The Luck of the Irish

I slept in a bit this morning and made my way down stairs to my complimentary breakfast. I was motivated for a great day around Dingle! I figured that I'd take myself on a hike around the peninsula. Yesterday was a great day for the weather and today was rainy and windy, but I really wanted to check-out this area. I grabbed a cup of coffee and turned on the ole computer to finally getting around to posting a new blog. Plus, I needed to look up my travel plans for the following day. As my computer was loading I was reading though the town's newsletter about the Hiking Festival. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that!" I said to myself. I read the lingo on the newsletter and decided to join in. The newsletter said that the hike was going to take 4-5 hours to complete and that the meeting time was at 10am. I look at my watch, "Crap! It's 9:45am! Hmmm.....I can make it!" So I shut off the computer, ran upstairs, grabbed my jacket, my backpack, some water, and I was out the door. I didn't eat breakfast and nor did I have anything for the hike...other than water and a Kit-Kat that Abby and Lily packed for me as part of their "going-away" package. I've been waiting for the right time to eat it. I rushed down to the check-in spot which was down the block and it was POURING rain, very cold, and very windy. I thought to myself, "I'm insane!" I make it to check-in, filled out a form, and ran to the bus. They were providing boxed lunches for all the hikers, but in my rush (and theirs) I seemed to had forgotten it. I jumped on the bus and then the doors closed. We were off to the trail-head!

As I looked around the bus I saw some pretty serious hikers. They were all equipped with their hiking sticks, name-brand outfits, and gear. They looked like some serious hikers. Then there is me who is wearing only one of my two sets of clothes. When the bus arrived at the trail-head it just stopped in the middle of the parking lot. The doors hadn't opened. We were waiting for the okay to get out and start the hike. It's pouring rain and you can hear it pounding on medal roof of the bus, like nails. Everyone in the bus was silent. We're waiting for those doors to open.....then our journey starts. The lady next to says, "The suspense is killing me". I said, "I feel like I'm in one of those landing crafts that is storming the beach at Normandy and were just waiting for the ramp to drop and then all hell is going to break loose." She laughs. Moments later the bus door swing open and the rain and wind get much louder. We all get out of the bus and group together.

The Parking Lot

Or leader was this rough-looking Irishman with a cigarette in his mouth. He looked tough! He was a nice guy though and pretty funny too. Once he found out I wasn't Irish he would come up and explain some of the sites that we stopped at, but he was still pretty intimidating to approach.

Most of the group was older and I just may have been the only foreigner. I meet most of the 30+ hikers and got to talk briefly with them. As you hike you just talk to who is close to you. Everyone I met was from Ireland who were in town the for Hiking Festival and a hand-full of people were Dingle residents. The lady I talked with the most was named, "Emma" and she lived just North of Galway. We shared a few too many laughs and she was a big movie/musical buff like myself and so had much to talk about. She says I need to see the movie, "In Bruges" with Colin Farrell.

Note: Thank you to those who are reading my blog. You don't have too read all of this stuff since I know there are some long stories. You can read whatever you like. The stories are more for me to remember this trip and to go back and look into different things. I'm sure many.....and would I.....see the long dialogue and then say, "Naa, I'm not going to read this" and then just skip to the photos. I have no problem with that. I'll try to post as many photos as I can, but it does take a while to load them.....I'll so my best. Thanks!

Anyway, Emma was fun to chat with and we even went to some of the same bars the night before. Dingle has a population of about 1,500 people and roughly 60 bars. It's crazy! We were commenting on the "Hens" that were at O'Flaherty's the night before. Malorie told me that "Hens" are the Irish version of a Baccalaureate Party and "Stag" is a Bachelor Party. We'll the Hens were doing Irish jigs to the music and the had been drinking. It was fun to watch!

I met this couple based on me overhearing their conversation and this is how most of the people found out I was from California. The lady says, "I've heard of these things called corn-dogs, but no one can tell me what they are exactly. There an American thing I think." I jumped in the conversation laughing. I then proceeded to explain what a corn-dog was and they couldn't quiet understand why anyone would find it appetizing. It was funny! Then the group around us was asking me all about travel, California, and were interested to know what I thought of Ireland. It was nice!

The Hiker

We reached a place called, Gallarus Oratory which was an early Irish Christian Church that was built in the Eighth Century. When you walk in it is fairly warm and completely dry. One Irishman, who only spoke Gaelic, had fun popping his head through the window at the people inside. By the way, many many people speak Gaelic around here. It fun to listen to. People seem so happy talking and the "gift-of-gab" is very apparent.....in all Irish and not just those who speak Gaelic. We sat there and had lunch. One of the ladies I was talking too noticed that I did get anything and she split her lunch with me. I kept telling her I was fine, but she insisted by saying, "A hungray man is a bad combination!" She gave me half of her sandwich, an apple, and a banana. She was too nice!

