So this weekend Colleen and I decided to take a bus tour to the Ring of Kerry. We left Friday afternoon with our bags in tow and marched through the rain to the bus, not to return to UL until Sunday. We met a group of about 40 UCC (University College Cork) students at the Killarney bus station and had to fight for a seat on an already occupied bus. I was placed within a group of German students who were very friendly and gave me some pointers about my upcoming trip to Berlin.
Once we were on the bus we headed to The Kerry Blog Village Museum to see a replica of what Ireland may have looked like in the 18th century. It was really neat to see the houses and the way things were set up.
After we were done our sightseeing for the day we headed to our hotel, The Ring of Kerry Hotel and got checked in and washed up. We had dinner in the hotel (along with all of our other meals) and then we all headed into the ballroom to listen to a guest speaker talk about owning a farm and just life in general in Kerry. He had a very strong Kerry accent and I found it really hard to understand him.
Now Kerry is infamous for very foggy weather since it sits right on the water but Saturday we had an absolutely beautiful day!! We spent the day visiting Valentia Island, Geokaun Mountain & Fogher Cliffs, Skellig Experience Center and the Ballinskelligs Beach and Castle. Yes you read that correctly, a mountain. Colleen and I had a good laugh at ourselves as we wheezed our way up the mountain. The view from the top made the whole climb worth it though. Here are some pictures from those places...there is one of a drain and I had to take that picture because that was something that I looked at and thought to myself, "My god, even the drains here are beautiful!"
On Sunday we went on what we were told was going to be a "walking tour". It should have been re named "Walk an hour through a foggy street with no scenic views". We walked through Cahersiveen and saw some really neat stone forts which I found really interesting. The fact that they were from so long ago and they are still standing beautifully just blows my mind. The best part of the walking tour though was our visit that we were told was going to be "A local farmer bringing his sheep down and will be talking to you about them and about being a farmer in Kerry." We met this man on the side of the road with big white van. What was inside the van you ask? Yep, the sheep. It was very bizarre and hilarious at the same time. Then we headed to the house of the Irish political activist Daniel O'Connell who's main accomplishment was his fight for Catholic Emancipation. His house was beautiful, there is one picture of a table that is carved out of one large oak tree and I found it so interesting. He was a pretty neat guy. After that we went to Killarney National Park and saw a gorgeous waterfall, it was the first one I had ever seen! Here are some pictures from Sunday..I also included the video of Colleen and I visiting the Irish beach!
The weekend was interesting, I don't think the tour group I went with was the best choice, but we got to see some really beautiful things! I am about to leave for Dublin for the weekend to celebrate my friends Colleen and Hannah's birthdays!! I'm sure I'll have some fun stories to share from this trip. Cheers!
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