East of Kenmare Ireland
21 miles...hilly, quite hilly, miles
mix of weather, but no rain to speak of...just a sprinkle, but that hardly counts
Today we cycled through Killarney National Park for about 20 km. Slow and steady were Blaze and me. It gives Fuat lots of time to sit and look at the countryside. Have I told you bike like a Slinky Dog? He cycles ahead and waits for me until I catch up...all day long, stopping several times an hour. What a patient man! He could do many more miles in a day if he were cycling alone. Blaze and I are the slow pokes.
I didn't know Ireland had this kind of wilderness mountains and lakes. It's unbelievably beautiful! After passing through a delightful town of Kenmare (south of Killarney) we cycled into some serious mountains, the Shehy Mountains northeast of Bantry.
We've opted to start heading east to Cork and should be there this weekend (heads up Heike:)) How long it takes is weather and hills dependent. We love where we're camped tonight up in the rocky, treeless mountains with the sheep baaing in the distance. And those no-see-ums stayed away long enough for us to cook up another fantastic meal. Patient and he can cook! I'm a lucky woman to be traveling with this guy:) Tonight it was barley with chickpeas, Kalamata olives, oil, vinegar, and tomato paste. I could have eaten more of that, but I had to share. I haven't mentioned the cheeses and breads we've been picking up along the way for lunches. Even their mature cheddar tastes wonderful...and then there's camembert and today St.? cheese - the sharpest cheese either of us have ever eaten! It needs crackers, not bread.
In town, the most important thing for me was getting a shower and laundry done. Neither are easy on this trip because laundromats are rare and we're not staying in campgrounds (not that there are very many around). I was hoping a hostel would let us shower and do laundry for a fee, but the one in town said no. We couldn't find out from anyone if the campgrounds had shower and laundry facilities, but we did find out there was a self-service laundromat so we went there to at least do the wash. And since they had a sink, I'm not too proud to wash my hair. I can bathe the rest of me in a pot of water (and I did just that the other night), but washing the hair is more challenging, for one thing we don't carry that much water with us extra for such frivolties.
The other thing I've learned while cycling here that I didn't know before was about burning turf after it's been cut from a bog and dried out. It's a common source of fuel for the fireplaces.
Goodnight,
BagLady
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Love the photo!
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