Hiking, Walking, and (Pub) Crawling

A day of travel once again, but the trip was not nearly as lengthy or stressful as the journey into Ireland from America. Instead we were simply traveling from Galway to Killarney to meet with more relatives who are related to me somehow! Jess and I got up at 6:30am and got dressed, brushed our teeth, and packed everything else we needed before crawling back into bed for another hour and a half before everyone else got up at 8:00am. Jess and I are able to get up and get ready faster if we know we'll get more sleep time in. It's a thing.

Michael was up at 8:00am and met Jess and I downstairs for toast. Marie was up eventually, though she wasn't driving us anywhere so she was still in her jammies prepared to head back to bed when we left. We said our good-byes to her and she waved us off as Michael drove us to the bus station where we officially parted ways with out Galway relatives. The station was the same one we'd arrived in from and was less a station that 9 bus spots outside a train station which was the main attraction. Jess and my ticket was vague about which bus spot our bus would be in so we tried to find someone to ask but apparently no one who knew anything about buses was in so we walked up and down to see what we could find and eventually found a sign at Stop 9 that was for 9:00am that listed Killarney as one of it's stops.

Boarding the bus is where we had a smidge of trouble. Like the last bus ticket we used, this one was for the day after our travel day, a mix up we couldn't figure out how to correct on our own. So the driver hailed me down after boarding to explain the error and told me to run to the Bus Inspector who would correct it. I hoofed it there only to find I was right, no bus people at all were in that day and had to jam it back to the driver to explain. He was talking to another driver and they both laughed at my obvious concern and told me they would correct it at the bus switch in Limerick and that they wouldn't leave without me. I thanked them and boarded the bus to explain to Jess and the goings-ons.

The ride to Limerick was about an hour and a half, but this bus thankfully had a toilet on it, unlike the last one we rode for 4 hours. At the Limerick stop, as agreed, the driver took us to the Bus Inspector there who worked out the whole thing for us to board the next bus. It was actually rather a good thing we had to go to the inspector though because otherwise Jess and I would have had no idea which bus was our next one. Like I said, the ticket was vague and I didn't even know we'd be switching buses at all! Second bus didn't have a toilet, bummer, but it was only 2 and a half hour ride and Jess and I got a little more relaxation time in before we arrived for a fun-filled day in Killarney!

Our cousin, who keeps getting mistaken for our grandmother, Catherine, picked us up at the bus stop and drove us to her place where she cooked us some pasta and introduced us to her husband, Patt, and a cousin Tom who was in the house before he went to work at a hotel down the street. The pasta was fabulous and we ate it as we discussed strategy for the rest of the day. It was decided that Catherine would drop us off at Muckross Traditional Farm where we'd use her free pass to tour the grounds, then visit Muckross Abbey. We arrived at the farm around 3:00pm and Catherine gave us one of her phones to call her when we finished with the Farm and the Abbey for her to pick us up.

Jess and I have an affinity for walking, given neither of us drive or have a car, and it was nice to just wander around the old farmland and pop into the rural farmhouses. We saw a milking demonstration, walked in houses that were supposed to be deemed small but were actually bigger than the one we live in now (which isn't surprising as we live in a two-room tiny house), and saw lots of farm animals! I got to hold a kitten, which was definetely a highlight! I was just saying the other day that I wanted to pet a cat and I was presented with an actual opportunity to do so just like that! Jess and I played with the kittens for a while before was wandered ahead and found a playgroud near the end of the walk. We naturally couldn't pass up the opportunity to use the swings and do the obstacle course, so we played there for quite a while!

By the time we left the farms for the abbey it was about 5:00pm and we hadn't even noticed the time passing. We walked passed the Muckross House, a large manor, but didn't go in as it's guided tours only and Jess and I don't like like that. We did, however, take photos of the outside because it really is a pretty manor before we started the mile trek to the abbey. It was a lovely walk for Jess and I through trees and beside a large lake where waves were forming from the hard winds. There was a main path and a hiking path but we just went the main path as we weren't really dressed for hiking in rompers and flats but it was pretty no matter where you walked!

The abbey finally came into view and we took some time to meander the semi-large graveyard outside the building. Some of the graves were exceptionally old, but a lot were fairly new which surprised us. It must cost a fortune to get buried there, but it is a lovely final resting place. We found a few Kelliher graves and wondered if we were related to any or all of them before we took to exploring the abbey. It's a rundown stone structure that lost it's roofing years ago, but it's a bit like a maze filled with secret walkways and hidden staircases and a large winding tree in the center of the abbey that just looks magnificent!

We took lots of pictures at the abbey, naturally, while spending a lot of time just wandering around enjoying ourselves! We were told to call Catherine once we left and were at a gate that's at the edge of the property but it was almost 7:00pm by the time we called because the walk from the abbey to the gate was a long one. A pleasant one though, again by the lake, and we got to just walk and talk and enjoy the scenery of Ireland!

After Catherine took us home we had dinner of toasted ham and cheese sandwiches while we watched the Gaelic Football match. I've never seen Gaelic Football before but it seems to be a mix of soccar, American football, basketball, and vollyball, which is bizarre but entertaining to watch at least! Dublin won which was upsetting to all here as they've won for four years straight and no one's excited for them (except Dublin of course), so it's a bit like a Slytherin and the house cup scenario. During dinner Catherine decided we need to go out to the bars and pubs that night but her and Patt had to run an errand so they left Jess and I to get ready and said we'd leae around 10:00pm. Jess and I have never been Night Owls or Party Animals and aren't especially into drinking, but we had to do it, we're in Ireland after all!

10:00pm a relative of Catherine drove us to the first bar, The Shire, and dropped us off. The bar is totally Lord of the Rings themed and it was way cool! Catherine bought us a Hobbit Juice, which is a cocktail served with secret ingredients. We had no idea what was in it, but it tasted just swell! We left that bar as soon as we finished our drink and hit Murphey's for an hard apple cider each and got to hear some Irish music played live. That bar was a little more lowkey, but still packed with the weekend crowd! Next up was Mrs. Ready where we got a shared cider and our last drink of the night. There was also live music there, but the band was a Irish group playing enthusiastic covers of other songs, including Zombie and American Pie which everyone, including us, sang at the top of our lungs! We lost track of Patt there as he wandered off to a quieter bar and Catherine took us to Social 51 which is basically a bar/nightclub with a live saxophone player playing to exceptionally loud techno music. It's a very 'in' place according to Catherine and it helped save, or at least liven up the bar scene in Killarny by attracting young tourists somewhere other than 'traditional pubs'. We didn't have a drink there but Catherine had two Guinness beers before we went to bar #5 to find Patt. I can't remember the name of the bar he was at, but it was much quieter and more casual than the other bars and pubs in the area, though there was no shortage of customers.


1:00am everyone had had enough and we took a taxi ride from another of Catherine's relatives back home to finally get some sleep. I always think we do so little each day then I write it down and realize why I'm so tired in the morning. Oh well, we can sleep when we're dead!