Google lies – how you can’t trust Google Maps to really tell you when you’ll get where you’re going

            When we first arrived we used Google Maps to gauge everything because in a new place you never know how long it’s going to take to get where you’re going. As a person who likes to be punctual (ok, even a bit early is always good for me), this was very important. Within the first week I learned a very important lesson… GOOGLE LIES. Now they don’t mean to lie, but no matter what the time says unless it is Highway (motorway) the whole way, there isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell we’re going to make it there in the time google says.

            As I mentioned in my previous post about the Ring of Beara, sometimes this time estimation can be grossly off by a number of hours. So why does this happen? Well, for one as new people over here we tend to drive a bit slower than the locals. So even though the speed limit is 80 kph (~53 mph), we’ll probably go closer to 65 kph (40 mph), and you will too. This is often due to the fact that narrow roads tend to make people drive either a bit slower or faster depending on whether you’re of the school of slow and cautious or Dear God, get me off of this road as soon as possible MUST! DRIVER! FASTER!!! I tend to be the latter and Matt is usually the former, so it always makes for interesting driving. Also under the school of “Dear God, get me off this road as soon as possible,” is the age old, “Holy hell there is a car coming I’ll just stop, close my eyes and wait for it to pass!” So I guess if you average my speed I probably go at about the same rate as Matt. Mine is just filled with terrifying speed and terrified halts.  As I’ve gotten more used to driving I don’t do this as much anymore, I just slow WAY down when another car is coming because if we’re going to collide or clip each other, I’d rather it be at a slow speed. I’m just practical that way. 

AAAACCCCKKKKK!!!! Tiny road! Tiny road!!!

            The other reason Google Maps gives unrealistic expectations of time is that it is based on speed limits. Roads that you and I would not in a million years drive at 50 mph are posted as such. These are roads with sharp turns, gravel, and car swallowing pot holes you must artfully dodge while maintaining speed. Not a chance! This has been recognized by the Irish themselves and I believe there is an initiative to change the speed limits on these type of roads. But by and large you will not go as fast as the posted speed limits here until you’ve lived in the country for more than 6 months.

Look at that lovely rainbow, oh and that tiny road. Wait.. I'm supposed to go 80kph on this?!?!

            As part of my Friends and Family visiting guide I’ve listed how far various attractions are from our house. Even though I used Google Maps for these estimations I clearly state at the front, please multiply the driving time by 1.5-2 depending on how off the beaten path the journey is.

2 hours? Not too bad. So that means it should only take an hour to get around the ring, right??? NO

One of the widest roads on the ring

Normal sized road. Notice no center line, that's because you just drive in the middle until you meet another car...

            The other option is your trusty GPS, aka the Sat Nav. If you’re like us, you’ve gone on a number of “Garmin adventures” in the US. It is no different here. While trying to find a local pub where the hunt was kicking off, we ended up at someone’s farm. It has given me the directions, “Go off road.” DO NOT DO THIS. GARMIN IS LYING! More on this in a bit. Google Maps will often lead you to the right place but it will take much longer, Garmin on the other hand may take you to your destination, or it may take you out into the middle of nowhere and say TADA! You’re here! 

So please take this into account when visiting. 

Contrary to the picture, the road actually did go on... SURPRISE!!

Your best bet is to find a town close to where you want to go and ask the GPS to take you there. Once in the town you will most likely find signs to point you in the direction of your desired attraction. If not, ask a local and they’re often happy to help. You may need to ask more than one on these trips. I’ve found that if I ask between 2 and 3 locals I usually find my way. Now this doesn’t mean ask 2-3 people in the same place, no you have to follow person number 1’s directions until you’re lost again and then the 2^nd or 3^rd person will steer you right. Part of this could also be because of me not fully understanding some of the accents. Each county and sometimes each town may have a slightly different accent. They’re all Irish accents, but west cork has one of the hardest to understand in my opinion so often there is a lot of smiling and nodding going on and not a lot of understanding.  It’s like if you were to travel far into Cajun country in the US. Are they speaking your language? I think so… Can you understand anything? Not a chance.  None the less they are all delightful and trying to be helpful. With Google Maps, you have a smaller chance of this happening, but with GPS, God help you. 

Another tip, be mindful of the road signs, if it looks like a 90 degree turn, it probably is. If it looks like multiple curves, watch out!

Wait, you want me to make a 90 degree left turn and do something that looks like a snake?!?!? Oh geez!

