Kenmare to Killarney - Another Walk Done!

Monday, 8/22/11, Kenmare to Killarney.  We arose bright and early for our hike through Killarney National Park.  Dennis the taxi driver didn’t take us as far as we wanted but it was a lovely day for walking and there was a minimum of sucking muck and rocks.  The park is beautiful. 

Along the way, we passed a sheep standing up on a rock, bleating his fool head off.  I think he was lost and calling his herd.  “Where are you?”  It still haunts me.

We arrived at the pick-up spot where Dux the cab driver after a bit picked us up to transport us to the Mystic Rose Guest House.  That was a different kind of place, I tell you, as was Kaynes, where we had dinner. 

Back home to get ready for traveling to Iceland on the morrow.  Another walk done!  

Sneem to Kenmare - If you leave me by myself for long, I WILL spend money.

On Sunday, the taxi driver and I dropped Kathie and Kathleen off at Blackwater Bridge, along with Mary and Bree who had also played hooky from the trail the day before.  I got dropped off with the bags at Neidin House in Kenmare.

I walked to town to check out the place, bought some dental floss, an Irish language book, and an unframed JoAnne Yelen gicleé.  (The limited edition at the link is similar to mine but not nearly as beautiful!)  JoAnne was a hoot – she called her sister-in-law Pam about my foot.  She said her brother is also an artist but he prefers kayaking.  Obviously a very talented family.

I dropped my stuff off back at the B&B and then headed for lunch at Bread Crumb Café.  The food was so-so but I had a fun conversation with a 12 year old boy from Salamanca.  He spoke English quite well (he said he had learned at his “academy”) and wants to visit San Francisco and New York.  Cuteness.

I went back to the room to wait for Kathie and Kathleen but they didn’t get back until after 5 p.m. because they apparently got lost trying to find the place.  Kathie said that along the way she had met a John McGrath twin and would’ve had dinner with him if he’d asked.  No wonder they got lost.

Instead, we had dinner at Foley’s Bar, where Kathie and Kathleen had beef and Guinness pie and I had a roast veggie goat cheese tart with a gin and tonic.  Yum!  After dinner, we walked out to see the stone circle and then back home to prepare for our last day.  I would be hiking.  YAY!

Caherdaniel to Sneem - How Not to Lose Weight on a "Walk"

Saturday, 8/20/2011, was supposed to be a hike from Derrynane to Sneem.  Kathie was up in the night with an infected blister on her big toe.  When she said she couldn’t walk the trail that morning, you could have knocked me over with a feather.  Rather than Kathleen walk by herself, we all three caught a ride with Patrick to Sneem.  We stopped along the way to see Staigue Fort, a defensive ringfort thought to have been built by some local lord or king back in the 4th century AD.  Below, Kathleen and I inside Staigue Fort.

In Sneem, we walked from our B&B, the Coomasig View, downtown, past a family of white sheep with one black sheep.  I guess there’s one in every family.

In a lovely little yarn store, I bought some wool yarn.  We visited a graveyard, where an English Lady Albina Broderick was buried.  She had moved to Ireland and started a hospital and school, and she wore raggedy clothes.  That’s all I know about her.  Here’s a plaque that tells her story.

Charleston isn’t the only town with a Rainbow Row, I guess.

Kathleen did a four hour hike by herself while Kathie and I had carrot and parsnip soup with salad at the Village Kitchen, followed by ice cream – Bailey’s Cream for Kathie and rum with raisin for me.  You just can’t find that kind of stuff around Charleston.

At the “chemist”, we bought some foot pad stuff and then walked home.  Along the way, we passed this house that we thought was pretty nifty.

Kathie soaked her feet while I wrote notes and napped.  Then we went out for dinner at Sacré Coeur Restaurant.  We would NOT be losing weight on this trip, no sirree, Bob.

Waterville to Caherdaniel - Not Walking but Not Idle, Either...

So on Friday, 8/19/11, I caught a ride with our hostess’s husband to our next night’s lodging.  Along the way, my very pleasant driver and I chatted quite a bit.  He asked what we think of Obama in the U.S.  It’s always interesting to hear an outsider’s point of view on the US.

