Dingle Peninsula (and Cork), Ireland

I had a friend text me yesterday (you know who you are!) saying,"Do you feel like your Ireland trip was a dream?  Because the pictures make it look so surreal... like something I would only imagine!"  I've been thinking about her question more as I uploaded these pictures.  Yes, actually it does sort of feel like a dream.  There were times when it was just Zack, myself, and green rolling hills ahead of us (oh- and most likely some sheep).  It was as if the countryside was completely ours to explore.  However, my friend hadn't yet looked at the photos I am posting now in this very post.  I told her if she thought Killlarny and the Ring of Kerry were dream-like, just WAIT until Dingle!  Even the name sounds like a fairytale...

Dingle is when things became a bit... foggy.  No, I'm not meaning we had a few too many Guinnesses (although Guinness really does taste that much better in Ireland).  I mean literally, it became super foggy outside.  And that fog decided to stick around the entire time we explored the penninsula.  I'm not  going to lie, at first I was really disappointed about the fog.  Things that we were supposed to be able to see (ex: some famous islands off the coast), just weren't there!  Also, how could I capture the beauty of this place, when there is a thick blanket of fog standing right in the way?  I worried that all my photos would come out just a big haze.  However, in the end, I think it really added a special effect.  Not just to the photos, but to our experience there.  It really did feel like a dream.

Before you scroll down and immerse yourself in this "Dingle Dream", let me tell you a bit about our time there.  We arrived in the dark.  I think this set the tone for our time there.  You know when you arrive somewhere in the dark and you just feel like you can't get a grip on where you are?  That's exactly how Dingle greeted us.  It was dark AND it was raining.  We pulled our rental car into the little driveway beside our hostel, only next to be greeted by the friendliest of hosts.  I can't remember her name, but the owner of Lovlett's Hostel brought us in to what seemed to be her home, asking about us and tellling us a bit about Dingle.  We were hungry, so she gave us a few suggestions of places to eat, and half an hour later we were sitting in Murphy's Pub ready to dive into some fish and chips.  Even arriving at this pub seemed like a dream.  Though it was just a short walk away from the hostel (Dingle is really small), by the time we arrived we were drenched from the rain.  The sweet lady behind the bar told us to get cozy by the fireplace, and so that's exactly what we did.  In this pub, in Dingle Ireland, I felt so far from home, yet so at home.  

The following day, I was excited to see Dingle in the daylight.  Though the fog had an effect, we discovered a happy little seaside town.  We drove the peninsula, passing through other small towns where Gaelic (Irish) is the language spoken.  We decided to follow a guide by Rick Steves that brought us to certain points of interest around the peninsula.  From standing at the most Western point in Europe to discovering small beehive huts built by monks, I really felt like I was in an entirely different world.

The Dubeg Fort was built 2500 years ago and is about ready to slide off the cliff and into the ocean.  This archeological site is an old Irish defence system.  National Geographic states, "The Dubeg Fort is steeped in history and is one of the very few oldest historical monuments that we have left in this planet".  This site also claims to have fantastic panoramic cliff views.... though it was a little difficult for us to see in all this fog.  Still beautiful, none the less.

You can see an old beehive hut (built by the monks) just to the right of this house.  A few seconds after taking this photo, a white-haired lady in pyjamas came out the front door of this house, staring us down.  We smiled and waved, and then got back into our car to continue on.

We read that people would come to this church to renew their wedding vows.  Part of sealing the deal was to reach through this old post and touch index fingers.  Ladies and gentleman, we've officially renewed our vows!  Zack looks pretty pumped about this.

The town of Dingle!  There is Murphy's Pub (the yellow building), where we ate when we arrived.

               This is our hostel.

The Dingle Lighthouse.  We took a walk out here just before leaving.

After an unbelievably dream-like experience in the Dingle Peninsula, we headed to the city of Cork, where we had plans to fly out of the next day.  It was nice to switch things up a bit and experience an Irish city, rather than the countryside.  However, Zack and I both agreed, we loved the beauty of the countryside much more than the concrete of the city.  We spent the day wandering, checking out the English Market, and filling up on one last meal before heading home.  Here are some photos of our time: