See It: Cork, Ireland

Well...we must be settling into our British life and filling our days, since I have gotten so behind on my blog posts! Back in November, we set out on our first European vacation! AJ found cheap flights to Ireland, so the planning for a week in the land of leprechauns began! We flew into Dublin and then took a bus about three hours south to Cork for the first part of the week. The Irish weather lived up to its reputation and was quite wet and chilly for the majority of the time we are visiting.

All of the rain makes everything such a vibrant green!  This is a quaint bridge that we saw on our tour of the Ring of Kerry.

On our first day in Cork, we decided to do a bus tour of the Ring of Kerry that included a stop in Killarney.  AJ used to listen to the song Christmas in Killarney as a kid.  How could we not visit this town, since we were so close!  It was a charming town, but we were a bit too early for Christmas decorations!  

Our tour on the Paddywagon (truly what the tourbus was named!) was led by a cheery and jubilant Irishman who not only drove the bus, but provided entertainment throughout the day.  The Ring of Kerry is a road through County Kerry that is picturesque wherever you look.  There is a story of a young tourist girl attempting to get photo of a giant pink rhododendron when a local stops her and says, "You know that is a weed.  They cut it back each summer, otherwise it takes over the mountain!"  It is said that the beauty and splendor of the Ring of Kerry is so magnificent that even the weeds are worthy of a photograph!  

The sights all around us on the Ring of Kerry were breathtaking!  One of the treats on this tour was the double rainbow that appeared after a downpour!  Surely, it is lucky to see a double rainbow in Ireland! 

As lunch time approached, our tour stopped at a local restaurant that serves up traditional Irish cuisine to all of the tourists.  After eating some Irish beef stew, we had a true Irish coffee!  

An Irish coffee was just what was needed to warm up and recover from the wind!

While the Ring of Kerry is one of the more popular tourist destinations in Cork, it is still just a road that connects the small towns of County Kerry.  As we barreled down the very small winding road in a charter bus, I chuckled a bit every time I saw the sheep warning sign! We were surrounded by sheep most of the day!

Just before heading into Killarney National Park, we stopped in a small town called, Sneem.  Sneem is a very small town known for the Stone Outside of Dan Murphy's Door.  This old stone has been the topic of many old Irish folk songs.

Of course, I took a photo, just as any good tourist would do!

The final stop on our tour of the Ring of Kerry was the Killarney National Park.  We arrived in this stunning park just before the sunset.  Small lakes dot the valleys through the park.  

Three Ladies Lakes

At the end of the tour, we had taken hundreds of photos and seen some of the most breathtaking landscapes!  We headed to the hotel and prepared for our next Irish adventure...Blarney!  As we reminisce over our time in the Emerald Isle, remember our lights are always on!

~W