Twists and Turns from Kerry to Clare

What a drive today. Long and beautiful.  We spent 8 hours behind the wheel with occasional stops for photos, food, fuel.

After a leisurely morning in Kenmare (where I washed my hair again, while I could) we left for the Dingle Peninsula by way of Moll's Gap and part of the Ring of Kerry. The country changes dramatically on this drive from rocky mountain hilltops to lush green forests to sheep grazing land and then rocky ocean walls.

The views were stunning, some roads were unbelievably narrow and harrowing, and the experience was worth the time behind the wheel. Below are some pictures, but they won't do any of this justice.  I wish I could figure out how to upload video, but blogger doesn't seem to allow it.

Moll's Gap - Ring of Kerry

Torc Waterfall - Ring of Kerry

Trail to Torc Waterfall - Ring of Kerry

On the way to Dingle - Dingle Peninsula

Slea Head (2 way traffic!)

Slea Head - Blasket Islands - Where Star Wars VIII was filmed

We even saw a fort with carbon dating back to 520 BC.

  

As we drove through Kilarney, there were thousands of bikers because it was the huge annual Bike Fest. And with this weather they came out in droves, camping wherever there was a scrap of land.

We arrived in Ennis at about 6PM and checked into our hotel (we couldn't find an airbnb available). 

Ennis is a strange town... when we arrived it seemed like a ghost town, but then we found we were a couple blocks from the city center. The hotelier assured me that there would be plenty of good food, traditional music, etc. in town. She handed us a map and we set out at about 7 to eat.

There were about 3 fine dining establishments, but most of the pubs didn't serve food or had ALREADY STOPPED serving for the night. At 7!  This lead me to believe it rolled up it's sidewalks at 6 and there weren't a ton of people in town walking around.

We finally settled on an Asian restaurant. It was open, inexpensive, and different. Our bellies were ready for a change. The food was quite good.  Afterward, we set out to a pub for a pint and to listen to some music. We found one that was great, but rather full so we had to sit in the back bar where the music wasn't as easy to hear.

After our pint, we left to find another pub... its now 10 PM and we could only find pubs playing dance mix music. But, we were finally in luck at the last pub we entered. Yay!!!  They played until 11PM when another band began to set up. They had a drum set and with the stone walls and early wake-up we decided to head home.  This is the strange part. We walk out of the pub and the streets are FULL of people. Women dressed in club ware with high heels, pubs bulging at the seems with loud patrons and even spilling into the streets. Dance mix thumping from every doorway.  Apparently, this town comes alive between the hours of 10 and 11...

OH, I forgot!  I was turned into a leprechaun today.