Ireland day 8

     We awoke to the usual rain this morning, and headed over the the Muckross House, the focal point of Killarney National Park.   Building of this mansion began in 1839 and took four years to complete.  The principal rooms are furnished in period style and portray the elegant lifestyle of the 19th century landowning class.  During the 1850's, the owners undertook extensive garden works in preparation for Queen Victoria's visit in 1861.   Those gardens were expanded over the years, and now they are a real showcase.  We walked through a huge area of flowers and huge trees of every variety imaginable.

Muckross House in Killarney

Tulip in the rain at Muckross House

 

     After Muckross, we headed for the Dingle Peninsula, said to be among the country's most beautiful areas. It initially appeared we were going to have one of those 50-50-100  days again.  You know:  50 degrees, 50 mph winds, and 100% chance of rain all day.  But the sun actually came out for several hours and we encountered blue skies along the route (the 50-50 part remained with us).  We drove along the magnificent coastline, stopped in Dingle for a nice meal, and toured an area of extreme western Ireland known as Slea Head.  Rather than bore you with the details, we decided to thrill you with Tricia's photos and bore you with miscellaneous observations we've made while touring.

Fields on the Dingle Peninsula

     The main factors that make Ireland so green are (a) the huge amount of sheep dip and cow paddies deposited onto the grass daily, and (b) the fact that droughts have not been invented here.  It rains every day.  Based on what we have observed so far, a day of blue sky and sunshine would create a general panic in the country.  “The End is Near” signs would spring up everywhere.  There is so little sunlight that natives’ skin is almost pure white.  No wonder there are ghost tours in every town.  Seeing these people at night would make you think there are ghosts everywhere.  We’ve only seen one solar water panel so far; it must have been on the roof of the local Optimists Club.

Try passing on these roads!

     Some of the back roads here are so narrow there is no room to paint a centerline.

 Dingle Peninsula coast

     There is no crime in Ireland.  We know this because of the fact that there are no wall safes in the hotels and B&B’s.  There are no warning signs to be careful of your personal belongings.  The only policeman we have seen so far stopped to ask if we were tourists.  He had to ask repeatedly if we were following the gulf.  We could not understand which gulf he was talking about until he said, “You know, the Master’s!")

     Ireland has more than its fair share of clouds.

 Beautiful beaches along Slea Head

      Beaches here are about as useful as ski slopes on Tahiti.  But they really are pretty.

     Signs here are in two languages:  Irish and English.  Irish is always on top, which is the first hint of what they think of the English, who once made speaking Irish a crime and forced the English language on the people here.  Irish, or Gaelic, is still spoken in a few areas, and is the native language of residents of the Ring of Kerry, the Dingle Peninsula, and  the Aran Islands, which we hope to visit.

     A souvenir shirt in one of the shops here showed the four seasons in Ireland.  Above each season was a picture of a sheep with an umbrella, standing in the rain.

7th Century Gallarus Oratory on Slea Head

     Maria sent us a message after our first breakfast report, saying, “Do NOT look up the ingredients for white pudding and black pudding.  Do NOT.”  So naturally, having tried them at our first breakfast sitting, we had to look up the ingredients.   We found a company whose advertising informed us that the pudding is high in iron, contains no artificial additives or preservatives and is low in fat.  Looking further (this is not high on the Google search list), we find the truth about the ingredients of black pudding:  fresh pig's blood, bread, skimmed milk, cooked barley, fresh beef suet, fine oatmeal, salt, ground black pepper, and dried mint.  Assuming the ingredients are listed in order of the amount used,  we will henceforth restrain ourselves when offered this delicacy.  We will not bother to look up white pudding.

     If you come to Ireland without an umbrella, you’d better plan on staying inside.

Near the western tip of Europe

     Our rental car is a Skoda, made in the Czech Republic.  Having never heard the name before, we were afraid that it might have been Russian.  But it is a decent size, comfortable, rides well, has great diesel engine power, and gets incredible gas mileage.  The rental agent said we might not have to top the tank the entire trip.  We have driven over 700 kilometers, and the fuel gauge has just dipped below half a tank.  Note to Joel and Brian:  you might want to look into the possibility of getting a Skoda franchise for the entire United States.

     The weather report on TV each night here shows either a cold front or a warm front coming through, with rain expected over the entire country.  It appears they have prerecorded these reports, and just alternate playing them over and over.

Murphy's Pub in Dingle

     There is an indecently wealthy man who lives in this country, by the name of Murphy.  He owns a pub in nearly every village, town, and city.  He also owns a chain of B&B's.

      If anyone has an Irish dictionary, please let us know if the words "drought" and "dry" appear there.

 Murphy's B&B in Dingle

      “Clean” diesel fuel here is cheaper than unleaded gas. At 1.59 euros per liter, that works out to about $8.20 per gallon for diesel.  Unleaded is about 50 cents more.  There are fair numbers of bicycles out on the highways in Ireland.

     If you claim you once saw four straight days of blue sky here, you can earn an honorary lifetime membership in the local Liars Club.

 Murphy's Ice Cream Shop in Dingle

     While Tricia was taking photos in Dingle, I added a small amount to Mr. Murphy's fortune by trying out a couple of scoops of his Irish cream liqueur flavor.  It was light on the Irish, heavy on the cream, and had just enough of a hint of liqueur to make you want to go back for more.  But then Tricia walked up and we decided to head for Adare for the night.

 View from our bedroom at Adare Manor

     In Adare, we are splurging for the second (and last) time during this trip.   We'll tell you more about Adare Manor tomorrow, and for now will just mention the dessert one of us enjoyed in the dining room tonight:  buttermilk pannacotta with poached spring rhubarb and gingerbread ice cream.  That last ingredient was just unimaginably delicious.

Charlie and Tricia

© 2012