Kenmare Ring of Kerry

We stayed two nights in Kenmare Bay. It was nice not to have to pack all the time. It was raining too hard for us to expore Kenmare Bay. It looked like a very interesting little town and it's famous for it's lace.

This was our drive around the Ring of Kerry. It was a very scenic drive through mountains and along the coast line of Kenmare River. It was actually a bay, but way back when the Irish were oppressed by the British, the Irish were not allowed to fish in rivers, so with a stroke of a pen the bay became a river and is still named as such.

Our first stop was at a junction where we could see the mountains. It was pretty cloudy and cool then. We were able to take some photos before making our way. We made several stops at some scenic pull outs. Our first major stop was at Muckross House and Gardens. We dropped off the people who were taking this tour, we didn't sign up for. We were given about 20 minutes for a break so we were able to wander the outside of the house taking photos. It was very pretty. Time to get on the bus and we were dropped off in Killarney.

We had an hour in Killarney so we decided to see the cathedral. Our tour guide told us was just a 10 minute walk down the street. His 10 minute walk ended up taking us 25 minutes. When we started out we could see the spires of the cathedral, but when we got further into town we lost sight of the spires. There was another couple from our tour headed to the cathedral so we followed them. By asking for directions we found it. The cathedral was very beautiful inside. Had to use my museum mode on my camera and a rosary service was going on. The people weren't fazed on bit by tourists traipsing around and snapping photos.

We were in the cathedral for about 10 minutes before it was time to make our way to the bus pick up spot. Since it took us 25 minutes to get to the cathedral we figured it would be about the same time, but it only took of 20 minutes to get back. We were back in plenty of time for the bus, so we were able to take a little rest. So much for a little 10 minute walk. It helps when you know your way. Killarney was the place where we had our group photo taken. Turned out to be a very nice photo. We had stopped at this little souvenir shop and had a cup of Irish coffee. That was very tasty. After a bit of shopping it was time to pose for the photo.

After the photo, we made our way around the Ring and ate lunch in a little cafe along the coast line. It was a cafeteria type cafe, but this was the place where we got our own glasses of ice. Yeah, we were able to get more than two ice cubes, we could get as many as we wanted. We had a very delicious lunch with a beautiful view of the bay, but while we were eating lunch the rain came again.

Made our way around the Ring of Kerry then we were taken to the Kissane Family Sheep Farm. This was an optional excursion we signed up for. The rain was coming down pretty good by this time. First we got to see a demonstration of how the sheep dogs gather the flock. That was pretty impressive and the owners were glad that the dogs were willing to work in the weather. Once this was done, we got to go inside the shearing barn and see a demonstration of how they sheared sheep with the clippers and then with the electric clippers.

This was an optional that Mom wanted to do. She said she wanted to see if they knew how to shear the sheep with the clippers. It was informative but I got a kick more out of the city living people who have no clue what it is like to raise any kind of farm animal or crop. Of course there is nothing like the smell of wet sheep. These sheep were more hairer than the ones back home.

Back to the hotel we went, time to get ready for our dinner. Dinners we had a choice of soup, salad or fruit as an appetizer; beef, chicken or fish for the main meal. This time for dessert we had a sampling of different cakes.

Once again, time for a night cap at the bar. The bartender was nice and started a fire for us, felt good. We then signed up for our bus transfers to the airport. I had read the instructions and we were supposed to check in 3 hours before our flight. This meant that we had to be on the 7:30 shuttle, the 9:30 shuttle would have been cutting it close. We decided that waiting the extra hour wouldn't hurt us anyway.