Wrapping up the delightful Mary and Tine saga

We drove to County Kerry and Killarney, which is something of a gateway into the stunning Ring of Kerry and the Killarney National Park. We spent a little while walking through Killarney and listening to the thicker southern accents before driving out to Kylie House, our B&B. We chose the B&B somewhat at random from the guidebook, and we found perched high on a hill overlooking MacGillycuddy's Reeks (a mountain chain) and the Gap of Dungloe. Stunning! A perfect view, and we were in a farming area, so there were sheep and horses around. At the suggestion of our hosts (who gave us pie!) we drove down to the Gap to drive through and get some dinner. We only drove in a little way, as it was narrower than the other roads we had tried and it was getting on to evening, so we went back to the mouth of the Gap and went to a pub for dinner (fried Brie... not usual pub fare, but oh so delicious!). We found some horses on the drive back who were excellent at posing in front of the sunset (I think all animals in Ireland are trained to be photographed well), as well as some more gorse, so it was a good night.

Next day we drove into the National Park to walk around. There's a lovely manor house there overlooking the lake (I could live there, no problem) and woodland trails galore. We followed one to Torc Waterfall, an excellent sight, managed to avoid being hit by the horse-drawn carriages that were everywhere, and saw some adorable setter puppies!! Because this is Ireland and we like to continue on themes, we also walked over to an old monastery/graveyard in the park, which was very cool and had lots of dark little passageways and rooms to explore.

That generally brought our grand tour to an end, so we drove back up to Galway, stopping for a bit at Bunratty Castle for some photos and at Gort for some Supermacs (to carry on the M&T fast food tradition). We got back to Corrib Village and took a little walk down the river to see Menlo Castle and then M&T took me food shopping (so nice to have the car and not have to walk the whole way!). The next day we met up for mass and to get some brunch, and then they left me. I was sad to see them go! It was really nice to have family here, as it was when Hannah was here, and it was nice again when I went to the Netherlands. But that's another blog post...