Going over Connor Pass! Beautiful and Scary!

So we finally were able to be up and ready to eat breakfast at 8am. The time zone transition is going a little slow! We want to sleep in and not get up and have breakfast at 2am in the morning! Can anyone blame us? So we were on the road at 8:45am and we were driving north to go over Conner Pass.

Then we left Dingle and started heading up and up and up, well you will get the idea in a minute!

Looking back on Dingle!

 

Conor Pass is the highest mountain pass in Ireland and as you can see it has dramatic scenery and very narrow roads for some of it that only allows one car on the road at a time. They have laybys (pullouts) but Bud said it was very scary for him to drive this! The elevation is 1167 feet!

Guess what Bud is doing, no it is not hid and seek!

We took a ferry boat over the River Shannon!

After we took the Ferry we had an hours drive to Doolin but we really needed to do laundry! Ireland doesn't really have self service laundromats. They have people who do it for you. It costs 9.00 euro for 6-9 lbs of clothes. We now have clean clothes and while he was washing and drying them, we ate an early dinner or late lunch and drove about 10 miles to see the Cliffs of Moher!

O'Brien's Tower!

Yes it is cold, it is about 50 degrees but with the wind coming right off the Atlantic Ocean...Brrrrrr!
We then went back to get our laundry and then we drove the 1o miles to our hotel. We stopped at a woolen shop so we didn't get to our hotel in Doolin till 5:30pm! We are now all cozy in our room trying to find something interesting to watch on TV!

Dingle Town, Ireland

Doesn't that name, Dingle,  just make you curious about it! It did me! When I was planning the trip that name Dingle came up quite often as a place to see! Of course it is close to no where so we went, of course we did! And it didn't disappoint! We stayed within walking distance of the eastern part of town. So we walked about 6 minutes to get something to eat and look into the shops, that were open anyway!

This is the little town!

In this bar we ate dinner.

We stayed the night here!

Our room looked over the bay!

Bud had a ham and cheese omelet!

And I had pancakes!

We so enjoyed our stay!

Ring of Kerry

I am going to backtrack because I was too sleepy last night to write anymore :) The Ring of Kerry is a 100 mile scenic circular route in south-western Ireland. It is a very beautiful drive! We only drove two thirds of it! Here are some pictures from the drive!

This is Kenmare River!

Just north of Caherdaniel!

Killarney National Park!

Ross Castle is the ancestral home of the O'Donoghue clan. Built in the late 15th century.

 Muckross House was built in 1843 by the Scottish Architect William Burn for Henry Arthur Herbert and his wife. Extensive improvements taken in the 1850's to prepare for Queen Victoria's visit, put the couple in financial difficulty and they had to sell the house. This house has 65 rooms. It was given to Ireland in 1932 and became the first National Park for Ireland.

At Muckross House we finally saw some wildlife!!! Red Deer!!!

Christmas in Killarney!

Well not really since tis only November 26, but it is close to Christmas and Killarney is decorated for Christmas and we are here now and we won't be at Christmas so I say...close enough!!!

Bing Crosby made "Christmas in Killarney" a big hit in 1951! He included this song on his "White Christmas" album. The song was written in 1950 by three Americans: John Redmond, Frank Weldon, and James Cavanaugh. I was born in 1952 and maybe that is why I love the "White Christmas" album so much, my mom would play it over and over and over again at Christmas!

Christmas in Killarney is wonderful to see

Now listen to my story

And I'll take you back with me

The holly green, 

 The ivy green

The prettiest picture you've ever seen  ( Killareny National Park)

Is Christmas in Killarney (Main Street Killarney)

With all of the folks at home!  (Ross Castle)

It's nice to know, to kiss you beau while cuddling under the mistletoe

and Santa Claus you know of course, is one of the boys from home

The door is always open, the neighbors pay a call

And Father John before he's gone will bless the house and all    (Muckross House)

How grand it feels to click your heels and join in the fun of the jigs and reels

I'm handing you no Blarney The likes you've never known

Tis Christmas in Killarney

With all of the folks at home!

Bud and I say "Nollaig Shona Dhaoibh"!


It is funny because I have always loved that song, but in Killarney the one shopkeeper we talked to as I was looking for an ornament that said Christmas in Killarney was not impressed with that song or what it did to the town! I went into 5 stores looking for one without success. Then we were going back through a little mall to the car and I saw ceramic blank ornament with a Santa Claus for 2.99 euro and they wrote on it Christmas in Killarney. The shopkeeper there, a nice young womann from Poland, said they had some with that phrase on it but they were all sold out! It made my day!