Writing this as  a quick catch up as Pat and I are about to leave for the airport. Here’s what’s been going on, without any pithy comments…

- Left Killarney

- Stopped at the Rock of Cashel (neither a pub nor a professional wrestler, the Rock of Cashel is the ruins of an ancient fort and cathedral 

- Marty, John, and I got to Dublin and began sightseeing and pubbing.

- Picked up Pat and Donna at the airport early Wednesday morning. They didn’t sleep on the airplane either.

- Continued sightseeing and pubbing. Pat and Donna were troopers - made it to almost 7:00.

- On Thursday, more sightseeing, shopping, and, well, you know what else. Doheny and Nesbit is right down the street from our B&B. Doheny and Nesbit is a great old pub in the Georgian District, and packed after work with folks in suits and ties. The  bartender told us all the regulars are lawyers and politicians from local offices. We went back there anyway. Just made sure we held onto our wallets and ethics tightly.

- Took Marty, Donna, and John to the airport this morning. Marty and Donna to Lisbon, and we’ll meet them back at the Dublin Airport on Wednesday. John’s heading back to CLT and promises to add his thoughts to the blog.

Best Lines of the Last Couple of Days

Best:
We were stopped for a break in Killarney National Park, in an area where we were passing day hikers. A couple came by walking briskly with a terrier on a leash. I made a passing comment about how tough it must be for a small dog with short legs to keep up on a long walk.

Marty replied: “I can relate.”

More Best:
Sitting at the bar in a pub in Kenmare. There was an American couple a couple of seats down asking the bartender questions (too many) about the ring of Kerry. The ring of Kerry is a popular drive around the Iveragh peninsula, roughly following the path we’ve been walking. The road is narrow and curvy in a lot of places and it’s also populated by the occasional tour bus.

The dialogue went like this:

American Husband: Is it dangerous to drive the Ring?
Irish Bartender: No
AH: Is traffic bad?
IB: Not this time of year
AH: Should I drive it clockwise or counterclockwise?
IB: Clockwise
AH: Do I need to get an early start?
IB: (chuckle) What do you call early?
AH: 7 o’clock
IB: (Laugh) Jesus Christ, Lad. You leave by 7:00, you’ll be done by noon. You could do it twice. Now, why don’t you relax, have a couple o’ beers and just get up tomorrow and go? This ain’t DisneyWorld, it’s fookin’ Ireland.

If I make another trip to Ireland, I think I know what I'll name the blog. 

Kenmare to Killarney

Last leg of the walk. 16 miles today, starting with an hour uphill right out of Kenmare. Then, over Windy Pass (aptly named), down into a valley, and over another pass into Killarney National Park. Many miles through the National Park on trails following mountain streams and waterfalls. Really beautiful. I hope the pictures capture some of it. Then, through the Muckross Estate, and into Killarney.

Killarney is, by a lot, the largest town we've been in along the walk. Because of the National Park there's a pretty large tourist orientation here. The football stadium (Gaelic football) is a block away from our B&B, and the crowd was coming down the street after a great win by Kerry over Tipperary. We were going up the street and it was a little like going the wrong way down Stonewall Street after a Panthers game. Only there were more people. And their team had won.

Had a good dinner at a pub in the old part of town, then went around the corner to another pub packed with people and playing some terrific trad Irish music. Great craic. (Gaelic, look it up.) Stayed until the band quit, and went back to the B&B, bone tired. Thirty seven hard miles over the last two days  is a good finish.

Now that the walk is over, I've got to think more about how to really describe it. Awesome is a start but not good enough. This is such a good way to really get the feel of a country.

The walk may be over, but lots more fun to come. We're off tomorrow for Kilkenney, on the way back to Dublin.

Heavy Metal, Now I Know the Answer

Heavy Metal asked an enigmatic question about a picture I posted the first day of the walk. I didn't know how to answer it until today. One of the reasons I didn't know how to answer it is because I didn't know who "Heavy Metal" is. When the answer to the question came to me, I immediately figured out who Heavy Metal is.  What a great metaphor!