Just a word to the wise, if your GPS tells you to “Go Off Road.” Don’t do it! This isn’t just an Ireland thing with Garmin GPS. I was on the USDA farm trying to find the building where Matt was working and I ended up on a back road which led to the pig facility. Once I got there I was supposed to “Go Off Road” and cross the pasture up to the building.  Instead I went back to the main road and took the driveway up once I knew which building was his. Usually if you follow these sorts of directions you’ll get stuck or tear up someone’s property which is unacceptable no matter what country you’re in.  Instead ignore the GPS and make it back to a main road where perhaps a local will be able to guide you on your way. If you have reception and a plan that won’t charge you an arm and a leg for data you could always use Google maps on your phone to get you the last bit of where you’re going. 

Another issue are the number of pot holes! The Irish have joked that they don't drive on the Left of the road, they drive on WHAT'S left of the road. Boy! Are they not kidding! Pretty sure I saw koi fish in a few of these!

What Garmin says

Yes, that drop off on the right is where I'm supposed to go. Holy crap they weren't kidding!

Speaking of going onto someone’s property…Over all the Irish are very kind about strangers wanting to visit random ruins on their property. To us these may be the oldest ruined structures we’ve ever seen, to them it’s their backyard so be mindful and respectful. If there is a sign requesting you keep out, do it! If there isn’t a sign, be respectful of the property and mindful if they have livestock in the area. It is not uncommon to see cows, horses, or sheep wandering around these sites. This is their grazing land and just happens to have a ruined structure from the 1300’s in the middle of it!

 

They look pretty, but most of them just wanted to be left alone.

 Most of these animals will not want to be pet, or snuggled. Trust me. And in trying to do so, you may cause them undue stress, so if they’re curious they will approach you and you can pet them, otherwise leave them in peace. Also be aware they are animals and can kick and bite. If you get kicked or bitten it is your own fault for intruding into their home so unless you know what you’re doing don’t even approach them.  Sadly I didn’t follow my own advice on our honeymoon and managed to get bit by a Border Collie when a farmer was checking his sheep. The farmer was terribly apologetic, but it was my own fault for sticking my hand down there, even if the dog was smiling and wagging his tail… As the farmer apologized he mentioned the dog was a bit daft in the head, which is why he looked friendly but bit me. 

May look happy, but could bite, so ask before you pet! These may be working dogs and not socialized like a normal house pet

So the moral of this post is, Google Maps lies, GPS may get you stuck in a field, be respectful of other’s property, and don’t trust daft dogs.

Pancake Tuesday

This will be a short one, but wanted to share a local custom with everyone.

In the US we celebrate Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras right before Ash Wednesday at the beginning of Lent as an excuse to be serious gluttons and drunkards, though you may only partake in one or both depending on your age, job, and marital status. In Ireland they celebrate Pancake Tuesday, or Shrove Tuesday. According to Wiki (the source of all knowledge), the expression "Shrove Tuesday" comes from the word shrive, meaning "confess". Now I'm not sure what anyone was confessing about other than their love of Pancakes and how awesome our work is that they provided pancakes for us on this magical day! Why do they celebrate with Pancakes?? Let's go to Wiki again:
"Pancakes are associated with the day preceding Lent because they were a way to use up rich foods such as eggs, milk, and sugar, before the fasting season of the 40 days of Lent. The liturgical fasting emphasized eating plainer food and refraining from food that would give pleasure: in many cultures, this means no meat, dairy products, or eggs."
Well other than the meat part, that about covers it with pancakes!

What is interesting is that pancakes here are not the same as pancakes in the US. In the US you get stacks of fluffy golden pancakes that are smothered in butter and maple syrup. Or if you're lucky enough to be at an IHOP can be covered in Butter Pecan, Strawberry, Blueberry, or "other" berry syrup. OM NOM NOM!

Mmmmmm American Pancakes! Look how light and fluffy they are!

In Ireland pancakes are more like a crepe. Thin and rolled up very much so like a crepe without filling and more like a tortilla, these pancakes looked a bit dubious to me.

Hmmmmm. Not so sure...

But then I was told something I found even more puzzling but also very tempting. Here you squeeze lemon juice on your pancakes and then sprinkle sugar over the top of them.

Well, this could be interesting...

It was delicious!!! Sour, sweet, and a bit rubbery from the crepe consistency, it was fantastic! I know people don't normally associate a rubbery texture with delight, but it was like most other crepe type pancakes where it isn't fluffy like our pancake, but not tough like a tortilla.

