After a couple of hours checking out the Blarney Woollen Mills shops instead of kissing the Blarney Stone ( less face it, do I need any more gab?), we headed off on a short but very winding road to Dingle. Not a good idea to eat such a huge delicious breakfast as eggs benedict and French toast when faced with such a drive, but we eventually reached the Irish Bog Village which has been kept more or less intact since the 1700s. I love this place! I love places like this in Australia too. So sad to see Early Street torn down to make way for a housing development. The purpose of this village was to cut peat from the surrounding bog to sell as fuel for fires. Several of the cottages remain as reminders of how life used to be in times gone by. I always try to imagine myself living way back then: what would I like about it and what would I detest?
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| Each cottage named the occupants and their occupation. |
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| Me outside the stable dwelling...I would not have liked to live with a pig and a cow. |
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| Inside the thatcher's cottage were the basic necessities of life ( and a few creepy dummies!) |
On the site of the old village is the old Red Fox Inn ( not quite as old as the village I am guessing, but older than anything we have in Australia), which reputedly makes the best Irish Coffee in Ireland, which I won't dispute. What they don't tell you is that it's also the most expensive for the smallest glass!
On to Dingle with Lorelle as captain and me as co-captain (well, to be more specific, Lorelle was driving and I was sitting up front enjoying the most magnificent views) as we travelled round the coast road to Dingle arriving mid-afternoon at which time Dale jumped out of the back and immediately began rolling round on the grass. I can't say that I blame him as the soft, green, lush lawn made me want to do exactly the same thing!
Maggie welcomed us all to her Emlagh Lodge B&B. She was washing the salt from the windows as we drove in so she had obviously not expected us quite so early. Dale and I took our dirty clothes down to the cleaners to be washed by the cutest washerman ever. ( Insert daydream of being a washerwoman in Dingle...) I was expecting it to be at lease 50 euro ( we had a shit load of dirty clothes) only to be told it would be approximately 30-35 euro and we can pick them up tomorrow afternoon. Bargain! I know who'll be volunteering to pick up the laundry!
Then showered quickly and off to toast Arthur ( Guinness) at the local Marina Inn at 5.59pm on Arthur's Day. We ordered deep fried brie with blackcurrant sauce for entree to share, and Keeley and I had scampi for mains. ( never had scampi before, not quite sure what it was, but it was delectable!) Lorelle has salmon again ( it is a fishing village and we are supporting the local economy!) and we were all so full we couldn't manage dessert even though we had selected our choices.
Then toddled, rolled, strolled, or limped our way back to our home away from home- right on the bay in Dingle- along the towpath on the foreshore which cannot be navigated at high tide. The plan of having a game of cards soon evaporated once we reached our rooms and we all had a (very) early night. I went to sleep while it was still daylight and woke up in darkness and it's 6.30am. Very strange!
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| Breakfast at Emlagh Lodge...delightfully delicious |
After a full Irish breakfast with cranberry juice and yoghurt and berries in a parfait glass, we headed off to explore the Ring of Dingle ( as christened by us, actually called Slea Head Drive) which in our opinion, runs rings around the Ring of Kerry. We visited the Irish Famine Village
and the Prehistoric Beehive huts then stopped at a cafe for a coffee, ( naturally) and Lorelle and Kiryn braved the elements to climb Com Dhineol while the boys and I sanely remained in the car to follow our respective pursuits of reading and sudoku.
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| The view from Slea Head Drive |
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| Looking down on a delightful cove. |
We arrived back in Dingle in time for a hot bath and rest before heading out to a special birthday dinner at the Half Door Cafe ( yes, it does have half a door like a stable) in the pouring rain! Since I was wearing thongs to give my toe time to recuperate, they soon became wet and slippery so I ditched them and walked barefoot. Not too bad except by the time I got to the restaurant, my feet were like ice-blocks.
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| Mushroom and bacon entree |
Nothing that a couple of bottles of champagne couldn't fix! Plus a delicious entree of gratinated mushrooms, lamb shank main meal and bread and butter pudding for dessert were all good remedies for any ailments.
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| Happy birthday Kiryn! |
Off to St James Church for an Irish Music Concert. I was very tired admittedly, but it's the most bored I have been in a very long time, so I snuck out at interval. Rhys and Keeley had already left and only Kiryn and Lorelle stayed. Of course, they reported that the second half was absolutely brilliant as I knew it would be, but I just couldn't last the distance. I thought about catching a cab home but walked briskly through the town. It had stopped raining but had become very cold so I walked fast. I thought I knew the way home but took a slight deviation and ended up in a dead end at the wrong place, so I had to retrace my steps. Just what I needed! I then took the correct path which was well lit for a couple of hundred metres then pitch blackness. I couldn't see a thing, except I thought I saw a reflection off water and was too scared to venture any further so I tried unsuccessfully to find an alternate route. At that moment of desperation, I spied Dale and he guided me through the water, ( which was only a huge puddle, not a lake) to our lodging. After such a long terror-filled walk, it didn't take me long to fall asleep.
Woke up to another awesome breakfast of egg and bacon and cheese on panini before heading off to Galway.
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