Day 10 The Cliffs of Insanity to a National Park

We left our sketchy hotel in Galway and headed south to Killarney in the south.  But first we stopped at the cliffs of Moher.  The cliffs of Moher have been used in many movies including Harry Potter and the Princess Bride.   They look to be about a 400 foot cliff from the top to the water.  

The cliffs were a straight drop down made from a dark grey rock. After raining heavily in the morning the sun came out and made for spectacular view of the cliffs.  The grass on the hills on the top seemed to glow with the sunlight. There was also a little castle at the highest point of Moher with great views from every angle.  The cliffs were awe inspiring.  

 I did climb over a bit of the wall that i was not supposed to to get a different angle which was absolutely worth standing in wet mud only 5 feet from the edge to see it from there.  

The gift shop and restaurant were built into the cliff side with a view of the cliffs.  I bought a small reusable bag.  I know that my bag purchase is a shock, when everyone else bought a ton of tourist crap with clovers on it.  My main souvenirs might be a bag from each country and maybe a tin too.

We drove further south and made a pit stop in a small town.  Compared to the UK's stone buildings Ireland's buildings are painted and colorful.  Each store front is usually painted a different color.  We grabbed some sandwiches and I bought a cream pastry for a little extra sweet for the day.

Our drive down to Killarney was beautiful.  The southern side of Ireland is beautiful.  Of course that was when everyone was watching a movie on the bus and had closed all the curtains.  So I headed up to the front and looked out the front window.  Everyone else missed some distant castles, beautiful seaside, and islands in the distance along the way.  I've noticed that in Ireland we are seeing a lot of buildings from castles to farmhouses are in some level of disrepair or complete ruins compared to the UK.  I assume it is from all the hard times that Ireland has had over the years.  But anyways it is part of their culture.

To cut some time off our journey we took a ferry across a waterway to cut off over an hours of our driving journey.  The ferry was just a little one and for only 20 minutes.  Quite a bit different than the sea crossing.  But I suppose the boat corresponds to the size of the crossing.  It was nice at least to get out and stretch my legs, get a different view of the landscape and enjoy some sea air.  Then off we went.

 Our overnight stop was in Killarney.  A small town on the south side of the island.  It is home to the first and largest national park.  So far it was my favorite time in Ireland.  

The alone time was refreshing and so was the scenery.  There is a herd of Red deer in the park and I was fortunate to see 5 of them.  I just set off wondering in the park and wondered towards Ross Castle on a loch.  

That is loch number 2 for those who are counting.  I looked at some postcards of the rooms inside the castle and found it more beautiful on the outside area than it would be inside.  

What a beautiful place.  If I were to go back to anywhere in Ireland the national park would be it.  There were little boats that would take you around the park.  There were other castles and abbeys all around along with mountains, open fields, animals, old homes and flowers all around.  I tried to find a path alongside the loch but was unsuccessful but i enjoyed the views from where ever I was.  I could have easily spent a few days inside that park and the Ring of Kerry area where it is located.

Our whole group went back to our hotel, Darby O'Gills, and everyone grabbed their computer and phones to use the wifi.  Ah this is traveling in 21st century.  My kindle died for a while but I was able to reset it and recover all the writing that I had done so all you lovely folks could read about my adventures.