"Mr. Blue Sky, please tell us why, you had to hide away for so long"

Where did I go wrong? Probably expecting a day full of beautiful blue skies when I really wanted them. At least, for the majority of time I was outside, it was pretty nice outside... though driving through some overcast rainy times was...not ideal.

Today was a day for the Ring of Kerry. Which until today, I just thought was a place to see boring prehistoric forts. Turns out, it's a place where you can see boring prehistoric forts *AND* see some amazing scenery.

But before that, about last night... Killarney really is a great little town.

"It's a dirty old town... it's a dirty old town". If you don't get that reference to a great Irish tune... look it up!

I think I left off just before dinner, and you should know, it's a big deal when I eat potatoes, and it's probably to try a dish for one time that I'll never be able to get in America. If you are in Killarney, absolutely try it at the Laurels.

Potato cakes ftw!

After dinner, it was time to search out more music. And, in what should probably be less shocking than it was, we found THE EXACT SAME BAND FROM DINGLE THE NIGHT BEFORE playing at a pub here.

Seriously, wtf?

Seriously, if this wasn't a beacon, what was? Interestingly, despite playing at a bar that wasn't called "Murphy's", they still wore shirts with "Murphy's" emblazoned on the pocket. Here's a clip from my fav song of theirs:

Yes, yes... Dingle's just a couple of hours from Killarney, and both are tourist destinations in a holiday weekend. Moreover, "Black Velvet Band" is a popular Irish tune attributable to many artists including Luke Kelly, the Irish Rovers, and others. Whatever, it's cool!

You know what's not cool? Thinking because you've seen "THE EXACT SAME SET LIST" yesterday, that you know the lyrics to the songs. You don't Sam. Don't even try.

Oops. Sorry Grace.

Anyhow, after a few of the same songs, you eventually you realize you should leave and seek out some other entertainment. Fortunately, Killarney is full of it!

Whether you want to creepily spy on old Irish couples doing some intricate dance through a window:

Or what I'm sure was at least mild cultural appropriation at an in the street portion of a bachelorette party.

And there's cool street art as well!

Eventually, you retreat to your hobbit hole and rest up though. Because unbeknownst to you, you have a LONG day of driving tomorrow.

The Next Day

Who can be unhappy, even when clouds threaten your day, when your window looks out on this?

"Come to my window...." none of the other lyrics from that song really work here.

I've heard that breakfast is the foundation of a good day. I generally don't eat breakfast. But when I do, I wish it was the full Irish kind.

First full Irish breakfast in Ireland!

And naturally, with thoughts of "Second Breakfast" on your mind, you have to go visit the hobbit-themed restaurant next door, even just for the photo op.

If I were using chapter titles from "The Hobbit" for today, "A Short Rest", "Over Hill and Under Hill", "The Gathering of the Clouds", and "A Warm Welcome" would all be included. But we all know that both movie and book-wise it's an inferior product to LOTR, so not going to cheapen this blog with that. Also, from the above, wtf is "Hobbit Juice"?!?!

Today's goal: Drive through Killarney National Park, see the sites, then drive the Ring of Kerry. Should be doable, right?

Lot of driving to go in a circle on mostly narrow roads...

First stop, Ross Castle for a quick photo op.

Apparently around the park, there are both of lots of tourists and lots of people on bikes. My appreciation of both is equal.

Did I go in to this castle? No, because, why pay a small amount of money when you can just take pictures from outside, eh? I could give you a bit of history here, "15th century castle, blah blah blah", but I don't think anyone really cares, and I don't care.

Next, we were going on to the grounds of the Muckross House. Now this place reminded me a bit of a smaller Kylemore Abbey, and what I learned from there is this: Visit the free gardens outside, don't pay to see the relatively unremarkable inside of the house. So I'll document that experience here.

"Our house is a very, very, very fine house"

To me, the first valuable part of the day was going to see a waterfall. Torc Waterfall it was called! And not the "Torc of Maladan" either! (Josh, if you're reading this, this reference is almost certainly just for you). I'd share lovely footage of it here, but it's being upgraded to "Moment of Zen" today. Instead, just a quick photo!

I go chasing waterfalls.

After the briefest of hikes up and down to here, it was on to Ladies View. Look, there's a lot of different attractions in the park, so you try and choose the best ones. Or the ones with the most suggestive names.

I wasn't "disappointed" when there weren't "ladies to view" here because:

1) I did read why it's called that before, FYI, it's because Queen Victoria's ladies in waiting were taken here and

2)...it's really beautiful here!

So here's a couple of shots... for the ladies!

For me, that would be pretty much it for the park. I would not miss the narrow roads, tons of tourists, and intermittent rain. But these views? Absolutely, would totally come back to see it again.

After this, there could have existed an Oregon trail-style choice in the path to take next: Go southeast to the West Cork seashore, or go southwest and do the whole Ring of Kerry.

But since I'm driving and the only one with GPS, I made the decision for the Ring of Kerry a long time ago. Plus, I think I have enough time to do both? I could tell you little things about all the little viewpoints along the Ring of Kerry, but for now, here's some pictures from along the way. Absolutely gorgeous.

I'll just give a couple of highlights rather than go through chronologically here:

1) Skellig Chocolate Shop- Absolutely stop here if you're going the whole way around the ring! First, it's about halfway around, and a good break. Second, it's a huge chocolate shop for the relative location... the parking lot alone is bigger than any other tourist attraction for miles. Last, chocolate!

You know you're in Ireland when instead of Chocolate Bunnies you get Chocolate Puffins...

2) As you might think from the above, I was probably as close as I was going to get on this trip to Skellig Michael, or as you might remember it, "the place where they shot the Force Awakens"

"Now that you're here... so far away..." Skelligs in the distance

What's crazy (or actually, you know what? logical) is the number of signs you find about it even at the local beach. Btw, their local beach has the remnants of a castle on it which is pretty cool.

Disclaimer: This blog does not endorse the particular tour company referenced above due to laziness and not researching.

3) Bray's Head on Valentia Island-I didn't even get the best shots of this, but if you're just driving through here, take the quick detour to go to the Island. It's the best shots of the Skelligs (if it's not misty), and all in all, it's just beautiful.

Sheep aren't intimidated by the steep drop from the cliff face... you might be as you look down.

When the driving was all done, I ended up in Kilorglin, a tiny town known best for a Goat Festival that sadly I'm about a week too early for. No joke, one of the prizes of the lottery at this festival was your choice between i) a Mediterranean Cruise and 2) a Limousin Heifer (i.e. a massive cow). What a country!

Random Things:

PREACH

I guess the joke was "Mick shows up here every day". Not sure I got it.

Thank god for this sign, because they'd be too small to see otherwise, right?

Moment of Zen:

BONUS: Moment of Dread