The picture is below.

The answer came in a flash today when the three of us were walking down an old rocky road through Killarney National Park and, strangely, Marty belted out a line from an old MGM movie.

The question was: "What are those painted yellow lines down the sides of the road?"

The answer is: They're not painted lines, they're....

You Need a Pair to Hike the Kerry Way

I can't tell you the number of times hiking sticks have saved our bacon on this walk. Walking on rocky paths, down muddy slopes,  and sloshing through mucky areas, and not one fall among any of us. It would be so easy to crater an ankle or knee on these walks. Hiking sticks are our friends.

Now, can anyone guess which pair belong to Szabo?

Why Did They Need the Second Sentence Anyway?

Saw a sign today that I wanted to take a picture of, but it was raining too hard.

On a back road in the middle of a forest was an old stone building that looked like an old house, but in decent shape. There was a sign on the building that read:

THIS BUILDING IS A BAT ROOKERY.
ANYONE TRESSPASING OR DISTURBING THIS AREA IS
SUBJECT TO PROSECUTION UNDER WILDLIFE STATUTE 2.31Q.

Man, glad they told me I could be fined , else I was headed right inside that ol' bat rookery.

Sneem to Kenmare

I think it was Marty who best described all of our feelings about today’s walk after we finished. If it was just the distance (18 miles) we would have been fine. If it was just the rain (a steady rain, not just a drizzle, all day long) it would have been ok. If it had just been the wind (30 mph, gusting higher), we could have dealt with it. If it was just the boggy, muddy ground we walked through part of the day that would have been a pain. But all of it together was a royal  PITA.

And it almost didn’t have to be that bad. We knew at breakfast this morning that it was going to rain and blow, and what the mileage was. We discussed an alternative of getting a ride partway to shorten the day, and walk from there.

Two of our group said they didn’t care, they’d go along with what the others wanted. One of our group said that we ought to go for it - there was some kind of sense of accomplishment to be had. I won’t divulge which person that was. But when we final got down off an interminable final slog over the final mountain, got to our  B&B and showered, and found a pub, Marty bought the first round of Guinness.  And he owes more.

But there were some great moments out there today. Some of them we didn’t capture in pictures because it was raining too heavily to get the camera out. But in particular, there was one stretch of trail around Lackeen Point along Kenmare Bay that was simply awesome. Got some pictures of that.

It figures that as soon as we got to Kenmare the rain quit, and the sun came out. It gets worse. Phillip, the husband of the couple that runs the B&B (Druid Cottage) says that this is the first day this year that it’s rained that hard all day long. Lucky us. But Phillip has seen this before. He’s got all of our wet gear hanging in the shed drying. And he says he knows how to get the boots dry by morning. Trust me, that’s a major challenge.

Had dinner and the appropriate refreshments in Kenmare. This is a great little town, with 2-3 blocks square of pubs, restaurants, all the other things that make up a town, and shopping. I mention shopping because Marty and I are coming back to Kenmare in a couple of weeks, after Donna and Pat come over.

For you foodies - dinner was traditional Irish Pub food. Marty had Shepherd’s Pie. I had Beef and Guinness pie. And John had a mega-Burger. Just so you know, the traditional Irish mega-Burger comes with cheese bacon, lettuce, tomato, and onion rings on the burger. Chips (French fries) are on the side.  It was all great.

Tomorrow is the last day of the hike, and ends in Killarney. Hope the weather’s better.

Caherdaniel to Sneem

Today we turned the corner at the southwest part of the Iveragh peninsula, and headed east. Total mileage for today was 11 miles, and instead of walking along ridges, for much of today we were crossing them. But heading east means the wind was at our backs.

The weather today was the best it’s been yet.  No rain, partly cloudy, and the sun was in and out throughout the day.  A bit of a roller coaster day, but great walking across fields, meadows of wildflowers, and back roads.

