Dingle... yes Dingle

On our way to Dingle we stopped in a town called Kenmare which is on the "ring of Kerry". It was a nice little place isolated in the woods with a great view.

A beach on the 'ring of kerry'

The ring of Kerry is a route on a couple of highways that circles the Iveragh peninsula. It would probably take about 2 hours to drive the whole thing, but with the breathtaking views (see pictures) and inviting villages along the way the drive can easily take a day if not a weekend. We stopped a few times to walk some beaches and take in the sea air. It was a little weird to walk on a sandy beach in Ireland as that isn't something you associate with this island. On one of our stops in a little town we were in a grocery store and found a, get this, Tim Horton's!  Well not a whole store but a serve yourself kind of stand. Of course we had to indulge in some donuts and a quadruple triple of course (just kidding, but see pictures). It was pretty good. The donuts were bang on but the coffee tasted a little different. Good, but not quite the same. However, we overheard a couple of locals refering to the coffee as "gorgeous".  A highlight of the day.

ahhhh

We arrived in dingle which is on another peninsula just north of the ring of Kerry (the dingle peninsula go figure). We checked into our hostel and hit a pub just in time to watch an Irishman win the british open!  I think we could hear the whole country scream when he won! Of course we had to celebrate with a pint... or two.

On our way back we stumbled across a trad session at a pub. Of course we had to check it out. We were glad we did. The fiddle player had a packed pub hypnotized with the blur that was her fingers and enchanted with the music she played. Every knee was bouncing and every hand clapping. It was a sight to see and certainly something to hear.

Dingle

We stopped by a grocery store to pick up some breakfast supplies (cereal and milk). We wanted to get milk that wouldn't go bad if we walked around with it for a while so we settled on soya milk. Meg was very excited when she came across (what she thought was) 'custard' flavoured soya milk. Upon inspection at breakfast it was revealed to be simply straight up soya custard... Not milk. Just custard. So we started our day with a hearty dessert... I mean breakfast.  To be honest it was pretty good with cereal.   

After our fill of custard, we hiked along the bay until we came across a wee beach with an incredible view of the sea (see pictures). We relaxed and soaked up the sun. It was a perfect day for it. Meg even contemplated swimming!  It must have been warm for such a thought!  We made plans to return the next day equipped with the proper provisions... Picnic lunch, books, and sunscreen (and hopefully fabulous weather).

Meg on the hike

The next day after another generous portion of custard, we kept true to our goals and headed back to our beach for a picnic. Although the sun didn't shine as brightly, it was a gorgeous day for some down time.  Off to Limerick!

mmmm Tim Hortons

more views

please take my picture

Tim Hortons!!!

view from our spot

view while we ate lunch