Day Three
"The Road to Dingle"
We got up Sunday morning and took advantage of the breakfast that came with our hotel stay. We went downstairs to a dining area, and the spread was what you'd expect for a four star place. Very impressive. I loaded up on eggs, sausage, potatoes and the like. Quite tasty. And we discussed what was next. We both decided we wanted to go someplace less Americanized, maybe someplace smaller. Russ had been reading his Ireland book and found that the guy was pretty positive about a little waterfront town called Dingle, which was west of us, along the coast. Sounded like there was some impressive scenery to go along with it, too. So we decided that was our goal.
I got us checked out while Russ went for the car, and I waited with the luggage in the lobby and talked to an interesting bellman of an unknown nationality (I couldn't quite place the accent) about the cost of living in Ireland vs. America (San Diego specifically). Turns out his wife is from America, from Nebraska as a matter of fact, and when in Ireland she was constantly griping about the price of food. Russ found his way back, and we loaded up and hit the road.
We drove for a while, enjoying more Irish radio and trying to catch up on war news. Suddenly, we came around a corner, and bam...there it was. The Atlantic. It just crept up on us. Suddenly we've got this stunning view ahead of us. Just what we'd been waiting for. After a little more winding around on the road, we ended up with another surprise. A beach. We pulled off the road into a small parking lot with a lot of other motorists in a town called Inch. It was right over this vast expanse of beach. Again, we had a perfect weather day, with the sun shining down on us, and a high wind blowing in from the ocean. This must have been a treat for the locals as well as tourists. A fair amount of people were walking the beach (keep in mind, this amount was nothing compared to what you'd see on an American beach. If this few people were on a beach in San Diego, you'd have to assume there had been a toxic dump in the ocean and warning signs had been posted), walking their dogs, enjoying the day. We got out and got some pics and photos. There was a little beachfront cafe right near us, which we decided to skip since it was too early for lunch. It looked more like a surf shop, but obviously the waves here weren't quite good enough to attract that sport. Across the road on the other side from the beach were hilly pastures, with sheep wandering them, and a rickety building marked simply "Bar" (not "Pub", I noticed, but "Bar", which was a first). We got back in the car and started to drive, but it wasn't a few hundred feet before we came upon a nice turnoff that offered an even better view, letting us look down on the beach, and see down the way to the cliffs that waited further on. We got out again, and here we sat and each had a cigar. This was what we'd come for. We relaxed and just soaked it all up, enjoying the sun, shooting more pics and video, watching and listening to the waves come in. Beautiful.
Russ looking out over the beach at Inch
This pulloff stop became the norm. We'd start to drive again, and then we'd find another one with another stunning view. We'd have to stop again. The road to Dingle became a very long one because of this, and we loved every minute of it. Soon the road veered away from the coast, and the view changed. Now we were looking at endless miles of pastureland, with many shades of green, and white sheep doting the landscape. Farmhouses could be seen here and there, and low stone walls divided up the land, walls that have stood for a very, very long time. People always talk about how green Ireland is, and we'd definitely found the best place so far to prove that.
Me and Russ along the road to Dingle
Eventually, we did find our way to the town of Dingle, which is, not surprisingly, on the Dingle Peninsula. We drove through it first, getting a lay of the place. There were boats--fishing and pleasure--in the harbor. The narrow streets in the little town were lined with pubs, restaurants and shops. It was immediately less dense with people than Killarney, which we liked. We stopped to look for a place to stay. Russ walked into one bed & breakfast and checked for accessibility. This guy couldn't help out, but tried to steer us toward his sister's place outside of town. Wanting to keep us in town, Russ got him to suggest a place that he wasn't getting a kickback from, and we ended up at a guest house called Bambury's just at the entrance to town, a nice place with a reasonable price (35 euro per person per night). Our room had three beds in it, interestingly enough, a small TV, and its own bathroom ("Rooms En Suite", by the way, is the phrase you look for on the sign of your B&B to find out if your bathroom is in your room or you're sharing with others).
Bambury's guesthouse, where we stayed two nights in Dingle
We got set up and realized we needed to look for some food pretty soon. We started walking into town and spotted our first Irish supermarket. Russ needed a razor, so we decided to pop in. This is a must for European vacationing, by the way...you must enter a store and check out all the non-American products, or the American products you're familiar with with different packaging. I grabbed a couple of candy bars to take home (I'd tried one of the "Crunchies" at Newgrange and liked it. Didn't realize until I got home that I can buy them at Beverages & More here in town). We checked out eating places, and ended up at Murphy's Pub. This was a great place. Locals and tourists both, and not too crowded. There was a big screen TV with a soccer match going on, so we got to take in some sports, too. We both decided to try some beef stew, which was fantastic. You order your beef stew with our without potatoes, by the way. We ordered with. What this means is you get your stew--which has beef, carrots, and onions--with a side of scoops of mashed potatoes. Had a fine meal and a couple of pints here, and decided to check out the rest of town. We wandered, and hit a couple of shops to buy some gifts, and I bought some post cards. We stopped for cigars in front of an aquarium (because it had benches) that overlooked the waterfront. We eventually wandered back to the room to relax a little before the evening. I filled out my post cards, and we watched some more war news and checked out the selections on Irish TV. Big on the Simpsons, these Irish. We kept finding reruns, usually two in a row, during our trip.
Murphy's Pub, home of really good beef stew
We headed out a little later than we'd expected, and decided we'd use the car this time instead of hoofing it (we'd done too much, and it was liable to be cold out there). We drove around a little trying to look for dinner. We ended up parking and walking a street for a while. We also wanted some live music on this trip, and we found one pub that was to have some. But though we had one pint there, the place wasn't doing it for us. For one thing, it was too late to get food. For the other, we were sitting in one section near a pool table with a bunch of American college guys shooting pool and very American rap music playing loudly (which, in fairness, was the choice of the Irish chick bartender, I think). Not the atmosphere we sought. So we moved on, eventually bumping into The Dingle Pub. Live music, and no steps to get in. Sounded like my kind of place. Unfortunately, again, we were too late for food, but we decided to stay and skip dinner. Fun place, a lot of people. The band eventually came on, one called "The Barn Boys". Three guys...a guitar, a bass, a banjo. These guys rocked. Loved 'em. We had a fantastic time, and ordered probably way too many pints. We ended up closing the place down. Russ graduated from "lad" to "boyo" when he got called that by the banjo player later in the night, after the band was all done. I would have liked to talk more with the hot Australian girl who lit my cigar, but some jackass from Kentucky was trying to make his move, cornering her with some drawn out story about a girl he knew who got pregnant or something, which was, I think, supposed to turn her on somehow? Russ and I had both spotted this other very attractive girl earlier in the night, but she was with an older woman, and they seemed very close, lots of hand-holding and such. So we didn't give that too much thought, assuming we were immediately out of the game on that one. I mention these two because they'll be coming up again later. All in all we had a grand night at the Dingle Pub, and drove ourselves back to Bumbury's to crash out. Dingle had ended up being good to us after all, and ended up being a good choice.
The Dingle Pub, where we heard The Barn Boys tear up the joint. Aye!
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