let’s get back to the beauty that is gleninchaquin park.
while i showed y’all the stone circle – the hike is what really was the highlight of ireland for us (as well as one of the MAIN highlights of our entire trip). by the time we made it to the park it started to rain…and we just didn’t care. we paid our 6 euro per person (which is TOTALLY not even close to what you should pay for the experience) put on our rain jacket and started the hike.
now, let’s get things clear first – i am ridiculous, and slightly dumb.
i decided, hey, it’s raining, let’s still bring my fancy DSLR with me and i’ll just tuck it in my rain jacket. -__-
yeah, about that.
it stayed dry the entire time (except when i pulled it out) but i will admit my mind was partially occupied with keeping it dry.
we started down the path and climbed over the fence with these hand-made wooden steps and passed by all of the sheep/ram and stepped in all of their poop (you’re welcome). then we got to the part of the path where the stream (with all of the rain) was flooding the walk-way and the only way to get across was to walk through the water (my shoes weren’t THAT waterproof) or climb over these slippery rocks. this lady was actually laying on one of the rocks because it was so slick she slipped and fell in!
once crossing the flooded path we began our hike up the mountain and over the waterfall.
i can not begin to express how incredible this experience was.
my workout pants turned into a wet suit (soaking wet!) and thankfully my rain jacket was keeping the upper half of me warm (a tank top, long sleeve shirt, and a vest all under neath), and my brothers kaki pants (dumb move) were soaked through before we even reached the top of the mountain. it was a true irish experience.
we passed one family, and that was it.
we basically had the place to ourselves.
when we reached the top and looked out at the valley my brother actually said, “best trip ever“.
i can not put into words how calming that moment was.
to soak in all of Gods glory, standing in the frigid rain, with my brother – it was truly marvelous.
we climbed back down the mountain and walked through this side forest with streams and trees you just wanted to camp under.
after the hike we went back to the house, showered/changed, and headed out for a late lunch.
we ate in kenmare at a place called Paddy Foley’s and each got burgers and fries (about 12.50 euros a piece). we walked around a few shops and i saw this amazing green cape/coat that i wanted – butttt at 350+ euros i couldn’t even attempt to justify it! after lunch and shopping we started driving around for a few hours (which included putting the car in neutral and coasting/flying down some country roads) we ended back up in killarney.
since lunch was so deliciously heavy we wanted something lighter for dinner.
well, 99% of all of deli/cafe’s in these areas close between 4-5pm.
which leaves pubs and restaurants for dinner….not exactly what we were looking for.
we ended up at lir chocolate cafe where we had some hot tea, chips, a mouth-watering chocolate cookie, and a really good grilled cheese! (fun fact, we actually ended up here for another dinner on another night!). we perused some of the streets and then headed back to the b&b to unwind.
when we were talking about the day with our host, anne, that night she casually mentioned how irish i looked, and if i practiced my accent no one would ever know.
maybe i’ll start practicing. 😉