At the family-friendly Derrynane Hotel in Caherdaniel, I settled in and then tried to walk over to the village but went the wrong way.  I turned around to go the right way, but it was raining and the wind was blowing so hard that I gave up and went in to do laundry instead.  Get this – there’s no fee to use the laundry and the hotel even provides detergent!  The downside was the washer takes an hour and a half to do a load.  Still, you wouldn’t find that in the States.

I had some French onion soup for lunch in the window-walled lunch room/bar.  I even had a scone so I could linger a bit and enjoy my view of the ocean and outdoor pool.  When I couldn’t justify dillydallying any further, I checked out the sauna and steam room for use later, then went outside to try walking to the village again.  I hadn’t left the drive before meeting Kathleen and Kathie arriving from their day’s walk.  They looked like drowned rats.

While they settled, I finished up laundry.  Outside, the day turned sunny and beautiful.  We went outside to take some pics of the rocks and surf.  Joan, see that heart-shaped rock formation in the pic below?  I took that photo just for you!

Our dinner in the hotel’s dining room consisted of some very nice salmon and profiteroles.  Yum!  Of course, that all had to be followed by some basking in the sauna – or was that before dinner?  Or did we do it at all?  That’s the trouble with waiting two years to write up a vacation.

Thursday, 8/18/11, Cahersiveen to Waterville – Kinda Whiny on the Ring of Kerry.

Along with her new hubby, my Kelly will be taking off soon for a honeymoon in Scotland and Ireland.  Sweet!  Love both of those places, although that last walk in Ireland was a toughie.  I was inspired by Joan’s recent visit to Iceland to finish up the tale of our visit there; let’s see if I can finish up the account of our Ireland walk in August 2011.

The first day was a very long day but my energy didn’t flag.  It did, however, on the following day – perhaps because I was plum tuckered out from Wednesday.  So for me, Thursday was nine and half hours of muck and rock, gazillions of stiles to climb over, terrible directions, and cursing and blaspheming.  It occurred to me several times that I should not have come along on this walk with Kathie and Kathleen.

(For whatever reason, I posted the photos I took on Thursday with Wednesday’s account.  Guess that shows how closely Kathie reads my blogposts.  Sigh.  Here are some of Kathie’s pics from Thursday.)

BTW, cows are intimidated by the hands-on-your-hip stance.  Trust me, I have experience with this.

We arrived in Waterville after 7 p.m., had a bite at the Lobster Bar, and called our B&B for a pick-up.  Who picked us up but Anne, our Glenbeigh B&B’s hostess and sister of this evening’s hostess at the Golf Links View B&B?  Small world.

That evening, I noticed a blister growing under the edge of the nail on my left foot’s second toe.  What???  ARRRRGGGHHHH.  What a pain…literally.  If that baby popped while we were slogging through all that boggy muck, I would get a nasty infection.  Kathie took one look at it and suggested I take a cab the next day.  Damn.  She was right though.  

So, Kath, feel free to jump in any time here with your account of what happened over the next two days of walking with Kathleen.  I was MIA.

Wanted: A Few More Good Men and Women to Chance an Arm

While going through my Dublin photos this morning to make our much procrastinated movie - not as procrastinated as Patty's posts - of our Ireland/Iceland trip, I came across a story apropos to this week's announcement of three women who share the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize.

Inside St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin hangs a door with a hole,


and this is the story.


In 1492, two great Irish families, the Butlers of Ormond and the Fitzgeralds of Kildare, were engaged in a bitter and bloody feud. Seeking sanctuary, Black James, nephew of the Earl of Ormond, and his men fled into the Chapter House. The Fitzgeralds followed in hot pursuit.

Their leader Gerald Fitzgerald, Earl of Kildare, realized that the fighting was out of control. Through the closed door he pleaded with Black James to accept a truce. Suspecting treachery, Black James refused to let Fitzgerald inside. Fitzgerald hacked a hole in the door and thrust his arm through as a pledge of his good faith.

This daring gesture was enough. The door opened and the two warring factions received one another in peace. Some believe that this event is the origin of the expression "to chance your arm", meaning to take the initiative. The door has become known as the "Door of Reconciliation".