July 8, 2016 – Dingle!
Day #5 dawned and we headed out for a run in the park. It was beautiful but so. many. bugs. I swear I was swallowing them the whole time we ran- but at least we got in 6 miles and I got to run in one of the prettiest places ever. So bugs aside, it was still awesome. Then we had delicious breakfast! They offered pancakes at Mystical Rose so I took the option while Jon stuck with the old standard Irish breakfast. Those pancakes were amazing. They came with fresh fruit and nutella. AND BACON. So good. I was in heaven.
Then it was time to hit the road to Dingle! It is a cute seaside town with adorable shops and amazing views. Now because we had been experiencing really nice weather so far I knew at some point it was going to turn and we would experience real Irish weather. Day 5 was that day. We only had a little over an hour drive and when we started it was overcast but good visibility… Of course as the day went on we ended up in the clouds. So while pretty I ended up with lots of photos of fog!
We had our trusty Rick Steves guidebook that gave us a little tour of the Dingle loop with lots of landmarks to view along the way. We drove on Slea Head Way and it was a really pretty drive that I wish had not been so cloudy! We stopped at forts, beaches, cliff views and finally an oratory. Of course along the loop as a craft brewery- West Kerry Brewery- that we had to taste along the route. 😀 We were supposed to be able to see the blasket islands but the clouds took over and we didn’t get too much of a view. We finished up the drive and headed back into downtown Dingle.
We had a walking tour as well (thanks Rick) that took us all over downtown and then we windowshopped and picked up xmas presents for family. There were so many cute stores along the way. We found a candle/soap maker, a shop with stained glass and lots of wool goods. There are a lot of sheep in Ireland so of course there’s woolen items everywhere! (We took advantage later in our trip).
Dingle also has a craft brewery in downtown proper so we walked over there to taste their signature (and only) beer. We hung out here for a bit as it was pouring outside by this point. Thanks Ireland.
Our last stop was to eat dinner at the Chart House. We had to be there right when the opened in order to get in as reservations are filled many months prior. But we got lucky and were able to eat more delicious seafood. For a place that’s touted as having only meat and potatoes- Ireland has some really tasty food. We loved everything we ate.
And then it was time to drive back to our B&B in Killarney. We were calling it an early evening- we had to repack our bags and there was a run on the schedule for the next morning. Plus it was pouring so we were ok with taking it easy. Thanks for blast southwest Ireland! We headed North the next day.
chasing every adventure 