I basically missed Cork, owing to my being sick. I'm still sick, but I was determined to make the most of my vacation. I drank hot drinks and liters of grapefruit juice, I bundled up and I rested. In between, I saw some lovely sights. Unfortunately, only one of them was Irish.
One of my stops was at the Prince August toy soldier visitor center and factory, which I have blogged about on Purple Pawn.
Somewhere on the Road From Cork to Killarney
Yet another church
Yet another small town
Same town
Pottery shop and proprietress
Yes, there is Celtic knotwork on the vase and an Irish word on the plate, but the potter hails from the US
Moo crossing
More moo
Killarney National Park
Killarney National Park is beautiful: lake, hills, moss, ferns, etc. I hiked two km from what looked like an entrance to the Muckross House. Then it began to drizzle on and off, so I drove about 15 km south around the shore and then back. Someone told me that I should have kept going because the scenery gets even better. I'll have to take her word for it.
The first entrance to the park. I walked from here.
Muckross cathedral
One of the world's perfect spots
Same spot, looking right
Same spot
In order to give a better feel for the above spot, I have uploaded a p.o.v. video pan:
On the drive
On the hike
On the hike
Moss and vine fighting over a tree
Path to the Muckross House (a mansion in the park)
This place must have been used in some movie, no?
Looking right from the above shot
Somewhere in the park
Somewhere else in the park
Killarney
After rest and drinks, I hazarded out to town to see what the local nightlife was like. Turns out: full of tourists.
There are a few spots with music. The crowded one was the Grand Hotel, with nightly entertainment starting with "traditional" Irish music and then a band on one side and a disco on another. The band wasn't bad, quite good in fact; a bunch of old-timers playing well and singing very well. They played to an entirely tourist audience, however, and the audience was loud, shouting while the music was playing and crowding the musicians.
One girl did some clogging, which was much appreciated. However, she hailed from Chicago.
I left the Grand and went down the street to another pub (O'Connors) with a younger Irish band playing American country music. Most of the patrons in that pub were watching a match on the telly.
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