I was also informed that many Irish fill the pancakes with nutella (a true weakness of mine!), and sometimes top it with bananas! I'd personally go sans bananas, but whatever floats your boat! They may also cover it with Golden Syrup which I'm guessing is a bit like our Karo Syrup, but not sure.

Oh Nutella how I love you, though I could do without the bananas

So this is what they do on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday instead of throwing a giant carnival of drunken debauchery. I kind of like it.

Happy Pancake Tuesday all!

Why Getting Lost Caused Me to Absolutely Panic- A Fear Realized in France

 

Why Getting Lost Caused Me to Absolutely Panic- A Fear Realized in France      

If you’re only here to look at stories about Ireland, this one will disappoint. This story is mostly about France. If instead you’re reading this because I am a bit silly, then by all means read on. This is one of the more funny travel stories, though it started out as one of my most frightening.

 As I’m sure you’ve noticed most of what concerns me most about living in Ireland is the driving. Part of this stems from my long held fear of getting lost. What if you can’t find your way back? What if you’re wandering around for hours? What if you run out of gas wandering around for hours?! All of these thoughts tend to send me into panic attacks and general mayhem ensues. I have a number of traumatic stories from my childhood as to why this is such a fear, but the most pertinent involves my first visit to a different country by myself. As a PhD student I was given the awesome opportunity to go to a research conference in France and present my research. Way cool, right?  Well, let’s just start with my limited French, I can say yes, no, thank you, and that is about it. If I can read it I can usually decipher what it is, but I took Spanish and so for all intents and purposes my French is nil. Well, we can now add “Baggage verts s'il vous plaît?” to my list because on the way over, I made the connection in Brussels but my bags did not. One reason I made it through Brussels was because of a fantastic gadget my mom got me before I left. Back before they were popular, my mom found a battery powered cell phone charger which I thought was brilliant.  It took 1 AA batteries, was silver and bullet shaped, which while going through customs/security, the agent mistook for an item of… well let’s just say he thought it was of a more personal nature than a cell phone charger. So as he pulled it out of my bag, he started blushing which in turn made my eyes bug out of my head when I realized what he thought it was and so I started miming and saying, “Oh, no no no!! It’s for a PHONE. You know, PHONE???” As if shouting and pantomiming a phone made it better, well as soon as he pulled that out he shoved everything else back in the bag and shushed me on my way. So, long lines in airport? Don’t worry ladies, just bring a phallic cell phone charger and all will be well, or you’ll just be so embarrassed you’ll forget all about the previous wait.

I was so surprised I found the exact model!! This is it!

            After breezing through security (thank you again mom!), I arrived in Marseilles France but my bags did not make it (this is where “Baggage verts s'il vous plaît?” comes into play because I had green bags). No problem! I packed a spare outfit just in case, so let’s see… Pants, shirt, dress shoes… oh shit! No undergarments or socks! There are lots of things I’m willing to do in the name of science, but wearing 2 day old underwear is NOT one of them! So after a wild cab ride to my hotel and a quick assessment of what I needed, I went down to the front desk to see if I could get directions to a store to buy underwear and socks. This is how the conversation went:

ME: Poly voo engles? (I left the phonetics in just in case you had any misconceptions about my lack of French)

Desk receptionist: Non-(imagine it with a haughty French accent. Now I’m not saying all French are haughty, just this one in particular.)

ME: Shit (under my breath) …OK, I. NEED. UNDERWEAR (pulled a bit of my waistband out of my pants). AND, SOCKS (pulling up the hem of my pants). LOST BAGS. (Sadly I fell prey to if you can’t speak the language speak louder and mime wildly what you want).

Desk receptionist: (Wrinkles her nose at me) Ici. (Hands me a map and points me out the door)

ME: THANK YOU!

