travelogue: ireland, part 3 of 3, ring of kerry and killarney national park

our travels to ireland was beautiful.  the countryside of technicolor greens had us swooning, dublin charmed us, live music in homey pubs had us doing the shimmy.  there were friendly locals, plenty of coffee shops to keep stefan well caffeinated, and i fell for treacle bread, irish stew and porridge.  

it's been six months since our summer trip to ireland/scotland/wales with our friends, the weinsteins who i find myself missing along with the beauty we have seen together. i will break down our 2016 summer travels in one liner-ish notes, the parts that stand out more than others...

Ring of Kerry

driving ring of kerry's winding narrow coastal roads in reverse (against the tour bus traffic )... was the best decision, having the grand vistas mostly to ourselves... with ever changing views of the island-dotted atlantic - the most scenic between catherdaniel and waterville in the southwest of the peninsula.

stopping every 5 minutes to take everything in; carroll's cove, coomakesta pass, the skellig islands (where the final scene of star wars was filmed), coomanaspic's "best view in county kerry" with its tall grasses the kiddos frolicked in.  the tapestries of greenery was just amazing... i imagine even the locals stop their cars to gawk at the coastline.

strolling through a few of the towns; sheepskins and woolen sweaters in sneem, lunch at the blind piper pub in caherdaniel (i remember having a great big salad bowl, so good!), sculpture of charlie chaplin in the port town of waterville, free tasty samples at the skellings chocolate factory, and portmagee's irish toilet of the year (no kidding!).

picking up a package of irish atlantic sea salt in waterville, to evoke the feeling of ireland for months after our trip :)

far away views of the dingle peninsula across dingle bay... next time we'll do the the dingle peninsula, a smaller and more intimate version of the ring of kerry.

photo from jason

photo by dede

killarney national park

breakfasting on yet another delish bowl of porridge and, finally, decent tea, in killarney (but do not stay here, it's a sprawling line of outlet malls and holiday inns).

hiking along a mossy trail to tor waterfall in killarney national park... i couldn't resist being in the landscape one last time... such lush surroundings.

strolling kinsale, a cute foodie town with colorful shops, businesses,and restaurants housed in historic buildings; it seemed every single hue from the color wheel was represented in their facades.  

after lunching at blue haven cafe, we had to drive on... to the airport and hop on a plan to scotland!

i can't put my finger on it - but i could see myself returning to ireland to holiday in the rain... it's simply unforgettable. next week: scotland!