Adventures in Deutschland: Day 58

The view from the beach at Rossbeigh

On Tuesday we set out for the Ring of Kerry - a drive that takes you in a circle around the coast of the peninsula that juts out to the west from Killarney. I wasn't sure how this day would go given that riding in her car seat is not Therese's favorite activity. At breakfast we told the owner of our B&B what we were going to do and he suggested that we visit Rossbeigh as we made the drive.

We tried to get out in time to beat the tour buses since we didn't want to have to trail behind slow moving vehicles. We didn't get out as early as we had hoped, but the weather was clearing up beautifully so we couldn't really complain. Our B&B advertises itself as being located at the start of the Ring of Kerry, which it technically is if you start from downtown Killarney. We turned right out of our B&B (and stayed on the left side of the road) and were off. We easily found Killorglin, the first town/stop along the Ring. It was a cute little town with an old stone bridge crossing a small stream and bright store fronts lining the streets. Plenty of people were walking around with cameras in hand. We decided not to stop and so drove through. Ireland is very good about hanging signs everywhere indicating the direction of various landmarks, cities, etc. In fact, maybe it is too good at this because at major intersections they have signs for EVERYTHING - indicating the direction of various sites, towns, buildings, museums, restaurants, B&Bs... The signs are all the same size so it is hard to catch whichever thing you are looking for while scanning the 15 signs while turning the car. I bring this up now because this particular peculiarity greatly affected our journey in Killorglin. Somehow we managed to get lost and leave the town from the wrong direction. About 20 minutes later we hit a bit of a dead-end. We turned around and had trouble finding our way back to where we started from. 45 minutes after our wrong turn, we were back where we started from and (we hoped) back on the right track. Not a good omen for the beginning of our day.

Shortly after we got back on the right road, we saw signs for Rossbeigh. We decided to follow the advice of our B&B despite the treacherous, narrow roads that led there. I'm so glad we did. We were driving along this thin road when all of a sudden we turned a corner and the right roadside disappeared. We were driving along the ocean. At one point the land juts out to form a point in the middle of the water. We were able to park on this area of land and walk around. There is a sandy beach where the waves crashed in and a thick row of flat rocks above the sand. Therese LOVED this part of the beach because there were rocks everywhere for her to pick up. Much to our surprise, people were going swimming in the water. It was only in the 60s. Todd felt the water and said it was pretty warm, but the cold air was very windy. This area was beautiful. It was what I thought Ireland would be like - grassy mountain dotted with a few white houses, ending with a cliff that dropped straight into the ocean. The pictures look beautiful, but they can't capture the experience of seeing this in person. Next to the beach there was a little playground that was very well kept with lots of fun things to do in it. Reese, of course, loved the slide. There were also little bucket seats that you can sit in and turn around and around. There was a wheel that spun while you ran on top. There were also the standard European swings including one saucer-like one that kids could lay on. Therese had so much fun playing at the park that we had trouble tearing her away. As soon as we got in the car she was asking to go to the park again :-). We promised we'd look for another one.

We followed the Ring around the first half of the peninsula, seeing beautiful views of the ocean against the grassy green mountains. Therese wasn't too thrilled about being in the car, but with a little snack and movement in the car she fell asleep. Todd and I were getting hungry and had decided to eat in the next major town, Waterville (it was the last town for a while), but we didn't want to wake Therese up. In order to waste a little time, we took a road out to Valentia Island which was pretty, but not so special that I would recommend taking the 45 drive in and out unless you wanted to kill some time. The port there was very pretty and there was a small town, but the roads there were fear inducing. Much of the Ring of Kerry had well-paved roads with painted lines delineating two separate lanes so the main drive was quite pleasant. This was due, as we learned by the MANY signs reminding us, to the County Kerry Council's road "scheme." Todd and I found these signs really funny. Scheme isn't the word people in the US government would like to use to describe their efforts...It's funny how different English words have such different connotations depending on where you are. We actually had a lot of laughs due to the road signs around Ireland. The first night we were struck by the orange signs claiming "Diversions ahead." We had grand pictures of people running around dancing and screaming trying to distract us. Whenever we saw these signs (which actually indicate a detour ahead) we reminded each other to stay focused despite the diversions. :-) I also enjoyed signs about the "carriageway," referring to the roadway, as though they couldn't afford to update the sign since the previous century when people would have driven horses with buggies down the road.

Therese did eventually wake up allowing us to progress along our journey to Waterville. Here the main road is lined with wind-worn store fronts along one side and great grassy bank on the other, protecting the road from the sea just on the other side. We stopped to eat at a large bar where a number of tour buses must stop because they asked us who our driver was. We all split a sandwich and a little soup. We then walked along a path on the seaside of the bank. Below the path were rocks leading straight into the water. The whole town smelled strongly of saltwater and seaweed. There were people fishing along the shore where the beach became flat and benches all around for you to sit and watch the waves. Therese enjoyed the tall bank protecting the road. She would run down it and, when it got too steep, would jump to Todd who was waiting below.

After a while longer and many more beautiful views of the mountains and seawater, we decided to take the road to Moll's Gap which would lead us to the Killarney National Park and back home. As soon as we turned to take this road we found ourselves behind a tour bus. While we grumbled about our luck at first, we quickly learned the blessings that being behind such a bus can bring. The bus itself wasn't terribly slow. Maybe I should rephrase that - it wasn't much slower than we were at climbing the towering mountains we were passing through. However, it is much wider than your average car and, being two stories, towers high enough to see around the sharp turns in the narrow roads. This means that the bus knows when it can whip around corners because no one else is coming on the other side and (I can't believe people did this) no one was riding their bikes just ahead waiting for you to swerve out of the way. If the bus went fast, then of course we could trail it going just as fast. The biggest benefit, however, is that the expansive size of the bus forces passing cars to huddle to the side of the road while the bus goes by. If we stuck close behind the bus, we could then pass these cars with great ease as they clung to the edge of the street.

We made it to the top of Moll's Gap, a gap between the top of two mountains that has a road paved on it so cars and buses can pass between them. There is a little restaurant and gift shop placed strategically at the top of the gap where we got out, took pictures, and let Therese run up and down some stairs to get energy out. We then began the harrowing descent down the mountain passage and into the national park. We passed by a few lakes in the park but didn't stop. Instead we took Therese to a playground located across from the cathedral in Killarney. It was huge and clean with kids climbing everywhere. Therese particularly enjoyed the slide (of course) and a little play train that had tunnels, benches, and a steering wheel. I enjoyed the sign explaining rules such as "Children must be accompanied by adults and adults must be accompanied by children" and "No bullying with threat of expulsion from the park" - who is going to expel someone? Is there a principal around?

We ended our night with a dinner at Dan Linehan's, a pub in downtown Killarney. We split shepherd's pie (yum!) and Therese had chicken nuggets with veggies instead of fries. We thought if we didn't order fries she'd eat healthier. Unfortunately our shepherd's pie came out with a plate full of fries...After dinner we walked around a bit and I got a scoop of Bailey's ice cream which I successfully hid from Therese. It was delicious. The shop had a sign in the window advertising the return of their famous Guinness ice cream. I can't imagine why - it sounds disgusting.

After a long day of driving and playing in parks, Therese fell asleep very easily. Of course, it wasn't until after we had put her in her crib and pretended like we left the room (opening the door, dropping to our knees, closing the door, and crawling to our bed). She played for a little bit, standing up and messing with the curtains right by her bed. She managed to part them at some point and happily exclaimed, "Outside! Reese see outside!" We had to stife our laughter. After just a few more minutes of messing around, Therese was fast asleep.