Day #15 - Road Tripin' to Dingle, Gallarus Observatory & Killarney

Despite wanting to stay a bit longer in our cozy attic apartment...we left Doolin to head south to Dingle. ;-) Those city names both sounded Australian to me...and I'm guessing I have it reversed- and that Australian cities sound Irish...since many emigrated that way. 

We traveled to the famed Ring of Kerry, and passed through Killarney on our way to Dingle.

I continue to be a sucker for a turf-roof.

This photo was taken in County Kerry, for Rich's BFF, Kerry...who he does his weekly podcast and multiple improv classes with, each week.

Dingle is a tiny seaside town in County Kerry that we hoped would be quiet, despite its popularity (given the chilly season). Dingle is known for it's charm, sandy beaches, and perhaps best for Fungie, the friendly dolphin who swims the harbor and befriends fisherman/boaters. Fungie has been swimming in the harbor for over 40 years and seems to love human interaction.

Well, once we got to Dingle...boy did we get our wish. It was SO quiet, it was nearly dead/fully asleep. There were only handful of shops/restaurants open, and almost no cars!

That is a statue dedicated to Fungie, right near a building advertising boat tours to try and spy Fungie.

Seconds after we took the above photo, it started to rain (we knew it was coming and had tried to beat it)...and then it briefly hailed for a few minutes! It was great for Ryan to see/experience it! I only recall having experienced snow perhaps a half dozen times, and hail once prior when we lived in CA and Ryan was a newborn. For a Hawaiian resident, this is pretty awesome. 

To escape the hail, we ducked into a small store and ended up having a field day in there...Rich got a sheep for his office, we bought bars of handmade, Irish-soap for a dozen friends...and family-made, Irish chocolate bars and fudge for others.  

Our next destination was the Gallarus Oratory, the country's only intact specimen of its kind. It was discovered in the 1700s, and is believed to have been some type of small church. It has remained intact, despite being dry-stacked cut sandstone with no visible mortar. It is about 16 x 10, and the interior is surprisingly decently lit with the one window in it.

We got there and were thrilled to be the ONLY people there!

We drove back through Dingle, and back through Killarney to spend the night there. We stayed at a guest house that was simple, but could not have been more ideally located, as it was steps from the shopping district. 

As shocking as this is, Ryan did not want to go walking/shopping with us that night, and preferred to stay in and eat pizza/watch videos...so Rich and I headed out to check our Christmas in Killarney! (Which I had never heard of until he told me about it that day.)

The shopping district could not have been more charming- streets packed with well-lit shops and restaurants. And unlike sleepy Dingle- bustling and alive. Rich and walked around for about an hour and then headed back to check on Ryan and to get a good night's sleep, as we had a long, last day the next AM.