Humdawg's Travel Blog: Ireland Recap

Friday, September 10, 2010

Ireland Recap - Kinsale to Killarney

September 9

This was one of the more relaxing days we spent in Ireland, and after the go-go-go schedule so far, we were grateful for it! We had breakfast around 8:30, then rested in our room for a while before packing up, checking out of Danabel, and heading into Kinsale to explore a little. We stopped at a few cute little shops and picked up a handful of postcards to send to our parents and friends, then the post office to pick up a few stamps, then explored a bit more before making our way to Killarney.

Exploring Kinsale

We arrived in Killarney a couple hours later, just in time for our grumbling tummies to find some lunch at Hannigan's downtown.

We were fortunate to be able to check into our B&B early, and enjoyed some tea and biscuits while looking through their vast plethora of Ireland books and pictures.

Crystal Springs B&B

Gap of Dunloe

We relaxed for a bit before deciding that we should probably do SOMETHING that day, so we decided to go for a hike along the Gap of Dunloe. We were told that you cannot take a car on the path (which was a paved road) because of all the pedestrians and horse-drawn carriage. We found out shortly into our hike that this was NOT the case: You're ALLOWED to drive it, it's just not recommended. We decided to keep on going, even with a slight drizzle starting to come down, and we had a really fun time walking along. However, about 2/3 of our way to the gap (i.e. 2 miles in) it started coming down MUCH harder, and by the end of our 6 mile hike (that's right - 4 miles in the pouring rain), we were soaked to the bone and freezing. But we made it, and that's what's important, right? :)

After our rainy hike, we made it back to the B&B to get a nice, hot shower, some hot tea, and to rest for a bit before finding a supper destination.

We settled on the Danny Mann Pub, mainly because it was one of the only places with live music that night. It was SO MUCH FUN! I posted a bunch of videos from the night on Youtube, but in a nutshell, we had SUCH a blast there :) The music was so typically irish, and I still find myself humming some of the tunes from that night :)