Adventures

Ireland - Day 12 - Glendalough & the Spinc Loop

The only 'sight' we had initially planned to visit in the Wicklow area was Glendalough, so we decided to make that our first stop here. The weather looked OK, but we expected to get some rain, so we packed all our rain gear.

Inside the visitor center at Glendalough we learned that every first wednesday of the month the entry to the exhibition is free, and since today was exactly that, we checked that out before we went outside to see the real thing.

Afterwards we looked at the remains of the Glendalough monastery. That was alright but I do have to admit beside the round tower the graveyard really was the best part. I loved the ancient, crooked tombstones with the withered inscriptions on them.

Since the exploration of the monastery didn't take us all that long, and the school classes walking around were very distracting, as not to say annoying, we decided to take a walk through the Wicklow Mountains National Park, since all the trails start around the Glendalough Visitor Center anyways.

We decided to do the white path, called "The Spinc Loop" as this would take us the farthest up above the lakes, and was supposed to give some stunning views of the surrounding area.

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Ireland - Day 10 - Torc Waterfall & the Killarney National Park

The first thing out our list today was a one-hour-horse riding trip through the Park with Killarney Stables. After that we had planned to hike up the Torc Waterfall today. During the ride we had great, beautiful weather, but as soon as we got to the parking lot at the bottom of the waterfall, it started raining. The path is actually very much like stairs, so we decided we could still give it a go.

We continued as planned. It first rained lightly, and then it started pouring down on us. While we slowly made our way up, sweating in our raincoats, the world seemed to end behind us.

It did get better pretty much as soon as we reached the highest part of the hike though, so we did have a bit of a panoramic view across the Killarney Lakes before we started to descend towards Torc Waterfall.

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Ireland - Day 9 - Gap of Dunloe

The weather forecast for our day nine had been pretty good, so we wanted to use the day for our hiking trip through the Gap of Dunloe. We booked the trip "the wrong way round" - starting our journey with a boat ride through the Killarney Lakes, and then walking though the famous gap, where we'd be picked up again at the end.

We started the tour in a Vintage Bus at O'Connors Pub in Killarney. The bus took us out to Ross Castle, where we transfered into a small wooden boat.

Then the ride across the Killarney Lakes began. First we crossed the biggest lake, Lough Leane, until we came to the Meeting of the Waters.

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Ireland - Day 8 - Ring of Kerry

Here we are at day eight of our Ireland Trip - we skipped number seven because it was a rain day and we didn't do much but shopping and eating - which finishes of our first full week in Ireland.

Today we drove the Ring of Kerry. Praised widely but also known for the many tourist buses taking the narrow roads, we decided to leave town at about 10 in the morning. We started and got sidetracked the first time not far down the road, as we wanted to see the Lough Caragh but somehow couldn't find the viewpoint that was supposed to be somewhere, so we just stopped on the road to take some pictures.

Soon we got back on the N70 and continued driving the regular route along the Ring of Kerry. We stopped at some of the main attractions on the way, but didn't take many pictures until we decided to get off the regular route to pay a visit to Valentia Island. And there, we ended up spending half our day. Everything was just so beautiful. Or strange.

We stopped shortly at the grotto in the old quarry, then drove down to the Valentia Lighthouse.

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Ireland - Day 6 - Dingle Peninsula

Our first day in Killarney started off with absolutely beautiful weather. The locals gave us the advice to use it for a trip to the Dingle Peninsula, so that's exactly what we did.

The dingle peninsula is a beautiful place that has everything you could ever want: Beaches, Rolling Hills and green meadows, as well as steep mountainsides with waves crashing below.

The first important stop on the drive around the peninsula is a really wide and beautiful stip of beach called the Inch Beach. With the glorious weather there were quite a few people out and about, taking walks on the beach.

Chrissi had been here before and she had told us that every year she would actually get into the water at this beach. Despite the cold. This year she wanted to just go barefoot at the beach. It was kind of fun to watch. Naked feet in the icy water, and up top still wearing a winter coat.

Afterwards we drove on towards Dingle. The town has one really famous attraction and that is Fungi the Dolphin. I guess normally we probably wouldn't have gone out to see it, but Chrissi really wanted to, so we decided to tag along.

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