Out the door I went on my first adventure! And as I looked down at the map I noticed something funny, well a lot of funny things… She gave me a map in GERMAN! Ok, so in the words of my high school voice teacher, “With that blond hair, light eyes, and broad shoulders, you just LOOK German!” which is why I learned to sing German songs first, but COME ON! My German is reserved for really bad poetry so I can tell you that you’re as beautiful as a flower, so lovely and gay, but I can’t navigate in it! And I spoke to you in ENGLISH. Well, do what you can with what you have, right? So I kept walking the direction she pointed and I start seeing more and more graffiti, and things are looking dirtier and dirtier… I’m thinking this may not be the right way… So I see some little old ladies and repeat a similar conversation with them as I had with the receptionist. They didn’t speak English either, but they did usher me on a bus when I showed them the map and pointed to where the bitchy desk woman said I could get my necessities. Eventually someone I tried to speak to on the bus who seemed to know where I was wanting to go, ushered me off the bus and I found the French version of Wal-greens (Sam McCulley’s here in Ireland), and was able to get my necessities. Alright! I’m ready to go back to the hotel! Oh hell, where am I???? One thing I found was that people were not very helpful when they realized I didn’t speak French so 6 hours, lunch with some American navy guys who only knew where their ship was, one traumatic subway ride, and 2 tearful phone calls to Matt later (time changes don’t exist when you’re jet lagged and lost, and all you wanted was some socks, underwear, and a cute purse!)  I met a group of people going to my hotel and followed them back. Now, what I forgot was that I probably could have just gotten a cab back to the hotel, but since I was so panicked all I could think of was how lost I was and how this was totally not how I expected my adventures to go! Screw the adventure I just wanted to get back to my room and go to bed! In my defense during the tearful phone calls, Matt didn’t recommend a cab either, and so I can only chalk that up to cabs not really ever being much of an option where I’m from. Yes you can get them, but we never did so the thought never even dawned on me.  So this is the basis for my fear of getting lost in a new country.  Once I arrived back at the hotel I decided it was time for dinner and bed. So I went to the restaurant got some questionable Indian food (at the time I had never eaten Indian so this perplexed me, I know I’m sheltered) and then asked for something to drink. The guy asked what I wanted and I answered in one of the only drinks I knew would be the same in any language. VODKA. The man looks at me, Vodka? Yes, du. Oh and 7 up. I think that second order reassured him I wasn’t a raging alcoholic, though I’m not totally sure.  He was also kind enough to provide me with a converter to use until my bags arrived. So I trudged upstairs, ate my questionable Indian food, drank my vodka and 7up, checked my e-mail and passed out until the next day when things started getting better and continued to do so until I left nearly a week later. As for my bags, they showed up late on day 2 so all was well.  That is until I learned never to climb a mountain in flip-flops, but that was my own fault not Frances. On a side note some of the most delicious chocolate I've ever had came from Puyricard chocolates, they were paired with one of the most delightful people I've met. He was the chocolatier for the shop and was very kind to me and some ladies from the CDC, so it seems that I met every awful person in the city on my first day. Though not everyone was as kind as the chocolatier, they were at least nicer than those I met on the first day.

Looking down on the city of Marseilles from the top of Basilica Notre-Dame de la Garde's hill/mountain

The harbor at Marseilles

Fresh seafood!! Not something I saw very often in Missouri.

As much as I wanted one of each of these, I was good and just took a picture.

Notre-Dame de la Garde

The inside of the basilica.

The other cathedral in town. Didn't get to see this one inside, just from afar.

One of Napoleon's palaces but he never visited it

One of the many statues in the city. This became a landmark for me traveling back and forth to the conference.

And a sea shell cow!

            When you come to Ireland you must understand, YOU WILL GET LOST… A LOT. This is a totally different experience than what I had in France. Whereas the people there are not really willing to help you, over here everyone wants to be helpful! More than once I’ve been in the car on the side of the road looking quite puzzled at a map or my phone and a stranger has pulled over to ask if I’m OK and if I needed help getting where I was going. More often than not, they will go out of their way and lead you to where you need to go if it’s close. If not they’re more than happy to give directions.

            Sometimes these directions are very well intentioned but not always helpful. I kid you not, this is an actual conversation I had with someone in Portlaoise (port-leesh):

ME: Excuse me, do you know where the Teagasc (Sha-gask) office is?

THEM: Ah sure, it’s very close to where the old Dunnes store used to be.

ME: Wonderful! How do I get there?

THEM: Go to where the old Dunnes store used to be and it’s right on that corner.

This is the Dunnes store closest to our house. It's a lovely shop that has a bit of everything. Think of it as a baby target greatland without the office supplies.

          I am clearly not a local (even though I now gleefully tell people I’m from Cork when they ask, tee hee!) but I apparently should have known where the Dunnes store used to be. After some puzzled looks, they told me to go out, make a right, then another right and its up on the corner. 2 rights and a left and a roundabout later, there it was! Half the time the GPS (Sat Nav here) has no idea where things are either, so you can’t rely on that. And then there’s google Maps… A bit better at location but you can’t trust it on time estimation to save your life. This is such a big thing that I’ll be writing a whole blog post on how you can’t trust Google Maps or your GPS. But so long as you're not trying to get somewhere to meet people or have a meeting, getting lost can be fantastic. Here are a few places we've stumbled upon while lost:

Ballybeg priory

Kanturk Castle

Barryscourt Castle

Lismore Castle

The Muskery hounds having a day out for their puppy show!

