The Road to Dingle

Charlotte:

Today we had another nice breakfast from the lady at the Airbnb. Then we went to Kinsale. It was about a 45-minute drive. We walked around and browsed stores. We went to a bookstore.

And next we took a long drive to Killarney. We stopped in Macroom where we went to a castle, but you could go inside and it actually had fields inside with sports camps going on. There was also a school and an exercise machine area inside. I used some of them.

Finally we got to Killarney for lunch. The town was busy and cute. I got a Greek yogurt pancake for lunch, but I didn’t like it, so I switched with Mom – hers was a bacon and cheese pancake.

So then we went to an ice cream place, and I had mango sorbet. Then we got back in the car and drove more!

We got to Dingle and shopped for car snacks. We went for dinner at The Dingle Pub. There was Irish music playing. I did a little dance called the shuffle that is kind of like an Irish dance. Somebody clapped, and it was embarrassing. I tried chicken curry, and it was delicious (but a little bit spicy).

We walked around the town. The buildings are bright colours. I thought the name Dingle was really funny.

We drove one more time to our hotel. On the way, we went up a mountain. We saw clouds sitting on a mountain, sheep, the ocean.

Sam:

This morning we said goodbye to our friends at the Airbnb after breakfast. After that we drove 45 minutes to Kinsale. All the buildings were random bright colours. Some were bright blue and pink and yellow and green! One of the first stores we went into was a bookshop where I ended up getting a new book. I finished it already, and it was great! After that we didn’t do too much in Kinsale, just walked around.

We kept driving until we got to Macroom. There, we went to a castle which had a park in it. After playing in the park for awhile, we left.

Next we went to Killarney. We had lunch in Killarney – I tried a Croque Madame sandwich. Then we had ice cream. I chose hazelnut ripple.

We went to Dingle. We had supper there at a place with live music. The people were playing an accordion, a fiddle, and a banjo. Their music was really good. We went to a park by the ocean and saw a festival.

Then we took a drive up a mountain and saw an amazing view of Dingle, the ocean, and sheep.

Finally, we got to our hotel. It’s nice with friendly people. It’s very high up on a mountain top.

Mom and Dad:

Like yesterday, we enjoyed the hospitality of our host, Ann, this morning, with a beautiful continental breakfast. We said our goodbyes and headed for Kinsale, a little oceanside community nearby.

After getting stuck I’m traffic and then behind a tractor, we ended up missing the walking tour we had planned on joining, so we strolled around the town on our own. All of the buildings were painted in bright colours and the whole town was clean and welcoming. We enjoyed browsing a little bookshop and purchased a book of Irish fairy tales. We spent only about an hour here, but it was a lovely spot.

Next we decided to make our way to Killarney, with the idea that we may try to drive the Ring of Kerry this afternoon. Instead, though, because the driving was so stressful for Brad on the tight country roads, we decided to drive the shorter Slea ring from Dingle today, and we bought tickets for a Ring of Kerry bus tour for tomorrow.

On the way to Killarney, we stopped to stretch our legs and made friends with some of the locals…

Then, we ran into a road closure and had to take a detour through Macroom. We spotted a castle in the town, so we got out to explore it. At the gates it said admission was free and that there were many community amenities inside. The remaining Castle was just the outer walls… Inside there were numerous fields for sports, a community centre, a school, and even a golf course. It was really cool to see.

We continued on to Killarney, which was packed with tourists and tacky souvenir shops. It is clearly a hub for Ring of Kerry tours. We did have a good lunch at a place called The Black Sheep Cafe. Charlotte and I had crepes and the boys had sandwiches. Everything was homemade and tasty. Then we went to the Killarney ice cream shop for a cone. My choice was chocolate raspberry and Brad had cherry ripple. Delish! We went in a couple of the tacky shops to look at the crazy souvenirs. Charlotte was disgusted by little ceramic toilets that said, “Place your butts here.”

Next, we drove towards Dingle. We saw a sign for Inch Beach and decided we could use a break. We got to drive right onto the beach! There were lots of people taking surfing lessons and others sunbathing and playing in the waves. We walked into the water, and it wasn’t as cold as we thought it would be. It was actually pretty refreshing. Charlotte was in her happy place, burying treasures, doing cartwheels, and writing messages in the hard sand. Sam enjoyed poking jellyfish and crabs with sticks. We stayed until the tide was almost at the car’s wheels. Then we made our way to Dingle in time for supper.

Dingle is such a cute town! Lots of fun pubs like the streets to cater to the many tourists. There are only 2000 residents of the town, and there are tons of shops and restaurants. There was, of course, a park that the kids enjoyed playing at, too. We meandered along the ocean for awhile.

Finally, we left Dingle and drove along the coast and up a mountain in our way to our hotel in Tralee. There was a lookout spot on the mountain with stunning views of the ocean on both sides on the point.

By the time we arrived at our hotel, it was 10pm, and we were all exhausted. Good night!