Day 6, Circling Dingle

We spent most of today in and out of the car on our tour of The Ring of Dingle. It's basically a loop with a lot of historic stops and beautiful vistas. It was a little rainy when we left, which our innkeeper called "a soft morning." We called it drizzle.

The first stop was an ancient fort that is basically falling into the sea.

Here's the mound part.

Here's the stone part. This is Eileen, right after she tried to stand up straight. Bad move.

When we got back on the road, we got to chase some sheep with the car. The roads are narrow and basically one lane in parts... as the people towards the front of the car liked to point out quite a bit.

Here is the bay of Dingle. The best surfing in all of Ireland! We also went to a little museum about the people who lived on one of the outlying islands up until 1953, when they were evacuated. It was a small Irish community that produced some wonderful storytellers before they were moved away. The museum was very well produced, but we couldn't figure out where the money came from to build it.

Here's a photo of the hills and the mist. Mind you, Jacob did go and rent a bike and ride it around. He was very safe and sound at the end, and it only took him two hours (it took us close to four.)

Here's the oratory, which is over 1,000 years old and still standing, and not leaking.

Here are our hosts!

Another size comparison. Here I am, standing straight up.

Here's Tim, crushed under the weight of his fat Irish head.

From there, we went to see one more old stone building, an ancient church.


Out in front of the church is an ancient stone with the Celtic ogham writing. This stone has a whole through the middle and in ancient times, people would put their thumbs in on either side and touch thumbs to seal deals. It was done in front of the church, so that God would be their witness. Apparently in modern times people stick their thumbs through to renew their wedding vows. Tim and I did give each other Irish thumbs up, as it were.

We went back to Dingle and the boys dropped Eileen and I off to shop. I did not buy these Lulu-print slippers, and am kicking myself over it. THEY EVEN HAVE STUBBY LITTLE UPTAILS LIKE HER! My friend Frank is watching the cats, and he reports that they are so desperate for love that Thory, who is not known for his kindness towards strangers, came straight out from under the bed and rubbed against his legs the last time he stopped by. Poor muffins!

While we were waiting for the boys, we saw a wedding party in full swing. They got married at the little church in town, and then went to various pubs and took pictures. It looked like a good time!

We had pub dinner again tonight and are now just relaxing. Tomorrow we're off to see the Cliffs of Morhe (which I am calling the Cliffs of Mordor) and then off to another town whose name I can't pronounce. What more could you want!