Today, we were scheduled to drive the Ring of Kerry, which from everyone I've talked to, it one of the quintessential Irish vacation experiences.
We skipped it.
Rather than driving through and seeing lots of pretty views, we decided to start the morning south a bit on the Beara Penninsula and hike our way through a bit of Gleninchaquin Park. (Don't ask me how to say it....I've resorted to "Glen Chicken," but I know that isn't the way the B&B hosts said it. Gaelic is difficult.)
We took a tour hour hike through a whole different set of views, cutting hours out of our potential drive and seeing views that I think were just as perfect.
We got to experience the fun of meeting a big car on a single lane Irish road, and enjoy one of the only great things about our rental car - the fact that it's tiny. (We've named our car Bedsprings, because at least it lets us laugh at the noises it makes every time we try to do something like turn, put it into park, go over a bump or sit down in the seats.)
After Gleninchaquin, we did our tiny section of the Ring of Kerry that was directly on the path to Dingle, and drove up through Killarney National Park. Our drive definitely took us an extra few hours, as we stopped off at a few waypoints for photos.
We also took a stop at a waterfall that was a very short hike off the road.
And finally, we swung by and walked around a manor house and castle in the National Park, although we chose not to spend the time for the tours that are the only way to see the inside of either.
As we left Killarney, we got our first real rain in Ireland (somehow) on the way to Dingle, so we went straight to check in to our B&B and then back to Dingle for a delicious dinner and some great Irish music and whiskey.
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