Dingle All the Way

Our last full day was spent in Dingle, the amazing peninsula on the western side of Ireland. In fact, not only is Dingle the western tip of Ireland, but it is also the western tip of Europe itself.

We knew we wanted to see it so we set out on the loop around the peninsula that is a must. First we saw a beautiful beach that would have fit in well in Southern California. There were shells, and runners, and the whole bit. It was another beautiful day so we spent a little bit of time and stood in the Atlantic Ocean soaking up the sea air.

After that the drive goes around the corner and we caught some great glimpses of the sea and the outer islands off the coast. The cliffs going straight into the water was so majestic that it took our breath away. We made several stops and at each one stood in awe looking out. The pictures just don't truly capture what it feels like when you are there.

The breathtaking views were plentiful.

At one turnoff we saw another smaller beach on the northwest side of the peninsula that looked like the Caribbean. The water close to the beach was a delightful teal and the contrast with the darker blue of the deeper water and the green of the landscape was spectacular. The 30 mile drive took us a few hours with all our stops.

We then had lunch back in town, where we actually found an entire additional part of town we didn't see the night before because it was situated above the rest of the town. Dingle Town was actually twice the size of what we thought.

Colm educated us on Dingle's ancient past.

Then we met up with Colm, our tour guide for the afternoon. He is a local who has lived in Dingle his entire life. He asked us what we wanted to do and we didn't really know, just so long as it was something we hadn't seen before. He knew just what to do and we set off by car. We also later found out from him about his fall off a nearby cliff in the car, which I wrote about in the previous post.

Savannah in a ring fort.

Colm took us to a summit that could see both the north and south coasts of the peninsula. It was an exquisite view from there. Then
we went around to several archaeological spots nearby while he explained what life was like in each area at that period. It was crazy to think of the lives people lived over a thousand years ago. Colm was very knowledgeable and provided great depth to the history which made our experience more rich.

Following our tour with Colm we bid adieu to Dingle and headed for our final B&B which was just 10 minutes from the airport. But not before we stopped at Murphy's, which is pretty much the best ice cream place in the world. So good, we did it 3 times in 3 days (once in Dublin, then twice in Dingle - one time after dinner, and once one the way out of town the next day).

Bunratty Castle.

When we arrived a couple hours later, we went out for dinner in Bunratty where our lodging was. We had a nice dinner and reminisced about the great times which capped the trip well. Then we walked a couple minutes to the Bunratty Castle nearby. The castle, which has been kept up and is now a banquet hall of sorts, was lit up and with the late twilight sky it looked stellar. There was a terrific pub right next door but with early flights, we had to pass.

Our last night concluded, and so did our wonderful trip.

2013 Trip - Day 8 - Dingle