The travel guide called it a delightful trip around the "Ring of Kerry". I called it a suicide mission with a terrified busload of tourists and a driver who claimed "he just shuts his eyes on the scary parts". Hmmm. You start out climbing some hills slowly almost imperceptibly so no one panics and pass through some small villages on the water that are quite picturesque. One has a special affinity for Charlie Chaplin to the point of erecting a statue to him along the waterfront. I believe their affection arose from he and his family vacationing there frequently and not expecting a big fuss made over him when he hit the local grocery or pub.
We then became encapsulated in some fog that got progressively worse the farther up the hills we traveled. Again a nice way of hiding the distance to the valleys below and the narrowness of the roads. Though the downside is wondering if you can't see the lines in the road what is the driver using, radar? sonar? Nice stop at a statue of Our Lady enclosed with a metal fence so you can't get too close. Only reason I mention this is, I had my first opportunity to venture to the side of the road to see the sheer drop-off peeking through the fog, which actually obscured the statue until you were right on top of it. We "valley-dwelling" peoples are not used to how the weather can be so different as you literally climb into the clouds on your journeys.
Up and down the curving mountain (ok they call them hills) and hairpin curves and I no longer scoffed at fastening my seat belt. It was kind of like hitting air pockets on a plane. The rough roads and constant tight turns bounced you around in your seat like bacon grease hopping around in a hot skillet. As the average age of people on this trip was about 65, it would have been difficult to say the least, to try to drag one off the narrow floor and back into their seat. But like the laughably short flimsy fences along the side of the sheer drops, both seat belt and fence are useful only for keeping your lifeless body near the buss and to mark where your vehicle plunged over the side to make it easier for recovery.
After safely completing our jolly ride around the Ring we passed through a tunnel that required all lovers, couples and whoever was sitting beside you on the bus to lock lips promising forever love or something like that. Well it was dark in there, who knows. There was a beautiful overlook of the three lakes below that was named for Queen Victoria's ladies rather than herself as she was not enamored with the view or the primitive setting or ride over, I can't remember which. Again this is not your "make it as people friendly as you can to avoid lawsuits" America. Over here you take your life in your paws if you're foolish enough to want to get a better picture. No fences...
Funny side note. Stopping in a "tourist" village for lunch (my usual Guinness & sandwich) I wasn't paying particular attention to the conversation. All of a sudden I looked up and the biggest freaking goat I have ever seen was prancing past the window. Not sure the protocol, I basically pointed and yelled "Goat!" Now no one would have believed me except they were just talking about this guy who brings his goat into town all the time and it follows him like a dog. But all I saw was a huge unfettered goat prancing through town. Geez, I need to get out more...or listen more...
Our tour guide recommended Murphy's in Killarney as the best ice cream ever. He went on and on about it for two days. Maybe, but for 6 pounds apiece for two teeny-tiny scoops, that's dinner. We would have been smarter to stick to the free samples they were handing out. I just feel it only civilized to buy something after you have been plied with so many tasty bribes. Wrong.
Dinner tonight was cheese and crackers and a restful evening. As we keep waking up at dawn, 4:30 or 5 am we tend to get sleepy earlier. That coupled with the sheer terror of the "Kerry" ride and a lot of walking today. I believe we bought the cheese and crackers in a tiny little shop as I could not quite understand the sweet lady who kept slicing off different cheeses for us to try. All the cheese was made by local farmers and the variety was intriguing and tasty. I bet they don't even know how their cheese is going to turn out, but considering the amount of sheep everywhere it's probably somewhat consistent.
Another interesting fact. Burt has an ear for the accents and figures out what they're saying way before I do. Though he said it was a challenge translating four different ones before breakfast most days. That includes our bus group.
So after an elaborate Italian dinner last night, we were content with ice cream, cheese, crackers and trail mix tonight. Definitely have not been hungry on this trip. Huge breakfasts, which after two days I switched to yogurt and cereal; tea and scone (with clotted cream & jam, yumm) breaks, lunch, snacks in the afternoon, dinner; there is no time for hunger pangs.
The ruined churches and abandoned, crumbling houses speak volumes about the cruel treatment of Catholics and the angst of the potato famine. Among much beauty, there is much history that has been left intact to educate future generations. The difference between the have and have nots is on display and many, in the places we visited, rely on tourism to survive. To Be Continued....
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