Our B&B tonight, the Coomassig View, is the nicest B&B yet. Turns out the Irish couple who runs it lived in Boston for 20 years (the husband is associated somehow with Irish football), and moved back to Ireland 5 years ago with their three young kids. Their  B&B is on the outskirts of the small village of Sneem. You could say it’s in the snuburbs.

Sneem is the largest village we’ve been to yet. That doesn’t mean it’s big - maybe three blocks long in total. But the layout is interesting. There’s a one lane stone bridge in he middle of town, crossing the rapids of the Sneem River, and a town square on each side of the bridge.

We ate at Danny O’Shea's Pub tonight. Cod and Chips, Fisherman’s Pie, and  Chicken and Leek pie. All of it great.

It turns out Sneem is having an inaugural 50 mile walk  in 20 hours for charity tomorrow. It kicks off at 5:00 am, so we’ll miss the crowds, and most of their route is on roads anyway. Our route tomorrow is 18 miles, a long day, but much of it along the coast.

Waterville to Caherdaniel

Actually, today’s hike started in Caherdaniel.  Normally, today’s leg of the hike would have ended in Caherdaniel, but the B&B there is closed right now. So, Abby, our innkeeper in Waterville, drove us to what would have been the end of today’s hike and we walked back to Waterville for our second night there.

This was a shorter leg - around eight miles. It started with a long uphill out of Caherdaniel, through woods, around a lot of rock outcroppings, and across fields.  The higher we got, the better the views got. The views are of the small harbor outside of Caherdaniel, the bay, and the ocean beyond.

Changeable would be the best description of the weather today. Within the first twenty minutes we’d put on and taken off our rain gear three times.

Near the top of this first climb, the trail crosses the ring road, the route that most tourists take when driving around the peninsula.   A lot of tour buses take the route. The tour buses are asked to  travel the route counterclockwise, because the roads are too narrow for two buses to pass each other.

The Scariff Inn is at the point where the trail crosses the ring road. It claims to have the “best known view in Ireland.” I can’t say whether it’s the best known, but it’s got to be among the best period. We stopped for Diet Cokes, orange juice, and a chance at the view.

Later, we stopped for lunch (crackers, power bar, trail mix) at a spot looking over a valley with ancient stone buildings below, and the ocean in the distance. We could watch the next storm working its way toward us across the valley. So we put on the rain gear again and headed out.

The rest of the walk took us across the side of a long valley several miles and back into Waterville. Just outside Waterville we passed a pretty nice golf course. According to our innkeeper, this course is where  “the famous Tiger Woods” comes to practice before the Irish open.

Before dinner we went back to the Fisherman’s Inn for a bit of refreshment. There was a TV on in the bar, tuned to “Master Chef - Australia“.  We got there at a moment of high tension -  they were about to tell the dozen or so would be chefs what the theme of the next dish would be. You could see the stress on the faces. You could hear the music building in the background. You could hear the tremor in the voice of the announcer. Then, a commercial break. After the commercial they built up the tension again, and announced that the theme of the next dish would be: OMG!!! Chinese!!!.  The audience gasped. And the contestants groaned.  All except one. Her name was Hsu. Hsu Kan Kuk. I think she was a ringer.

Turns out Hsu didn’t win, but she did ok. The winner made a dish out of mushrooms, chicken, and Chinese vinegar. It actually sounded pretty good.

But there were a couple of contestants eliminated. Their dishes were both variations using tofu. It’s fitting they were eliminated. Anyone trying to make a tasty dish out of tofu shouldn’t be allowed near a hot oven in the first place.

So it was fitting that after listening to this, we left the Fisherman’s Inn and went down the street to the Huntsman Lodge for dinner. You see, the Huntsman Lodge has the best Thai restaurant in town. Actually, it’s the only Thai restaurant in town. Actually, it’s a pretty solid bet that it’s the only Thai restaurant in a hundred miles.