            The moral of the story for this post is that I’m not afraid of getting lost any more. In fact I look at it more as an adventure than something to be feared because usually I get to meet fun people and have a giggle with them about how silly I am for getting so lost. I also now have a GPS with a “go home” button which means if I ever get REALLY lost I can always make it home.  Life is grand in Ireland and if you come visit, enjoy every wrong turn.

Bearing the Ring of Beara- How the new car got it's first dent

            One of the best things about living in a place is living your life like a tourist. We did a bit of this when we first moved to Maryland because we were so close to DC, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and other more specific places of interest but then we got busy with the horses and weekends became a different sort of exploration, how to still try to do stuff when you have reverse ATM machines (AKA horses, money goes in, but never comes back out). I wouldn’t trade that for anything because no matter how much I like to wander around looking at things I love my horse and seeing things between my horse’s ears much better. I hold a firm yet odd belief that scenery is so much better if there are a nice pair of horse ears in the picture, many of my horsey friend agree and in fact there is a whole Facebook page devoted to this!

See how much better these are with Bailey's horse ears in them? Just a couple of pictures from our trip back home to Missouri

            With no horses to care for here in Ireland we get to go on weekend adventures. We’ve learned that Ireland is pretty dog friendly so most of the time we have the option to take “the girls” with us and will probably take advantage of this more this year. It is also nice because it really doesn’t get too hot here so I don’t have to worry about dogs overheating in the car if we have to step out for a bit. Right now, it’s hunting season so Saturdays are devoted to the chase, but that always leaves Sundays! Often Matt chooses something to do or see on Sunday and off we go for a drive, a visit, or just a good wander. There really is so much to see in this country, which is one reason we haven’t hopped over to “The continent” AKA Continental Europe.  One of the things to see/do is take a drive around the Rings. There are LOTS of Rings around Ireland, though the most famous is the Ring of Kerry. So, what is a ring? From what I can gather, it’s a scenic drive around the coast of one of the jutting pieces of land off Ireland.  We drove around the Ring of Kerry during our honeymoon and managed to only get hit by one bus. Yes, I said hit by a bus, but perhaps “clipped” is a better description. Side mirrors on many of the cars here are spring loaded both directions so when a bus kisses the side of your teeny tiny car on a teeny tinier road, the mirror snaps in so it doesn’t rip off. It happens, and usually scares the bejeezus out of me, but I’m getting better.

The ring of Kerry!

            Since the Ring of Beara (south of the Ring of Kerry) is a lesser known ring, the traffic isn’t as bad. So that coupled with the fact that we were driving it in the off season meant that we had most of the ring to ourselves. The first time we did the ring we took Healy’s Pass which takes you over mountains half way through the ring and then plonks you down on the other side so it’s like a mini ring. Thinking we may have missed an opportunity to see some of the best parts of this ring, Matt suggested we drive it a second time. Matt likes these sort of things, driving aimlessly around a country side looking at the natural wonders of the world, and sometimes the interesting man made things along the way. I’m usually game for this so long as I don’t have to be in the driver’s seat because rather than enjoying the majestic beauty around me, I’m white knuckled on the steering wheel trying not to pass out as I hyperventilate about the sheer drop offs you sometimes come across and panicking thinking about what we would do if we meet another car on this road that is about the width of a twig. But all of this changes with Matt at the wheel. Don’t get me wrong, I still freak out a bit when we do inevitably meet a car on the narrowest part of a road, but since he’s driving I can look at the scenery or if it gets too scary, I can read a book or type up part of my next blog post on my laptop. 

The smaller yet just as beautiful Ring of Beara

            On our first trip around the ring, we had just gotten our replacement car after the first one got totaled. It’s a pretty silver Nissan note with enough room for 4 and a load of shopping bags, or 2 dogs. Just as with the first two cars, I was the one who found it and after a bit of haggling I got it for the price I wanted! The car fit all of my criteria, automatic (we’ll get to my skills with a Manual transmission later), small enough I’m comfortable driving it on narrow roads yet big enough Matt didn’t look like a bear on a tricycle driving it, no big dents or scratches, within the price range, and it came with a Padre Pio sticker on the windshield to keep us safe while we drove. Who could ask for anything more?  So off we go in the new car!

