Welcome to the sessions. This is a space where I will periodically journal and post updates on stuff that happens.
Saturday, October 14, 2006
~Day 10: The Ring of Kerry, Part 2~
We woke up and hoped to catch the boat tour out to the Skellig Michael, which was a basically a giant rock jutting out of the ocean. There, a monastery was built by Irish monks in the 7th century, about 12km off the coast. It was a pretty hazardous journey to sail out there back them, which I guess we understood, since all the boat tours thought it was too choppy to risk a trip out there. Chalk up another reason for me to fly back to Ireland in the future.
Another day of driving through the southwest Ireland country side. Beautiful scenery, the ocean, and some damn fun driving.
LEFT: The town of Portmagee in the morning. This is pretty much it...the entire town! RIGHT: A nice Irish breakfast to start the day. This "Irish bacon" is interesting; it's half crispy, half pemeal bacon, all in one piece.
LEFT: More views of the Kerry Peninsula. RIGHT: Sheep.
The ocean...until I got here, it hadn't occured to me that I haven't seen the ocean in...forever, at least 13 years. The smell of the salt, the foamy waves crashing, the sound of the water receding through the rocks to escape back to the sea...I wish Toronto were closer to all that, I'd go and enjoy it every week.
RIGHT: The Staigue Fort, a 2500 year old stone fort that would have housed a chieftain, his family and servants. There was little or no mortar involved, just...stacks of stones, and it's stood for so long.
By our third day driving in Ireland, we really got the hang of the Yaris on the tight, windy roads, and started to just bomb through them. The commercials are true; the Yaris IS surprisingly fun to drive. It was like driving a go-kart through the best track in the world.
RIGHT: The city of Cork at night. It really is a great little city. It's so small you can walk end-to-end in about an hour, but for what it does have, it's right up there.
