November 21-28
It was the morning of November 21st and I was giddy with excitement. After 7 years, Shaun and I were returning to the Dingle Peninsula on the West Coast of Ireland. We had been there for one night in 2004 and fallen in love with the area. We would not short change Dingle this time around!
We started the morning at the Belfast bus terminal. We needed to rent a car for Dingle but since Belfast is considered the UK there would be an exorbitant drop-off fee if we rented it there and dropped it off in Dublin. Luckily for us, there are buses running every hour from Belfast to Dublin. It takes three hours and it costs 10 pounds and drops you right at the airport so it was a no brainer. We walked into the bus station at 8:50am and by 9am we were flying along on our way to Dublin. Other than a quick stop at the border (to show passports) the ride was uneventful.
At the airport we picked up our car and headed out on the roads. By now Shaun was an old hand at driving on the left. We actually had a very good system down. The night before our journey we would send directions to my Ipad and then I would be in charge of giving Shaun directions while he just concentrated on driving. I barely had to use my imaginary emergency brake at all on this part of the trip!!
The drive out was nice, but we could tell something was different. We both remembered the last time we drove across Ireland as being much more confusing and time consuming. As it turned out, Ireland had used their years of great economic boom (remember the Celtic Tiger?) to do massive infrastructure improvements. This meant two lane highways almost all the way across the country. It certainly made the drive faster, but I think you miss something by not traveling through all the little towns. We did make one stop on our way though in the town of Adare. Adare is a beautiful little town about 2/3 of the way from Dublin to Dingle. It has a tons of little shops, restaurants, a park and a cathedral in the center. One thing I loved about Adare was that the stores have the old thatched roofs you hardly see anymore. It's probably considered a tourist trap, but I'd be happy to be trapped there anytime!
Cute little Adare on the way to Dingle
After a late lunch in Adare, we were back on our way to Dingle. The closer we got to the peninsula, the prettier things got. When we reached Tralee at the start of the Dingle Peninsula, the sun was setting and the sky was starting to turn pink. By the time we were halfway down the peninsula the sky was absolutely breathtaking-- puffy white cotton candy clouds against a baby pink backdrop. It was like the island was welcoming us home with our own little light show.
It was like a vision from a dream...
The cottage we had booked was called the Rambling House. It is a 200 year old cottage in the village of Kilmalkedar in the hills above Dingle Town. I had seen the cottage on VRBO (Vacation Rentals by Owner) a few months back and fell in love with the idea of staying there. I e-mailed the owner, Louise, while we were in Belfast and she said the cottage could be ours for the week for 300 Euro. The price was right! She sent me the directions in an e-mail and let me know how to get in. She said the housekeeper would turn the heat and hot water on the afternoon of our arrival.
Shaun in front of the Rambling House
By the time we arrived in Dingle town it was already dark. We followed Louise's directions which included things like "pause to admire the view". Of course it was too dark to do that so we just made our way along the narrow winding road until we arrived at Rambling House. The Cottage was perfect for us. It had a big kitchen with lots of good pots and pans for cooking. It had a wood stove in the living room where we could have Peat fires. It had three bedrooms, two of which we kept closed so as not to disperse the heat. And very important for us, it had a washing machine! I think we put a load of wash in before we even sat down for the first time!
After bringing everything in from the car, we headed back down into Dingle to get some supplies. We were both tired of eating out so our first stop was Garvey's, the local grocery store. I felt like a kid on Christmas morning as we shopped for fresh vegetables and fruit and herbs. We picked up eggs and bread and coffee and lamb and chicken and bacon and crackers and cheese. I finally had to stop myself. We were only here for a week after all! Then it was back up the hill to Rambling House to settle in. We made a fire in the wood stove, cooked up a nice dinner and settled down for bed in our cottage.
Dinner the first night at the cottage. Yay vegetables!
When we woke up in the morning we finally got to see the view. Our kitchen had a big picture window that looked out over the hills of Dingle and out onto the ocean. Shaun and I both threw on some sweaters and headed out to check out our "front yard". It was sheep city! The hills all around us were dotted with sheep, including the next door neighbor's front yard! We couldn't wait to get out and explore, but first we had a few small issues to take care of.
The front yard
That first 24 hours in Rambling House had a few ups and downs. The heat had this odd timer system that we had a little trouble with, but finally we got that figured out and the place started to warm up. Then when Shaun went to make breakfast a fuse blew when he plugged in the electric kettle. We tried and tried to figure out the fuse system but no luck. And unfortunately that meant no heat again. Eventually I had to e-mail Louise for help. She sent her handy man Derek over who fixed the fuse situation and all was well. (Turns out the tea kettle was faulty and that was causing the electrical overload). After that was fixed, things went much more smoothly at Rambling House. I guess its all to be expected in a renovated 200 year old cottage!
Our time in Dingle was a fabulous mix of long walks, long drives and long relaxing days at home. Every day had its own charm, but the long walks were my favorite. That first full day we bundled up and set out from the house to see the countryside around us. We walked down the street to see the ruins of an old beehive hut (more on those later) and then continued down a one lane road that led toward the ocean. Along the way we passed cows and chickens and horses and ducks, all just grazing the beautiful green farmland. And the sheep, oh my, the sheep. The funniest statistic I heard that week is that there are 10,000 people living on the Dingle Peninsula and 500,000 sheep! That's one person for every 50 sheep!
Hanging with some cows...
And ducks and chickens!
We continued our walk down along the ocean on Slea Head Beach. It's funny, when I was a kid growing up I always thought of the rolling green hills of Ireland but I never thought of beaches. And it is an Island...as in "surrounded by water". The beaches here are actually quite fantastic. It was late November so it was way beyond swimming season, but the walking was fantastic. The wind was howling so the waves were crashing and the views were just amazing. All along the coast the farmland would come almost right down to the beach so you would be walking along the sand and look up and see cows standing there staring at you!
