Killarney National Park

Tuesday, June 12th
Killarney National Park
15 miles
heavy rains early

Last night we camped in an unmaintained field. Fuat tried to find a farmer to ask, but gave up. We spent a wonderful evening with the sun strolling the meadows and checking out the birds. Fuat thought he saw a new bird, a long-tailed tit, but he just told me it wasn't in his book. (That info is for any bird watchers reading...Laura:)) So we tucked in around 9 and were to sleep at 10. In the morning I told Fuat that I had a dream that the farmer woke us up last night asking for money to camp there. And that you offered him 5 euros and he wanted 15=20...then you offered 10 and he begrudgingly took it and wished us a goodnight. I told you that I thought it wasn't even the farmer that owned the land, just somebody who wanted to get some money off of us. Fuat said it wasn't a dream! That's a first for me and I've done this a fair bit. Oh well. You come across folks like that every now and again. I still don't think he owned the land, but we weren't about to pack up and we sure didn't want a tussle.

Today was a day of sightseeing. We rode into Killarney in a heavy downpour. We needed to find fuel for our camp stoves so headed to the outlet mall downtown (we were told they had outdoor stores there). It was a great place to get in out of the rain, get some wifi, and wait for the stores to open. But they didn't have what we needed. After finding our fuel at another store, we strolled the streets a bit, got some soup and bread, looked at the most beautiful Aran Island woolens, got groceries and got info on the Killarney National Park. It's right on the edge of town with delightful bike trails throught the area nearby. There's a castle from the 1400's that we toured. This castle was restored and furnished. So old, so unbelievable that people could live under those cold, harsh conditions (and they were living the good life). Would love to have gotten some pics but no photography allowed. Do they mean me???



It was a day of 3 seasons, but Fuat said he didn't think we had any summer today:) Jacket on, jacket off, fleece on, fleece off, pants rolled up,pants rolled down, buff on my head, hood up, hood down, buff off. Cold then hot, then cold again....as the sun went in and out of the clouds. It was raining so hard this morning while we were running our errands that we decided to get a room in a hostel. We could use the shower and laundry and it's just not fun biking in heavy rain. But as we finished up at the bike shop, the sky lightened up and the rain stopped. No sense in getting a room now, so we didn't.

At the castle I had my rain jacket and my fleece, my 2 iphones and my battery pack for charging all in my pockets. A lot to keep track of even for me...oh and my Buff. I lost my Buff on the tour but the tour guide went back for it for me.

We got back to our bikes and I went to hook my Iphone up to the solar charger (yes, some sun!), but couldn't find it. Did I leave it back on the bench in the exhibit? I run back, look on the bench and it's not there. A bit of panic. Let's ask at the desk. DId you find a phone? Yes, and he's looking at it. He tells me he looked at the pictures to find out who owned the phone and found pics of the inside of the castle...oops! Caught! I'll delete them. I was just glad to get my phone back.

So with the guy last night asking for money to camp in a vacant field and getting caught taking pics today, this bad karma has got to go.

So where are we tonight? Camped illegally in the Killarney National Park. Well, in our defense, we're camped behind the johns at the Denis Cottage Tea House which is closed...at least tonight it is. And the johns are locked darn it! OMG but the no-see-ums are out in full force and it was hell getting the tent up and getting in...and they managed to join us and continue to nibble away as I type.

This park is beautiful...what fabulous views of the mountains on the other side of the lake. Reminds both of us of the Adirondacks. We also toured Muckross House which was built in around 1840's. Loved seeing how they lived back then. These tours taking you right into the rooms and the guides provide a ton of information on the period, the lifestyle, the furniture, etc. I really enjoy the experience and the fees for the tours are very reasonable and affordable. It was 3 euros ($4) for the castle and 5.5 euros ($7) for the house. There's no charge to enter the park...in fact no entrance to it at all.

And we toured an old Franciscan Abbey,...that was cool too!



Okay, I'm pooped so I'm signing off now to go scratch my new sun bumps and no-see-um bites!

BagLady

P. S. dinner was another delicious meal by Fuat...this time quinoa salad. As I cooked the quinoa, he chopped cucumber, green peppers, tomatoes, and radishes. We mixed it all together and pour our olive oil and vinegar and garlic dressing over it. YUM! I record our meals so that I can remember them the next time I go off alone:) Also, so you can drool!!!


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