It looked like we were taking a big risk when we walked in and the only people in the restaurant were two very non-Thai looking guys playing solitare on a laptop. Together. But sometimes first impressions are deceiving. What followed was the best Thai meal I’ve had in forever.
John had Thai oysters (caught just a little earlier in the day in the next  bay over from Waterville). Marty and I had duck spring rolls as appetizers. Marty’s main was a baked hake with a basil compote and vegetables that he said was outstanding. I had red Thai curried chicken. Outstanding.  And the dinners came with a chocolate fondant dessert.
All of this was accompanied by appropriate amounts of Guinness and a nice French Bordeaux. And closed out with Jameson’s.

Finally, feeling well prepared for another day of hiking, we found our way down the street to our B&B.

These Guys Got Stile

This is how the trail crosses over fences from one field to the next. Lots of these.

Derrymore to Waterville

Today’s walk encompassed twelve miles, a lot shorter than yesterday. So we figured it would be an easier day. Go figure.

The majority of the mileage today was along two different major ridges. There are good and bad things about ridge walking.

The best thing is that the views are outstanding. For much of the day, we had views stretching 20 miles or more in all directions, when the weather cooperated. And the weather cooperated for the most part.

But a downside of walking along ridges is  getting there. The first long uphill started right ouside our B&B and wound up and around a couple of major hills until we got back on the Kerry Way just below the summit of Knockavahaun, the highest point on the coastal portion of the Way. And the first big hill of every hiking day is always the hardest.

Once up on the Knockavahaun ridge, we were able to follow it for several miles, with long distance views of the valleys down below on each side, before dropping down into the Inni River valley.

After crossing the Inni we stopped for ice cream at the Mastergeehy Post Office, a small building out in the countryside. We’d heard they had snacks, but it turns out a choice of ice cream bars was the extent of the menu. The postmistress (who has probably been there for a long, long time), offered to make us tea,  but we pushed on.

From the Post Office it was 45 minutes of uphill to the next ridge from where we could see Lough Currane and  Ballyskelligs Bay. Off in  the distance, down the ridge, was Waterville, our destination for the day, still a couple of hours away.

On this ridge we experienced another of the downsides of ridge walking. For the next couple of hours we fought winds that were probably never less than fourty miles an hour, and gusts much higher, blowing in off the Atlantic in the distance. When the trail finally got to the point where it dropped down into Waterville all three of us said we simply felt beat up.  What had started out looking like an easier day was tougher than the day before.

When we got to our  B&B around 3:00, Abby, the innkeeper, was surprised to see us so early. She asked if we’d come “down the mountain”, and said that a lot of people choose to take the longer but easier route staying on the road.   (We never thought about it.)

Waterville is a neat little town, maybe four blocks long, almost all of it facing the ocean. It’s not the high season yet, so it’s all still pretty quiet. At the edge of town is a lifesize statue of Charlie Chaplin, who used to spend summers here. We each took our pictures standing next to the Charlie Chaplin statue, but none of us believe we were the first to think of that.

Abby suggested the Fisherman’s Inn as a good place for dinner. She was right. The Fisherman’s is a nice quiet pub with good pub food. At the Fisherman’s, the order of events was: Guinness, Guinness, Fish and Chips, Apple Pie, Guinness, and Jameson’s.

At least that’s the way I remember it. But I could be wrong.  

Historic Events We Just Missed

In an epic case of mis-scheduling, Queen Elizabeth of England arrived in Dublin Tuesday, a day after we did. Our invitation to the events must have gotten lost in the mail. Just as well. We had other plans. But I’ll bet the Queen didn’t sleep on her flight either.

Seriously, this is a really historic visit, and important to the Irish people. It’s the first by a British monarch in over a hundred years.  The last visit by a British monarch was her grandfather,  when all of Ireland was struggling under British rule. Since then there have been many years of  bloody conflict, with the Republic of Ireland formed in 1947, but with Northern Ireland still under British control. The papers are saying that security in Dublin is at an all time high. Irish we’ve talked to about the visit say that the feelings between the two countries have been so intense that only now is it possible for this visit to take place.

