Yes, There is Still More Ireland to Explore

Liz and I both still have more Ireland pictures and stories calling out from iPhoto that they want to to freed and posted.   After taking a weekend off for a dog show and getting some needed work competed on the RV I figured that I better  get busy before the puppers and I are scheduled to take off for northern Indiana and some new adventures with more friends.   

Retirement can be exhausting but so much fun!

So back on the van we go.   Everyday we changed seats and today was our turn for the back of the bus.  Given the size of the van and the fact that Dee was always busy washing windows, there really were no bad seats. By this time there were only 10 of us to move around 13 available options. Who ever chose the back usually shared all four seats with only one other person, great for added legroom and storing alternative layers and rain gear.  You really could take cat naps in all of the seats though the person in the front passenger seat usually felt the responsibility of staying awake between hikes and taking advantage of the expanded view while they could.  

Birds feeding out on the water.

Campers parked out on the beach waiting for the surf to come up.

Just so you know...very breed specific here.

Today was the opportuntity to take a 2.5 hour bike ride/tour of Killarney National Park.   I know that riding a bike is a skill that one is not expected to forget but then most of my remembered skills go back to the touring bike of the 50's and 60's and not the ones with multiple gears.  Horseback riding dies not phase me but the thought of cycling around for 2.5 hours gave me pause.  I declined the activity and manage a surprising number of Fitbit miles wander around the Muckross House and grounds.  The estate was bequeathed and made into Ireland's first National Park back in the 60's I believe.  The house stood empty for thirty years before the Chamber of Commerce in Killarney got together to suggest it be restored and open to increase tourism.   The grounds are thousands of acres of wonder and beauty.  And there was that shopping opportunity at the weaving shop in the basement of the Muchross House.

The view from the front stoop out towards the lake.  

I did tour the inside of the house but they allowed not photographs.  Several of the rooms that had tapestries from the time of Queen Victoria are carefully protected from exposure to excess and damaging light.  It may not be as large as Downton Abby but the sense of a period in life and times was similar. The "upstairs" and the "downstairs" areas reflected the sense of what the upper classes came to expect.   The Queen came for two days once. It was considered a great honor for the British Queen Victoria to even visit Ireland. The family had six years to prepare.  The Queen was given the newly redecorated rooms of the current owners wife with a beautiful view of the garden and the lake.

I like the story of how the Queen had her own bed brought with her from England.  Imagine the work involved in taking that bed apart, hauling it across the seas, around the Island by horse and wagon and setting it up in the various places she stayed, if only for a night or two.  It was good to be Queen.

Wandering a few of the old paths that meander around the grounds.

After 2.5 hours, the adventurous bikers returned.  The also reported some beautiful vistas along their route.  They also reported peddling up and down undulating hills. For those that were not frequent bikers there were some reports that their muscle memory for biking did not cover peddling up hills or smoothly changing gears.  I did not gloat but was very happy with my activity choice for the morning.

And then farther down the road we drove for our afternoon opportunity for adventures.

Oh the places you can go.  Some people go this way. Some people go that way. We will go to Ballycarbery Castle.

Or what is left of Ballycarbery....

Why is it that whenever I approached one of these castles I had an impulse to revert back to the Monty Python and the Holy Grail scenes of the knights riding their "galloping" steeds up to the gates of the castles.....?

Hi, Tom.

Preservation by ivy.

Boiling oil down upon the gate crashers......

There is that lady in her blue hat again.  I think she chose not to climb.

And off in the near distance I see a small van and trailer.  Sometimes Dee let us visit sites that did not require a 2 mile hike.   

But the day isn't over yet. On to the stone fort Dee says.

All carefully laid up centuries ago with dry stone.

Monica out standing on the stones......

 Now to get a good night's rest. next we head to the Skellig Islands.