It's freezing outside. 9 degrees but the rain and fog shows promising signs of lifting.
Out of Killarney town we go. We drive 5 minutes to the top of a hill. The view, spectacular. 360 degrees of absolute beauty (if you don't mind an old cemetery). A rainbow appeared to top off the perfect early morning Irish landscape.
A bit of driving now. We go around the Dingle Peninsula, which overlooks Dingle Bay and far near the horizon, The Ring of Kerry. The road is very narrow with tight, twisty bends built into the mountainside. Coaches can only go one way on this road as it's impossible to pass one another. Even two cars cannot pass in extensive areas of the road. The scenery...I've ran out of clichés.
Here's a brain teaser for those reading. If you're driving around the Dingle Peninsula, looking at Dingle Bay, what's the name of the town we stopped at?
If you said Dingle, well done. Fish and chips for an early lunch. I ordered Smoked Haddock, freaking fantastic. Worth the €11. The weather cleared up yet the wind is howling through, it's only 13 degrees!
A very long drive now. The outside view was fantastic as always whilst I listened to some tunes. Next stop was a town called Adare. A small town, with many pubs and an old castle. Stereotypical Ireland. In for a pint of Guinness with the locals. Just the one this time around.
We checked into our hotel at Ennis. After a quick check of Facebook we were off for an Irish Banquet at a 15th century castle! I've been fighting a sore throat all day and now it's getting very bad. My fail safe of Strepsils aren't really helping either. But good money has been paid for this excursion so I'm not going to miss it.
Into a medieval castle, Knappogue Castle. Addressed as "My Lord", we were served mead whilst violins and harps were giving off delightful tunes. Into the feasting hall. Firstly a smoked salmon dish, followed by a nice tomato soup (I normally won't go near the stuff, don't get excited Mum!). Of course spoons weren't around in the 15th century so we drank the soup directly from the bowl. The stage show of songs, dance and the lovely harps and violins were first class. As were the mains of chicken in white wine sauce and a sorbet desert (we'll ignore the lack of sorbet in the 15th century). The night finished off with a brilliant tap dancing performance with a lot of jokes and laughs shared. It's hard to describe what really transpired in text. By now I'm reeeally feeling under the weather.
Back to the hotel and to bed. Dublin tomorrow. Very, very excited!
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