Ring of Kerry and Killarney

What a weekend! Katie and I traveled to Killarney on Friday after school and we had an incredible weekend.

I think I might be finding that they saying 'The Luck of the Irish' is true, because Katie and I were so lucky this weekend. To make a long story short:

Lucky #1~ Well, I guess there will always be something that doesn't go our way. And on the way to Killarney, it was our bus. It smelt so bad. Noone else seemed to notice, but Katie and I sure did. It was so awful and I was almost gagging. But our second bus smelt great, and we didn't have to wait an hour and half, like previously planned. So that saved us a good 2 hours (because normally the bus would have of been late!) Very exciting for us!!

Lucky #2~ When we have been traveling lately, we randomly select B & B's to contact and see if they have openings. Usually things are so booked, and you can't be picky about the location. Well it just so happened that our B & B for the weekend was a 5 minute walk from the bus station and a 5 mintue walk into town. It was so awesome! We didn't have to walk forever, nor did we have to pay money for a taxi! It was pretty grand!!!

Friday night Katie and I 'quickly' walked into town, it was raining of course, and we had some dinner at a pub. The pub we chose had live Irish music every night of the week, so we thought that would be a great way to kick off our weekend. The place was very crowded, but it was great to be in an Irish pub, with Irish music! Our Irish entertainment was a solo artist who sang along with his harmonica and guitar. We didn't really know the songs, but it was still nice to listen to!

We got an early start on Saturday morning and were excited to see the weather. We walked in our B & B on Friday night leaving rain and lots of wind outside. But when we opened up our blinds at 8:30am :

Lucky #3~ The weather on Saturday was perfect! The sun was shining and their was no wind. On our walk into town we even saw a rainbow!

I think we were so thrilled about this change in weather because we had planned on taking a bus tour of the Ring of Kerry. A beautiful, historic, and scenic tour of one Ireland's most famous and favorite part of western Ireland to visit. Our bus tour was from 10:30am to 4:15pm. It was a loong day, but well worth it. We made several stops along the way to shop, to take photos, or to just enjoy some lunch! There were several other Americans on the bus, but Katie and I did not talk to them much. They seemed to keep to themselves a lot. Our huge bus cruised along the narrow roads, flew over the bumps, and went winding around the mountain sides. There were 4 women in the back of our bus from Scotland and I think that they had the best time being thrown around the bus. It could have helped that they had a glass of wine at every stop we made :)
A picture of our bus. Not too huge, but when it is taking you on Irish roads, around the Ring of Kerry, it is huge!
Here is a picture of Katie and I at one of our stops. The river ----- is behind us (I don't remember the name off hand). I just cannot get over how beautiful the scenery can be around here. The towns are very old looking to me and very old fashion, but the scenery is so amazing!

I am posing infront of the Atlantic Ocean. Everyone of you is just a short swim across it. I was tempted to swim home!

If you look closely at this picture, on the right you can see the rain coming in. This picture was taken moments after the one on the left.

Lucky #4~ We missed the rain literally by seconds. It poured pretty hard, but within minutes it was gone..and the sun was shining! But I suppose it is not uncommon here for rain to come and go like that. But I was thankful that it left!

Here is a picture of Katie and I at Ladies View. Only women can pose for photos here...it is true! Not sure why, but it is true!

Saturday night Katie and I went back into town to listen to some Irish music. At the pub we were at, there were a bunch of young lads dancing all around to the Irish music. Totally not something that boys in their 20s would do at home. But over here, I don't think they care quite as much as the boys at home do. It was funny. Their pants were all hiked up and their pant legs rolled up.

We met a lot of people from around the world on Saturday, and crazy enough some girls that go to college at Eau Claire, LaCrosse, and River Falls. It was so nuts to meet them and it was great to hear American accents. They are studying in Scotland, traveling all over Europe and Ireland has been their favorite! We also talked to some Aussies, Brits, Hungarians, French, and some very TALL American basketball players. Overall it was a great night and nice to meet people from all over the world.

Enjoying our time in Killarney!

We also did some shopping in Killareny. I'll tell you, it's very stressful thinking of gifts to get people back home. I feel pressure to find the right gift for everyone. (Not that anyone is pressuring me by any means... I do it to myself!) I am hoping to be done with shopping soon because I only have 3 weeks left and I don't want to have to be running around the last weekend looking for stuff. But knowing me, I probably will be! So if you want something certain, please do not be afraid to let me know. Actually, I would love it!!