Kinsale to Killarney
The Perryville House had a very nice breakfast room and a menu from which to order. I started with a mix of homemade granola and yogurt with homemade honey on top. Barb went with porridge again. For main breakfast, Barb had eggs Benedict while I chose a pan grilled fish, possibly a plaice. The fish was delicious but more than I could finish.
We did a little early morning souvenir shopping in Kinsale, finding a few cute things for Emmy and JT. We also took some photos of the cute town. Yes, everything about Kinsale was downright cute. If we had a do-over we would probably try to spend at least two nights there.
We met Michael at 9:20am, loaded the van and headed in the general direction of Killarney. The itinerary for this day was very much in Michael’s and Walter’s Way’s hands. We were due to make stops at two specific sites, a 9/11 memorial and the Dromberg Stone Circle, but otherwise the plan was “tour through West Cork with a few stops in lovely villages and historic gems, to Killarney.”
We first saw a few things around Kinsale, starting with Charles Fort built to protect the harbor shortly after the failed attempt by Spain to ally with the Irish against Britain. I was surprised to see a Spanish flag flying and found it was there to commemorate the Spanish invasion force that came to support the Irish in 1601. I thought it a little odd to commemorate the failed invaders, but I suppose it’s a recent gracious touch on the part of the Irish to encourage Spanish tourists, or maybe it’s another stick in the eyes of the British. Both, probably.
Michael drove us to the 9/11 Memorial Garden, a somber remembrance of the firefighters lost at the World Trade Center on 9/11. The memorial was privately initiated by nurse Kathleen Cait Murphy who worked in New York during the disaster. It’s a lovely gesture and peaceful setting which should age gracefully as the trees mature.
We drove out the Old Head peninsula to the memorial remembering the sinking of the Lusitania a few miles offshore. This is also the location of Old Head Golf Course, one of the most famous in Ireland and one I had always wanted to play back when I played. It turned out that Michael worked for a decade at Old Head as the food and beverage manager. He was very familiar with the course, its owners and many famous people that played there. He shared a few stories but carefully avoided badmouthing anyone. Michael was a good storyteller and guide but not much of a gossip. I suppose it could be bad for business.
We officially turned onto the Wild Atlantic Way wrapping along much of the western coast of Ireland. Michael was polite about offering to stop the car anywhere we wanted. I didn’t immediately take him up on the offer but before long we passed a trio of horse riders and Michael encouraged me to get a photo. I did but the results were not quite as magnificent as he imagined. I was a little slow on the draw.
We proceeded to the Drombeg Stone Circle, a megalith ring constructed around 3,000 years ago. There was only one other couple there: a guy with several fancy cameras along with his girlfriend/spouse/model. I’m not sure if they wanted more privacy for their shots of the site but we wandered around on our own while they snapped away. After a few minutes we heard a drone buzzing overhead. It was our intrepid cameraman getting some aerial views. I know we were in some of the drone shots. Maybe we will find ourselves online someday.
Truth to tell, the Drombeg Stone Circle was not all that impressive but offered a nice view of the countryside. Our main takeaway was continued wonder at why these Bronze age people went to so much trouble to haul such large stones around and set them upright in so many places…and why modern archaeologists can’t come up with more definitive theories. Was this circle simply to mark the burial spot of one youth? Was it mainly an astronomical calendar where cremated remains of one youth happened to be buried? Who knows?
We drove onward, stopping in the town of Bantry to stretch our legs and find a bite to eat. I found a cafe with a small plate of quiche while Barb had a cup of tea. She made do with pretzel snacks in the van later. Our typical lunch on the go.
We turned away from the coast and drove up a lovely valley. It seemed like every turn of the road presented a more beautiful view. I knew we couldn’t stop every 5 minutes, but we did find a spot where I felt compelled to ask for a stop where the sun dappled prettily. Only after we stopped did I notice a horse nearby. All along this drive there were heart-achingly beautiful vistas in every direction; I just wanted to stop and watch the scenery unfold as the clouds and light changed minute by minute but it was hard to pick one spot over another.
A while later I asked for another stop to capture a different valley under a brighter sun. It was near a tourist stop named for Molly Gallivan; the TripAdvisor reviews are far more glowing than I would have guessed. We didn’t go in the gift shop or replica farm, but maybe we should have? It wasn’t on our itinerary and Michael probably accurately felt we weren’t quite the right target audience. Besides, we had more stops to make on our way.
We crested the mountains at Moll’s Gap where we stopped for some more pix. We were now officially on a leg of the Ring of Kerry.
A while later we entered Killarney National Park and stopped for more photos overlooking the top of the Killarney Lakes. I took a few photos and was about to head onward when a lady motioned to me that there were two deer just a few feet away. More photos!
We proceeded a few hundred meters down to The Ladies View, made famous by a party of Queen Victoria’s ladies in waiting.
We had to stop for one more shot of the Killarney Lakes.
Next stop: Torc Waterfall. Barb became convinced the falls were further than the advertised 200 yard walk from the parking lot. She was a little grumbly by the time we got there. We quickly made our way back to Michael and the van.
We reached downtown Killarney. Michael drove us through the crowded streets, giving us an orientation tour along the way. We eventually made our way through traffic to the Agadoe Heights Hotel, a much further distance out of town than I thought. I was glad we held out for four nights at the Ross Hotel in town. But first, we had one night at the Adadoe Heights, a very modern hotel and spa – the interior looked quite like a Viking cruise ship. The receptionist seemed a little addled from the moment she could not find our reservation (it was under Walter’s name which we didn’t know; Michael rescued us). She also compelled us to immediately choose a time and location for dinner. We opted for the more casual lounge at 6:30pm. An efficient bellman brought the bags to our room (the bellman was the only employee we encountered at the hotel who actually appeared to be Irish). We settled in quickly and went for a short walk in the mist to get photos of the hotel’s peaceful view of the Killarney Lakes — from across the road.
We got to the lounge right at 6:30 where the same receptionist lady pointed us to the wrong table at first, then directed us to a two-top that was by the only window where the view of the lakes was blocked by columns. We waited quite a while before finally getting initial service to place our order. We then waited and waited for more than 30 minutes for our entrees — fish and chips for Barb and a cheese platter for me. Barb lost patience after about 15 minutes and went back to the room to do emails. I finally realized that the very busy bartender (whom I could not see — and could not see me — also because of a pillar) was our waiter. I asked whether we were going to get our food and he said “You should!”. A few minutes later I saw him ask one of the other waiters to go check on our order. The other waiter eventually returned and whispered something to the bartender, I overheard him close with “Well it’s coming.” But there was no communication with me directly. After another 10 minutes, a full hour after we arrived, our food finally came. I texted Barb who was none too pleased. We ate in silence and Barb retreated to the room as soon as she could. I took my time finishing my cheese plate — at no point did the waiter or any other server come to check on us or offer any explanation. I sat for a while with an empty plate then got up and asked for my check. I asked the bartender/waiter why our meal had taken so long and he offered no explanation other than that the kitchen was very busy with so many tables to deal with. He never took any responsibility nor a smidge of sympathy. He did give me a glass of ice to take upstairs then closed by saying that if I wanted anything else I could dial 0 on the phone. Thanks, buddy.
We retired to another quiet evening of TV game shows — more of The Chaser and Who Wants to be a Millionaire. To give some credit to the Agadoe, our room was quite nice, the shower was enjoyable and the bed was very comfy. We slept well.
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