Mom and I left Nenagh(pronounced like Nina!) this morning and stopped in Adare which was a neat little town in Ireland. Each of the shop fronts had beautiful flowers that the town maintains. Yes. I just commented on the flowers of a town in Ireland on my blog.
Then we drove through Tralee, which was a stop on the Europalooza 2009 tour for me, AND we stopped by Castle Hostel which is where I stayed back then. Thankfully the owner Stephen was there! I reintroduced myself and we had the loveliest conversation with him. Coupled with the great lunch we had it was a great stop in Tralee. I'm pretty sure I accidentally went in the same sporting goods store I went in back in 2009. I thought that was interesting. It was truly a treat to see him again. I remember talking with him and his wife back in 2009. Both wonderful people. Here's the post from back in 2009: http://roseoverexposed.blogspot.com/2009/07/ss-and-ts.html?m=0
At the encouragement of Stephen, we drove the Connor Pass to Dingle instead of the regular highway and wow was it intense and beautiful. There were several single lane highways and we had one very close(yet slow) encounter with a red van on a narrow stretch of road. We stopped a couple of times and took photos of the beautiful areas leading into Dingle...and of course of the sheep.
Interestingly Stephen mentioned to Mom, "Oh I'm sorry you're not getting to see the true Emerald Isle." He stated it has been about five weeks since a good rain....or maybe any rain at all, and I honestly could tell. Don't get me wrong: i LOVE Ireland and the scenery here. It's just not quite as green as I remember. Of course that's ok. It was just interesting for Stephen to put words around why it wasn't as green as I remember.
We arrived in Dingle at the Boland's B&B and met yet another Steven. This time in the form of a 22 year old son of a Bed and Breakfast owner. He was truly delightful and just wanted to talk and talk which was fine by me. He had done an exchange program to Queens, NY in college. I guess he was going for a truly opposite experience than growing up in Dingle, Ireland.
We hit a nice little dinner spot and ended up at O'Sullivans Courthouse Pub for some live Irish music. This spot was off the beaten path and it didn't seem to have too many tourists which I'm a fan of.
It's been another great day in Ireland. The plan is the head west to drive the Slea Head Drive then head north to see where we end up. The plan is to do at least one night in Doolin probably on Saturday night then Shannon Sunday night.
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