            As I mentioned the first trip we took Healy’s pass. This is great! It’s a bit of a windy road up into the mountains, but you also get some great coastal views before you head up the mountain and on the way back down. There is a wonderful little shop at the top with super cheap souvenirs run by a beef farmer who is very friendly. If it’s warm, you can even get some ice cream in the shop! I even got to pet a roadside sheep. It did have a number of areas that are super skinny and you have to go slower than the speed limit but the views are spectacular. The only hic-up on this trip was when Matt crashed the car. Yep you read that right, he crashed the new car. He pulled to the side of the road and unknowingly tried to run over a large rock. The rock was surrounded by some lovely tall grass and so when he hit the gas he smushed the bottom part of the bumper of my new car. Hmmm, I’m seeing a trend with us and cars in Ireland. Luckily the only thing that happened was it lowed the clearance of the car by 2-3 inches and dented the front in a bit, nothing that impaired driving. The lowering part turned out to be a much worse thing than we thought because many Irish roads have bumps, dips, and potholes that eat cars. When your car has a big dent in the front it scrapes every time you go over the bumps eventually it starts to rip the bumper off and you have to kick it back in place every once in a while. Eh, it could be worse…

Tree and mountain in the distance. I got a bit artsy with this photo, but I think it definitely worked out!

The sea!!!! Look how pretty!

One of many lovely waterfalls we saw while out and about.

SHEEP!!!! I LOVE random sheep on the side of the road! These guys were not impressed with my sheep whispering skills and wouldn't let me get close, but they did let me snap this cute picture of them!

Looking down from the top of Healy's pass to the County Cork side. See that speck in the road closest to the bottom? Yep, that's a crazy runner! This guy was RUNNING up a mountain! I was tres impressed, and tired just looking at him, so I got an ice cream bar and cheered him on from the top by my car.

Another view of the twisty turny roads to get up to Healy's pass

At the top of the pass looking down into County Kerry. Part of the Ring of Beara is in Cork and the other is in Kerry, both sides are beautiful in their own ways.

Yes, I know that's my large bum (perhaps a smidge larger than usual after the Ice Cream...), but the important part of this picture is I AM PETTING A SHEEP! My sheep whispering skills paid off! She actually let me pet her! OK fine, I'm bribing her with a bit of sweet had in the car, but bribery is always fair game when it comes to animals and children!

The sea, Kerry side

A waterfall in Kerry, I got a bit artsy with as well. It was a gorgeous day for the most part with only sprinkles, so visibility was amazing!

The mountains on the Kerry side

Oh look! A random church! Time for some exploring...

Very cool old church we saw on the way home.

            The second time we decided to go the whole way around but starting on the opposite side of the ring because that was the side we skipped going through Healy’s pass. What to say about this… well it was an adventure. We had to reverse down some roads because they actually were too narrow to fit two cars on, I won’t say I had a full panic attack, but there was a lot of cursing under my breath and quick draws of breath and we nearly fell off the side of the road once or twice. The best part about this time around was that we brought the dogs along for the trip and stopped off at The Peoples Millennium forest in Rossacaroo na loo, Co. Kerry. What a gorgeous place to walk and enjoy nature! Marble was thrilled to be out the car and Gypsy loved the hour of wandering around the forest and sniffing all the new stuff.

 The views were great, but half way through I was ready to be done. It was supposed to take a few hours, it took 6.  Marble was tired of being in the car, the novelty of it all had worn off Gypsy who was now snoring in the back seat, and I was ready to be somewhere other than a car.  So if you decide to come down to the Ring of Beara, take Healy’s pass and make it a half day trip rather than a full day.   

Sun streaming through the clouds on this lovely drive.

A beautiful rainbow over the mountains around the Ring of Beara.

Lovely ruined house near the mountains.

Looking out over the water on a spectacular day. All we needed was a picnic basket (or a hampers as they say over here) and a nice bottle of wine to make this perfect!

Matthew and Marble taking a stroll towards the water.

Marble exploring the landscape

Loved the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks!

The whole family on the coast!

A lovely church found on the other side of the ring, closest to the Cork side of the Ring

Beautiful cross through the ruins of the Kilcatherine church

Random tower found around the Ring of Beara. I REALLY want to get there sometime.

The views are great no matter which way you do it, but I think I really liked the first trip around more than the second, that is so long as your husband doesn’t crash your new car.

Even though she's a bit smushed up in the front on the bottom, (the side in the shadow) but she still looks good parked in the rugged west of Cork.

For more photos or if you'd like to buy any of the ones you've seen, you can check out my website!
http://tjlg.smugmug.com/The-Ring-of-Beara/