Connor Pass

Unfortunately it rained today.  Driving is never as easy when it rains, especially here in Ireland.

For months now I have been looking forward to the drive to Dingle.  Connor Pass is considered by all tourist guide books as one of the top, if not the top, drives in all of Ireland.  As we started to climb we soon realized that our views were going to be limited.  The pass was 'pea soup' thick with fog.  That made the drive just a touch more challenging and definitely more dangerous. With what little I could see, the road reminded me of the 'Going to the Sun' road in Glacier National Park.  And there were some other people driving up there today that had trouble understanding that it was foggy and that the road was narrow.

So to say that the drive today was a letdown would be putting it mildly.  However, tomorrow is another day and it appears that the sun might make an appearance.  I expect to take another run at Connor Pass in the morning!

Dingle has come as a bit of a shock to me.  I guess that I was expecting a quaint out of the way little town.  It is not.  It is October, it is raining, and this town is still packed with people.  However, we are staying in a beautiful old hotel.  Our room is about 1/2 the size of our house at home. Nice!

Doolin Sunset Last Evening


Driving on Ballinknockrane Beach (Dingle Peninsula) - the only others out here were surfers!


The Bull we had to drive by the get there!


The road to the beach.


Connor Pass Waterfall

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Amazing Architecture

Image
 Our drive today across the south of Ireland compared to so many others on this trip was almost boring.  The terrain was reasonably flat but the roads were anything but straight.  We saw something other than sheep for a change.  It was obvious that we were travelling through 'dairy' country.  Holsteins dotted the landscape and for the first time we actually saw evidence of grain growing and even a few corn fields. As we were sitting enjoying our bottle of wine in our room last night (bought downstairs in the hotel bar), we decided that we should visit the Rock of Cashel.  This is a castle built originally in the 12th Century and given to the church by the local 'king'.  It is somewhat of a mythical religious shrine.  Extensions were built in the 13th and 15th Centuries.  It is now of course a ruin as most of these old castles are today.  The architectural abilities and workmanship of those long ago days puts our buildings today to shame....
Read more

Black Cab Tour

Image
 This afternoon we took a Black Cab Tour of Belfast.  For more than 90 minutes we were toured through the streets of Belfast looking at the political murals commemorating the years from 1969 to 2000.  This period is commonly known as the 'Troubles'.  Although interestingly enough, our guide only used the term once instead choosing to refer to the time as 'The Conflict'.  This was a political conflict between the catholic sector led by the IRA (Irish Republican Army) against the British Government.  The IRA wanted political independence for Northern Ireland.  The IRA used bombs and targeted killings.  The Police/British Forces used just about as brutal of tactics.  About 3000 people were killed during the conflict.  A wall was built between the Catholic section of the city and the protestant territory.  Still today, 24 years after a peace agreement was signed, the wall still exists.  All but one of the gates between the 2 areas ...
Read more

Inis Oirr

Image
 A boat ride was in store for today out to Inis Oirr.  Inis Oirr is the smallest of the Aran Islands.  It is one desolate piece of rock.  They have very little soil.  They make more soil by mixing seaweed with sand and spreading it around.  Can you imagine?  The island has 300 permanent residents.  The island has 500 to 600 cattle.  They graze in fields the size of postage stamps. Daily they are moved to a different field.  It makes no sense! But our tour was a fun one.  We took a horse and wagon tour of the island.  Thomas was our guide.  He has lived here his whole life.  Toby was our horse.  To say that Toby had an attitude would be putting it mildly.  He moved at his own pace and as Thomas said, "he cannot be persuaded otherwise but he is a good horse'!  While other horses and wagons were galloping past us, Toby just plodded along!  It was a fun experience. On our way back we were treated to a ...
Read more