Waiting for a Collision; They're Driving on the Left!

Hello! Since my last post, I have visited Killarney, Ireland and returned to Dublin. I fell in love with Killarney; the town was quaint and everyone was really nice, though it was the national park that stole my heart. Kailee and I spend the afternoon after we arrived looking around the main streets of town and checking out a few nearby sites. When we went to a hotel to check-in to the B&B next door where we reserved a room as a one-night treat, the manager of the hotel told us that there was a once-a-year deal going on where we could stay in the hotel for the same price as the B&B. We took it. It was so nice! The hotel was a four-star and practically in the middle between the train station and the centre of town. We were so spoiled! That night we went out to dinner at a pub and each ate a bowl of Irish stew for dinner with a glass of Guinness. The perfect Irish experience!

In Killarney National Park

Yesterday we weren't able to find any tours going (it's off tourist season so we were the only two interested) to the Ring of Kerry or the Gap of Dunloe, so we rented bikes and took our own route. Thanks to directions from the man who we rented the bikes from, we visited what he called the "best kept secret in Killarney" called Aghadoe, which is pretty much at the top of a mountain. That bike ride almost killed me. But with the view at the top, you would have thought you'd died and gone to heaven. It was breath-taking. And going back down the hill at what must have been 25-30mph at times, simply added to the thrill of the day.

Ross Castle

After Aghadoe, we biked through the national park to Ross Castle. It's situated on one of the lakes looking out to the mountains. Ross Castle is fairly small, as far as castles go, but it seemed to hold a certain power over the surrounding woods and water. Sadly, due to it being off season, the building was closed. The courtyard was open though and that was cool to walk around it a bit. As we finished touring the castle, it began to rain (that's Ireland for ya) so we headed back into town and returned our bikes before going to an early dinner and caught our train back to Dublin.

Today we had a pretty late start due to both sleeping in and me feeling incredibly lazy and sore from the mountain biking. We left and had a late lunch at a restaurant where a horse race was showing on the television. It was so much fun to listen to the Irish people there making little bets with each other and cheering for their favorites. There was one women who continued the entirety of one race to yell "Come on Avery!" and Kailee and I had a hard time containing ourselves by the end of it. After lunch, we visited St. Patrick's Cathedral. The cathedral is quite beautiful. There are some really old tombs inside along the walls behind the alter that were interesting to look at and read (when possible). We walked through Temple Bar on the way back to our hostel. I was surprised at how popular and lit up that area was. Maybe we'll find a cool pub there to eat at tonight.
More later!