Goodbye Dublin, Hello Killarney

We left Dublin this morning, which meant leaving Beech Lodge B&B. Beech Lodge has one of our most favorite innkeepers EVER. His name is Gerry, and he just made us feel right at home...which was so nice being very far away from our own home. Such a nice man, who was full of smiles, who made us smile...and we were actually a little sad to leave. 

After breakfast at Beech Lodge, we drove out of the city until we reached Killarney about three and a half hours later.

With a little luck because the GPS gets a little wonky out here (we are in Ireland's second largest national park), we found our next B&B called Friar's Glen. 

It's run by Mary and John. Mary greeted us and we were so happy to find out that our room was already waiting for us. She told us where to go to lunch and what to do and see for the afternoon. I love when this happens, because it's less decision-making AND they usually point us to all the best places. 

So right away, we headed to Muckross House which looks a lot like a Downton Abbey kind of place. It's a large estate situated on a lake within the park with some mountain views. 

Muckross House, front view

Side view

This is the view from Muckross House

They have a restaurant in the gardens there. It was a lot more crowded than we imagined. Tour buses. All kinds of tourists...but the place is lovely. Tomorrow we will go back and take a tour of the inside, but today we took about an hour after lunch to walk/hike to Torc Falls. The path begins at Muckross House and you walk past the lake to get there. They have jaunting cars you can take (like a horse and buggy type thing), but after the long drive we were ready to stretch our legs. 

In front of the lake as the trail to Torc Falls began.

On the trail

The boat house

Torc Falls

Mossy woods

Selfie by the lake!!!

The horse photo bombed my lake pic...

Once we got back from Muckross House, we went to dinner at a place called Jarvey's Rest where we got to listen to traditional live Irish music with a couple of dancers now and then. It was relaxing and fun! I could've stayed all night, but they only played for about an hour. 

Dinner time!

Check out those allergen symbols. Thanks, Ireland! They are really good about that everywhere.

Good night!

More of Dublin!

Getting adjusted to the time difference is coming along. 

In the last 2 days, we've walked more than I've walked in probably the last year! 

This morning, we had breakfast at our B&B (I'll post more about the place after we leave--we're in good hands here, for sure!). Breakfast was SO good, and Gerry the innkeeper makes the best coffee I think I've ever had. 

After breakfast, we took a city bus into the city center again. By this time,we felt like pros with the bus system and where to go. The buses come one right after the other, they have a really efficient system in Dublin. They are double-decker, which is fun. This morning, we rode on the top. 😄

Once we got into the city, we wandered around a bit and got a closer look of the river Liffy. It's a tidal river that separates the north part of Dublin from the south part. When it's low, the walls can look pretty grimy, but I think we got a nice pic of it here.

At 11:00, in the "spitting" rain, we met up with a walking tour guide at the gates of Trinity College. This particular tour is guided by graduates of Trinity College who have their Masters or PhD in Irish history, which I knew---but I guess I forgot to tell Mike that. So, like a trooper, he allowed himself to be tortured for 2 hours listening to the incessant lectures of our lovely, and very knowledgeable tour guide who also teaches at Trinity College. The tour included some of the college then we ventured over to the Bank of Ireland, Christchurch, Dublin Castle, City Hall, and a couple other spots. I loved it, I could listen to lectures for hours! Especially when the speaker is so passionate about it. 😄

Here are some pics from our walking tour:

The entrance to Trinity College

In the courtyard of the college

One of the rooms inside the city hall

Dublin Castle

Part of Christchurch 

St. Patrick's Catherdral

Once our tour guide left us, we got back on the hop on/hop off tour bus. I am SO thankful for that bus, because that seems to be my ideal place to fall asleep. Did I mention our tour guide walked extremely briskly? I needed a nap! 

We don't drink beer, but here is a shot of one of many Guinness buildings from atop the tour bus. 

And the Guinness tour entrance

My napping spot

I don't drink beer, but I wanted to see this place where they make whiskey. The distillery tour, however, was 15 euros, and I thought well I don't like whiskey THAT much! 

But the atmosphere was really neat...

So we went inside to check things out (Look...how cute! We unknowingly caught a couple taking a selfie--bottom left)...

And I tried a Jameson Irish coffee. I don't know how they make that cream on top or what they do, but it was really yummy! 

We walked back to the river in search of what claims to be the oldest pub in Ireland...and we found it!

It was on Mike's list, and after suffering through the historical walking tour without a single complaint (I was so enthralled with it that I didn't know he disliked it until it was over!) he deserved it! Look how tiny it is! 

Finally, we got back on a city bus and came back to our B&B. This is a view of a church nearby if we stick our head out the window and crane our necks to the right. Directly behind our backyard is a girl's school. They are still in school right now, as each morning we have heard them playing at recess. 😂

Tomorrow, we are off to Killarney! Thank you for catching up with us! 

Dublin

Ok, I had written a few paragraphs and then accidentally deleted them! I'll do better next time! Darn jet lag! :-) In the meantime, here are a few pics! 

We're in Dublin, first morning....waiting for the golf course to open!!! Open, open! 

I was going to sleep in, but then I realized Mike may need help with navigating. If only you could see us in the car. Roundabout approaching....1, 2, GO!!! 

Portmarnock Golf Course

Mike and his caddy for the morning, Sam. He played with a guy from Alabama and his caddy's name was Bert. Everyone was really nice.

More pics of the golf course! I walked along :-) 

I put this picture in (below) because it's the hill of danger! The caddies told me I could go to the tee box  with Mike and the other player or go along with them up ahead. I went with them up to the top of that hill in the middle there. Well, in my jet-lagged daze I didn't realize the guys would be hitting the ball right over our heads! So now I've dubbed it the hill of danger. Quite thrilling, but I don't think I'll be doing that again. Glad they didn't hit grounders!

My hobbit pants. I realized I didn't bring any full-length pants! Hope it doesn't get too cold!

After golf, we went back and took a little cat nap. Then we forced ourselves to wake up and go to the city centre of Dublin. Our innkeeper at the B&B taught us how to get there via city bus. It involved walking to the gas station to put money on a card and then finding the right number bus, and making a big guess as to when to get off the bus...but we made it! 

Once in the city centre (which was super crowded, with pedestrians, traffic, and construction), we got on the hop on/hop off tour bus. We were so tired we didn't take any pictures...and I let myself fall asleep now and then! Just wanted to familiarize ourselves with the city before we went back the next day to really explore. Finally, we hopped off and found a place to eat. It was really good!

45 Minutes From Home!

I love living 45 minutes from this:

It's Sunday, we've hiked, we've eaten from THE best deli in the world...

Believe it or not, yup, that is the best sandwich place EVER. Try it out! It's on Prescott near (or in) Pacific Grove. Bennett will ask you what you're doing for the day and every time your answer is "Going to Point Lobos", he will unfailingly warn you about the poison oak. Don't miss the 3 or 4 layer cakes, which wahhhh! I can't eat. The German chocolate looked GOOD today. :-) 

So off to beautiful, sea lion, otter and seal-worthy (whales, if you're lucky) Point Lobos state park...where, even though it's populated, most trails are desolate enough to force an abundance of selfies. :-)

I just discovered I can blog from my phone. WATCH OUT! LOL :-) Happy Sunday!