I swear they really did stare at you!
I loved these shells we found everywhere
Another day we drove the car out to Clogher Beach and did a walk along the cliffs and beaches of that side of the peninsula. The waves were just massive and we could barely catch our breath from the wind, but we just walked and walked for hours. Usually we would leave the house mid-morning and get back late afternoon. It was always great to come home and cook up a hot lunch in our cottage and start a nice warm fire after a long day of walking.
Amazing Clougher Beach. Crazy Windy
The sea foam actually flew up over the cliffs
On Thursday we had a fun Thanksgiving for two! We had found a relatively small turkey the day before and even though it was a bit of a pain to do the cold water defrost, it was totally worth it. By the time the morning rolled around the turkey was ready to go and so was I. I was really looking forward to a day of cooking!
It was cold and rainy out that morning but that didn't stop Shaun from wanting to go out for a Thanksgiving run. He dressed up warmly and set out in the cold while I started prepping for the feast. First up, an apple crostata. A crostata is a perfect dessert when you don't have your normal tools because it is meant to be rustic. There was no rolling pin in the house, so I used a wine bottle to roll out my pie dough, then scooped the filling in the middle and folded over the edges. Voila! No pie pan, no rolling pin but a great dessert just the same.
The Apple Crostata
Next up was the turkey and stuffing. As much as I love eating Turkey, I think my favorite part of Thanksgiving is smelling the Turkey cooking in the oven. Even though we were far away from home, it seemed very festive as the house started to fill up with that great smell of roasting turkey. And Shaun made it hilariously easy for me. My husband has become a bit of a vegetable junkie over the last few years, but not today! For this Thanksgiving he insisted that all he wanted was Turkey, Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy! So that's what we had! Of course, we also had wine and apple crostata so there was at least some fruit involved!
Turkey for two. We had leftovers for days!!
Shaun watching Caveman TV
After our turkey dinner, we watched "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" for another taste of home and played Bananagrams by the fire. (If you like Scrabble, you will love Bananagrams!) But the best part of the day was Skyping with family. First up was Shaun's family. His sisters had never used Skype before so it was really fun to see them all for the first time since we left in August. Next up was my family. My brother Patrick was hosting my sisters Maura and Katie and their families in Maine. With all the kids around it was mayhem, but the best kind of mayhem! At this point we were only about 3 weeks from going home on our "Christmas Break" so we were really excited to see everyone and make plans for Christmas, even if was via video!
While all that home cooking was great, we wanted to get out in Dingle a bit too, so we had some fun in town as well. One night we went to Foxy John's Hardware Store and Bar. It was a trip. One one side the place is filled with nails and tools and sandpaper and such, and on the other side is a bar where we sat and had a beer. It was the off season so we were the only non-locals in the place, but everyone was very welcoming. We also went out for some traditional Irish music or Trad Music as they call it. An Droicead Beag (The Small Bridge Bar) had a nice warm fire going and a couple playing the guitar and the fiddle. It was a great way to pass a cold winter's evening.
Foxy John's Hardware...And Bar
A little Trad Music at the Pub
On our last full day in Dingle we drove the 30 mile scenic drive around the coast of the Peninsula, stopping along the way at every scenic overlook or old celtic ruin. The drive is absolutely gorgeous regardless, but when you throw in a bunch of "really old stuff" it becomes a fascinating look back in time. We had downloaded a self-guided tour onto my Ipad, so all we needed to do was set the Odometer at the Aquarium and pull over whenever we came to something interesting on the tour. The very first thing we came to was a gallaum, a prehistoric grave or boundary marker that dates back to 4000 BC. Now that is some old stuff! Later we visited a bunch of intact beehive huts or clochans. These huts were built for Celtic Cheiftains and date back to around 500 BC. They were never destroyed by the locals because they actually thought they might be fairy huts! God bless the Irish for their superstitions!
One of the beehive huts
Dunberg Fort
Same place above and below, very different poses!
Two of the coolest things on the peninsula are actually right in our neighborhood; the Gallarus Oratory and Kilmalkedar Church. The Gallarus oratory was built back in the 7th or 8th century and it is an early Christian church shaped like an inverted boat. It has been standing for about 1200 years and it is still watertight inside even though there was apparently no mortar used in the building. Kilmalkedar is the ruins of an old Romanesque church dating back to the 12th century. When I tell you that the church was in our backyard, I'm not kidding. It was literally next door to us so it was fun to go explore over there. Both of these spots were stops on the self-guided tour, which was pretty cool since they are in the neighborhood.
Outside (above) and Inside (below) Gallarus
The ruins of Kilmalkedar right behind our house
After touring the Island, we were both starving so we stopped at a little pub in the center of Dingle for some Fish and Chips and a beer. We looked for Fungi, the Dolphin who lives in Dingle Bay, but no such luck. We had to settle for a picture with his statue instead.
Fish and Chips
The statue of Fungi
On the morning of the 28th we packed up our things and loaded them into the car. We were headed up north to Galway for a night with a pit stop in a town called Ballyhaunis and then on to Dublin for two nights. We were well rested and we felt like we had made the most of what Nature had to offer in Dingle. As we drove the winding roads back out of Dingle towards Tralee we talked about how good this stay was for both of us physically and mentally. We were just over two weeks out from heading home for Christmas and we had some big cities ahead, but we both felt good about it. We had a recharged attitude and a backpack full of clean clothes. What else could we need!?
I call this one "Sunset with Sheep"
And this one is called "Husband with Rainbow". I have a flair for the obvious
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