Ring of Kerry
After seeing Skellig Michael, Killian and I decided to take in some of the world renowned views of the Ring of Kerry! Spoiler Alert: It was the best trip ever.
We started with some sunset views at the Kerry Cliffs. There were at least 5 signs on the short drive over describing the cliffs as Kerry's most spectacular, which was pretty funny. But the view was, admittedly, nice! We could see the Skellig islands that we'd visited earlier in the day (the two juts of rock near the right of the photo) and it was really nice with the warm evening sun.
No more puffins though, so the islands win!
After our long day of adventures, why have a regular, boring dinner? Especially when you can have pizza in an old, renovated church! Killian brought us to The Oratory in Cahersiveen, the next town over, for some pizza and wine.
The inside was gorgeous, and they had really unique pizza options that tasted surprisingly good. I went for the one with fresh crab.
Full of pizza, we took a little stroll through the town. I found a Guinness poster that I find oddly similar to a demented Thomas the Tank Engine. Anyone else see it?
We enjoyed one last sunny morning in our charming AirBnb with its gorgeous waterfront views before heading out to explore on our way home.
We came across a beach that I don't know the name of, since it wasn't planned. But how stunning are these views?! Ireland on a sunny day feels like a completely different place.
As we drove along the route, we came across quite a few abandoned houses from the migration towards Dublin and other countries for jobs. I really loved this one, filled with and surrounded by grazing cows.
Soon after, we spotted a ruin and a spot to grab some breakfast. Most ruins in Ireland aren't structurally sound enough to use the stairs, if there are even any remaining, so I was super stoked to see some in good condition here! The second floor offered gorgeous views of the beach below and the surrounding area.
Just up the beach, we wandered through an old abbey, which seemed to have been converted into a modern-use cemetery.
Further along the Ring of Kerry was Derrynane Beach. It honestly looked and felt tropical. The water was a bright cyan and the sand stretched on for ages. I was longing for a swimsuit, or even a pair of shorts! Cockiness about a staycation led to the worst packing of my life.
After enjoying some beautiful views from up high, we turned a corner and this gorgeous castle turret peaked out of the foliage. I had to explore! After a little post-trip Googling, it looks like it's called Ladies' View Castle. It was very different to a lot of the castles I've seen in Ireland. The feel was much more fairytale than medieval. Very quickly it became one of my favourites I've visited!
Next stop was Torc waterfall. After a beautiful drive through dense forest and winding roads, it was about a 10-15 minute hike downhill to these beautiful falls. The trail went further down below and above the falls, but neither of us was dressed or prepared for hiking, and we had to get back on the road so we weren't home horribly late (we still had 3 hours left!) Because there aren't too many mountains here, there aren't many large waterfalls. This brought me back to Washington and Utah hikes! (In both photos below, we hiked a bit up the falls, so it's actually even larger than you can see here)
Our last stop was Muckross Abbey. There's actually a lot to the Muckross Estate, and most of it was free to access. It's somewhere I'd love to return to in the future to explore further! But with limited time, I knew what I wanted to see - the abbey. It's known for its courtyard which has become overgrown by a large, twisted tree. And, more stairs! That probably sounds very silly but it really is hard to come by since most floors are made of wood and rot away leaving one hollow structure. I was excited that we got to explore more.
This was easily one of the best trips I've ever taken. Good weather. Good views. Good food. Amazing company! A big thanks to Killian for driving us the majority of two days ❤️