The Queen arrived wearing emerald green, and one of her first acts was to join the President of Ireland in  laying a wreath at the Garden of Remembrance, a monument dedicated to Irish who lost their lives fighting for independence from Britain.  

So in the context of this history, you can imagine the tension at lunch today when Her Majesty said: “Ireland is really nice. I think I’ll stay a while.”

The tension didn’t ease until Philip leaned over and whispered  into the Queen’s ear, after which She was heard to say: “Just kidding. Hey, anyone been to any good weddings lately?” ( I made this last bit up).

(It’s also worth noting that this picture was taken by NBC at the Gravity Bar in the Guinness Brewery, overlooking downtown Dublin. It’s the place you get your free Guinness when you finish the Brewery tour.  That explains the presence of the NBC photographer.)

That's Gotta Hurt

Marty makes a mistake crossing an electric fence. He's now assuming the role of soprano in our trio.

For you Bailey's Irish Cream Lovers

This is where it all begins.  Some Bailey's production workers taking a break to gaze at passing hikers.

Glenbeigh to Derrymore

Everybody had a great night’s sleep. Some of us even slept beyond the 7:30 time we agreed to. But we all were able to get to our “Full Irish” breakfast at 8:00. That is, full Irish, with the exception that we asked John the Innkeeper to hold the black pudding. Turns out, not even many Irish like the black pudding that’s supposed to come with a full Irish breakfast. What does come is cereal, yogurt, and fruit. Then, sausage, bacon or ham, eggs, toast, tomato, juice, coffee, and black and white puddings. (To be clear, neither black or white puddings are puddings as Americans would know it. The ingredients are - oh, never mind). .

In spite of this breakfast, we were able to strap on our packs and hit the trail shortly after 9:00. We were anxious to get an early start since today’s hike covers almost 19 miles to the next B&B - in Derrymore. We weren’t sure what pace we’d be able to keep, and we thought our arrival time could be anywhere between 6 and 8 pm. A tough day for the first day of the hike.

We left in a light, misting rain, with raincoats on. The weather varied a lot throughout the day. Misting rain, light rain, drizzle, and threatening rain. Actually, there were a couple of times the clouds broke. Between the types of rain.  For a couple of minutes each.  This wasn’t the best day of weather we’ve seen hiking in Ireland, but it also wasn’t the worst. But at the end of the day, it didn’t affect our hiking.

The days hike took us up some forest trails with rhododendron in bloom, down farm roads lined with fuschia, across fields lined with sheep and cows, and up and over several of significant hills. A lot of the Kerry Way follows ancient paths and roads across these fields and valleys. There were occasions where the clouds and fog opened up to some great long distance views, including Dingle Bay to the north. And there were many times we could see back several miles over the ground we covered, or several miles ahead.

We passed three other hikers shortly after we left this morning, and those were the only hikers we saw all day. On a lot of the back roads we walked cars would occasionally pass, almost always with a smile and a wave from the driver. On one farm road, a farmer in an old Land Rover passed us with his dog, an Australian Shepherd, running along in front of the truck. The dog stopped to greet us, so the farmer had to to stop and call him back. Back at the truck he started running down the road in front of  the truck again. This was a working dog, heading out to a field with his owner to herd sheep into a different field. Marty and I saw this multiple times last year.

The geographic names in Ireland are terrific, mostly derived from Gaelic. Mountains we went over or around today included Curra, Knocknadobar, and Drung Hill. We crossed the Behy and  Verta Rivers, and walked across the Beith and Verta valleys.

And we finished the day a lot earlier than we thought. Around 4:00 we got to the Failte Farmhouse, meaning we averaged around 2.5 miles per hour over all the terrain, including what few rest stops we took.

Failte Farmhouse is pretty isolated, several miles from Caherciveen, the nearest town. So the proprietess made dinner for us here. Homemade mushroom soup, roast chicken, vegetables, and apple pie with whipped cream. But Marty and I had to note that this is the first night we’ve spent in Ireland without Guinness. We’ve got some catching up to do.