Gallarus Oratory

Gallarus Oratory Window

Another gentleman I met was a resident of Dingle. He was a very smart guy and had been all over the US. He really liked talking about San Francisco. We arrived at this "Ferry Hut" which I can't remember it's actual name. It was a "ferry dwelling" as they said. The man told me about how you don't mess with the dwelling or that the ferries will get angry and you have back luck. I asked, "I've heard that the Irish are very superstitious. Is this true?" He said, "Oh yes, but mostly the older generations". I walked around the dwellings and then this same man told an old Irish ferry legend to the group about the most respected man in Ireland and his encounter with a ferry. It was fantastic!

Ferry Dwelling

Ferry Dwelling

Ferry Dwelling

We reached a church called, Kilmalkedar Church. Here is some info I pulled:

This twelfth century church is built on the site of a monastery attributed to Maolcethair who lived in the seventh century. Traditionally however the site is associated with Saint Brendan. The main features of Cillmaolceadair, or Kilmalkedar Church, are several inscribed stone pillars and slabs, among which an Ogham stone, a sundial and an alphabet stone. The inscription on the Ogham stone, probably a remnant of the earlier monastery, reads Anm Maie Inbir Maci Brocann, meaning The name of Mael Inbir son of Brocan (learn by heart to impress every visitor on the site!).

The rough and tough leader of the group took me aside and told me about the church. He said that if I wanted to go to heaven I would need to walk through the window of the church three times. I think only one person did this. I'm not superstitious so I skipped it.

Kilmalkedar Church

Kilmalkedar Church

The hike was beautiful! I can't describe it! Even the photos I took don't do it justice. The hike was a little rough at times where you are walking through parts with really thick mud and mush. One lady was covered in mud and I got pretty dirty myself. At times it got pretty gross....even for me.

Muck & Mud

We'd walk right through farmlands and up the sides of hills with no visible trails. It was marshy, grassy, and oh so much fun! We got right up close with the sheep and rams and they'd scatter.

The Wildlife

The hike provided some amazing views. At one point we stopped and took some time to soak in the view. I knew then, it was time for that Kit-Kat.

The View

The View

After about 4 hours of hiking we met up with the buses. The guide said, "I'm going to continue the hike up another hill and it should take about an hour. You can leave on the bus now or continue walking." My feet were saying "No", but my heart was saying, "Yes!" Myself and four others continued. The last hour was tough!! However, it was worth it because there one silly thing I wanted to see while in Ireland and I got my chance. I wanted to see an Irish rainbow.

Irish Rainbow

Irish Rainbow

When I made it to the top of the hill where our van was waiting, I was huffing and puffing....not THAT bad, but it's a workout. The guide looks at me and says, "How you holding up?" and I say, "Great! Let's go back and do it again!" He then looks at me with his stone-cold rough Irish face, points his cigarette at me, and says in his thick accent, "I admire your sense of humor" and then he laughs.

We made our way back to Dingle and said our goodbyes. I slowly walked to the hostel and rested for the night since I was not up for walking around town. Later in the evening I had dinner at a pub (Irish sausage & roast) and then tried to find a pub that was playing music. I made my way in to a pub that was playing such fantastic Irish music! I had a beer and just sat by myself on a far table and listened the music and people watched. Just taking in the experience. It was lovely!

A while later a woman comes up to me and asks if I'd be willing to share my table with her and her family since space was starting to get limited. She said, "We are very friendly people" and I said, "Well, I'm a very friendly guy. Have a seat!" Her and her husband Paul were from Boston and her parents who joined her were from Montana. A very nice and great family to talk to. They were celebrating the older mothers 80th Birthday and this was her first time out of the US (besides Canada). She seemed so happy to be there and her husband was a little hard of hearing, but he had all sorts of questions for me. Paul and his wife walk off to play pool and I continue to talk with the older couple. After a while they came back and I'm invited to play a round of pool with Paul. I accepted. Paul and I play pool for a good hour. He was very nice and so grateful to be in Ireland listening to the music and taking a break from home. He seemed to be so jealous of my travel and was full of questions. How do not have an itinerary? How do you find and place to stay? How are you traveling? What's it like doing this solo? etc. I was more than happy to share my thoughts and I felt like he hung onto every word. It was humbling. When we were done the family left and I stayed to listen to the music. When they stopped the traditional Irish music the pub started to get busy with the late-night younger crowd. I stayed for a few songs because they were playing some American Classics like, "Brown Eyed Girl" and some Simon & Garfunkel. It was nice, but the bar was getting too full for me and the peacefulness of the pub was gone. It was now my bed time!