Ring of Kerry

This is a perfect post to write today! My friend visited me a couple of weeks ago, and Ireland did NOT show its best to her weatherwise. At the moment we have storm Hannah about to hit Ireland, orange warning and 130km/h gusts set to hit Ireland this weekend. I did not cycle to work this morning.

Anyway, my friend stayed here for 4 days, from Friday to Monday, and I also took those days off from work. On Friday the weather was kinda ok, also sun was shining a bit! I just showed her Limerick, we walked around a lot, went to see St.Mary's Cathedral (only outside because it was closed), and I also showed her a few pubs :).

Bulmers, nice Irish cider

On Saturday we did the Ring of Kerry. We took the Paddywagon Tour, the price is 45 € / person. The bus departed at 8 a.m (sigh), we drove through Adare (I like that place), and the first stop was Killarney (another place I like). We had over an hour there, so we went to the garden, and then shopping! I have wanted to buy Aran Island sweater, and now I finally did it now when the winter is over :D. But hey, I am sure I will need it in the future!

A few pics from Killarney

Nest stop was Kerry Bog Village, and Red Fox. The best thing there was the 2 very cute Irish wolfhound dogs and they were very friendly :). And also the Kerry Bog ponies! The museum is focused on Irish history and culture. Next to the village there is Red Fox Inn, traditional Irish pub that is famous for their Irish coffee. You should drop by...

This view is from the parking lot of the village and the inn.

Next stop was just a couple of minutes from the Kerry Bog Village, it is called River Caragh.

We stopped for lunch in Waterville, the food was nice but the service not so nice. Or the staff was nice, but it just took a long time... we had to eat our food too hot and in a hurry. And we had no time to see the town at all or to take a pic even across the street, we just had to get back to the bus right away. The restaurant was called Red Lobster. I had grilled fish, and chips :)

We continued our Ring of Kerry, and stopped at the highest look out. Holy shit it was windy! I thought it would blow my head off! I did not go near the edge becaue it was slippery too, but a lot of people did. Crazy fuckers. The visibility could've been better, but it was still ok. In clear weather this view would be amazing!

We also had this unplanned stop, just for the scenery to take a few pics.

And another lookout stop

The last stop was the one I had waited the most, because I've seen beautiful pics; Torc waterfall. I was not disappointed. The waterfall is beautiful, but the forest was just something I have never seen before! For me it was like an echanted forest, just WOW. Of course Finland is full of forests, but the trees are not covered in moss like these ones.

That was a long day, and the weather kind of sucked, but still very enjoyable! Sunday was still rainy... so we just visited Hunt Museum, on Sundays it is free!

Then on Monday my friend left back to Finland :(. It was nice long weekend and I really enjoyed it! Well, finally I have done all the posts for now, and next night I will start my 2 week trip to Central Asia. I am flying to Astana (although now it is called Nursultan), then to Almaty, then to Bishkek, then Dushanbe, and back to Astana. I haven't packed anything yet so it hasn't really hit me that it is NOW. My next posts will naturally be about that trip. I am also now in Instagram (finally) with the name nomad.riitta.