Hello again and welcome to Part 2 of our road trip through Ireland. If you haven’t read Part 1, just click here. My parents came over to visit me in Ireland and once we discovered Cork we were heading to the West of the island. Through deep green forests, lonely roads and little villages our next stop was called Killarney. It was end of March. No tourists around and weather conditions were not too bad for this time of the year. However, we figured there are a lot of sheep and cows in Ireland…
On arriving, all of us were immediately impressed. Killarney is the place where tourism in Ireland started way back when. All tourism-generated income was invested in roads, buildings, pavements, green zones and service infrastructure. But still kept authentic, Irish at heart with rustic and cosy Irish pubs as well as clean with a Mediterranean touch when it comes to flora and architecture. Thanks to being off-season, there were nearly no tourists around…
We selected one of the many nice places as our accommodation for the next 3 nights From there we took daily trips to the highlights in the surroundings; namely, Killarney National Park and the Ring of Kerry…
Killarney National Park: Waterfalls, Gaelic monuments and heritage as well as a dry and rather brownish landscape due to the time of the year. But this view had its own unique beauty. Reminded me a bit of Tenerife.
On the second day, after a tasty full Irish breakfast (yes, you heard me, haha!) we started to explore the “Ring of Kerry”. I haven’t seen narrow roads like this anywhere else. And the beauty of the place…unique!
The spirit of freedom was hovering over this place, I felt it …
All good things come to an end. But not now, and not for us. We were lucky as we still had some time and places we had not yet seen and which were lying in front of us. On the road again we went through Kenmare, Sneed, Waterville and Caherciveen. Tiny narrow roads, sheep, mountains, fields, forests and no other car in sight. Man, what a scenic drive and what a stunning view. We stopped to take a walk and had a picnic.
All along the Atlantic Ocean we passed Tralee, Kilkee and crossed the River Shannon with our map guiding us towards the Cliffs of Moher. I felt very thankful for this great time we had.
Next stop Galway. Will I find my Galway Girl up there?…well, I don’t think so. But still ;-) ! An idyllic town full of colour and Irish spirit. From there we headed straight home to Dublin, the city “where the girls are so pretty…”. After a long sleep and, wait for it… a great Irish Breakfast, we were ready for the last day. I played tour guide and showed my parents the hot spots and hidden places of the city. We were sitting in a pub reviewing our road trip and the time together. It was brilliant and unforgettable.
From living in Dublin and working in its tourism industry I got a good image about Ireland, its people, their culture, hospitality and their love of their country. However, this road trip positively exceeded my expectations. Great people, great country! I felt at home here.
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