh region.  It involves econ, stats, marketing, and marketing research...all of my favorite things!  So I'm hoping that I get a call back!  I'm just a little concerned because I can't actually interview (if I was even to get a call back) since I'm in Ireland.

Liz and her friend and are coming tomorrow and staying until Sunday.  We are going to Cork and the Blarney Stone/Castle Friday-Saturday.  I'm excited to see her!!!!

LoveLove,
Christy