"I walk across an empty land"

It's a surreal experience-- a word I don't like using, because it doesn't mean what I think it means-- to wander through streets, wilderness, a beautiful country I adore, and to see almost no one. Streets I walked through last year and were bustling are now filled with empty shops and hand-scrawled "closed" signs. Restaurants and bars I might have gone to last week are now closed because of Level 3 restrictions here in Ireland (TL:DR-- you can't eat in restaurants w/o outside seating).

All that being said, I love being in a gorgeous country. And every person I've met has been wonderful and engaging. Even the cabbie who drove me to the car rental place was lovely talking to me about how "it's fucked that they're going to go to level 5" and "how do American elections work"? He finished this off by having his entire ass fall out of his pants as he got up to help me find the guy who was working at Hertz today (he knew him, he said).

I did take today off and do a solo drive round the ring of Kerry. A place I'd driven before, but missed some things, so wanted to do a second tour. I got another $20 car rental, and wouldn't you know it? It's another tiny Kia Picanto!!!!

Anyhow, I didn't have a lot of plans today-- if you're ever in a foreign country, I really recommend using the "attractions" search in Google Maps. I left from Killarney and decided I wanted to eat lunch in Kenmare, a town I'd been to before and kicks off the rings of Beara and Kerry.

I mean, I think there's one or two people in this picture.

Weird arcane point only of interest to me probably-- I didn't choose the ring of Beara, even though I have never been there, because half of it's in County Cork. These stupid Level 3 provisions prevent people from traveling between counties, so please don't message me with awesome travel tips for places I can go until at least October 27.

Google Maps pointed me to 3 things after lunch:

1) Old Stone Fort

2) Charlie Chaplin Statue

3) Kerry Cliffs

Do these things really mean anything to me? Absolutely not! But I like letting my iPhone take the planning wheel from time to time.

One great thing about driving the Wild Atlantic Way is you get to stop whenever you want and look at gorgeous scenery. For me, I'm a bit of a pop culture cliche and exploring Van Halen's catalog post EVH's death, so at the end of each album I'd stop at a pull off and take a picture.

Anyhow, let's fast forward to seeing an old stone fort/hut. I've been burned by "ancient stone things" before an Ireland... like when I drove an hour out of the way to see a prehistoric stone monolith. This, however, was actually not as bad!

Look, doesn't look like much, and it wasn't really, but how gorgeous was the view? Totally worth having to reverse my car twice when other cars came up a narrow road, then patiently wait for a sheep to eventually walk out of the road to go see.

Next, this stupid statue. I don't really know anything about Charlie Chaplin, or care about him. But it was in Waterville, on the beach, so I could take a chance.

Doesn't make me laugh...

Again, the scenery better than the reality.

Google instructed me that the chocolate shop I'd been to before is now closed for the season-- damn you frail tourist economy!-- so I just skipped that and went straight to the Kerry Cliffs.

Some things you should know about the Kerry Cliffs:

1) People will tell you "ohhh they're the best, even better than the Cliffs of Moher, it's just that coaches can't drive the narrow roads to get there, so no one goes there"

2) They're not actually better than the Cliffs of Moher, there's not as many trails to walk around, and frankly, I don't think they're as picturesque (aka they haven't been featured in movies/tv shows)

3) They were right about the no one goes here. I walked them for about an hour and saw one person total, a German tourist who was as surprised to see me as I was him.

Here's a sample of what it was like

I mean, not bad for sure! Better than a day at the office. And you can see the Skelligs in the distance, which for me is always a tempting/agonizing thing to see (since you can't visit right now).

Now, all along, I had been planning to eat an early dinner in Portmagee. This place is tiny, I'd driven through it before on the way to Valentia Island (if you're ever just driving through Ireland looking for picturesque shit, drive there). But, if you're ever in restaurants in Ireland, they'll frequently reference this town... "Portmagee crab claws, lobster, etc.". Figured a great place to pick up seafood!

I thought that like a lot of the small towns I'd been in, they'd have some picnic tables set out to comply with the COVID ordinances and be able to accommodate me. I... was wrong. Not about the picnic tables! They were there. But the 4 restaurants/bars in existence there were all closed. Disappointment reigned. Even these two below pictures couldn't make up for my hunger:

I want to hear the speeches at this ceremony.

Won this challenge, I would have.

I decided to just get back-- driving on these windy roads is murder after dark, so I hustled to get back to Tralee and have some dinner. After all, this place is supposed to be the major city (maybe they call it a seat?) of the county, so should have some place open, right?

Well... yeah. Settled for fish and chips to get out of the rain. Nothing to write home about, so I won't write more about it here.

Meandered the car back to Killarney after dinner-- I've got to return it soon, but on the plus side, hopefully more travel adventures tomorrow!

Random Things:

I don't know why stuff like this amuses me.

-If I've said it once, I've said it a dozen times-- Irish ladies love leopard print things.

This place was appointed for me (did not eat here)

Moment of Zen