Last Week of Ireland

So it's almost that time to say goodbye to Ireland. I think this will be my last post before returning home and I will do a followup when I get back with anything I need to add and links to pictures/videos/ect.

I had written a short bit about Dingle when I first arrived and afterwards it turned out to be a very strange but awesome place. The weekend I had gone was their cultural celebration weekend that included bands roaming through the streets, a parade and plenty of other strange events. I attended the first ever Dingle Pub Crawl hosted by a worker at the Hostel I was at (they fixed the door by the way). I met plenty of interesting people like Irish Kenyans, Australians ect. The next day was the parade which featured a lot of reggae bands around the town and kids in the streets dressed up in costumes. The funniest experience of the day came when I found the park hidden in the middle of the town. I had heard there was a famous reggae band there playing away and thought it would be a good way to kill some time. I arrived, sat on the curb, and out of no where I hear the beat start going and a huge crowd of Irish people appear and start dancing in sync to the music. I was so thrown off for a second until I realized there was a person teaching all of them how to dance to each beat. It was one of the most peculiar and fantastic experiences. The next two nights I spent hopping around with this Alaskan couple and their Airforce friend who I had got into conversation with when I told them they didn't have to tip the barman (this has happened many times with Americans and I). The rest of the weekend they for some reason kept buying me drinks even when I didn't want them. It got so ridiculous that the final night I had to literally take the drink, hand it to a random person, and walk out the back door so they would stop. No complaints here though!

After Dingle I went on to Killarney. The first day I biked all around Killarney and Killarney National Park. It ended up being about 50k worth of biking on the first day. The scenery was gorgeous even if it was riddled with tourists. It was all fun but I didn't enjoy having to go to sleep in a hostel room with two guys that smelled like feet and sweat. I took off to cycle the rest of the ring shortly afterwards first going to Glenbeigh to spend a night and then on to Cahersiveen. The first two days were brutal as I was facing Gale force headwinds that would literally stop me in my tracks on down slopes. Therefore the entire thing was uphill. Afterwards the weather turned more to my favor as I was able to bike all the way to Sneem and then back to Kilarney afterwards. In total, including Dingle, Killarney, and the Ring of Kerry, I was able to cycle 150-175 miles. It was a huge accomplishment for me and I was very proud when I finished up. I finally feel that I am getting back into the athletic shape I once was in and will be able to do more that I've been held back from for several years now.

After the ring I stayed on one more day and went golfing at Killarney Golf and Fishing club. The course was stunning and I had been itching to get a round in at least once while in Ireland. It also confirmed that I am a terrible golfer and did need 6 balls and one I found along the way to complete the course. To my credit though their rough is a bit too high and easy to lose balls in... I guess. Today I am in Waterford because I felt it was one of the last major cities on the Island of Ireland that I had not been to (the only other one being Derry in Northern Ireland). I sat people watching for awhile in one of the Grafton street like pedestrian shopping roads and was thoroughly entertained the entire time. I watched children trying to catch pigeons, little girls pretending to be Hannah Montana, and even an off-duty Elvis impersonator who passed me by. I always wondered what they did during the day...

So the plan for here on out is to hopefully go surfing again tomorrow but this time in Tramore which is just south of Waterford. It would be the exact opposite end of the Island that I surfed at before. I wanted to go kayaking but apparently it's too windy. Oh well! I'll head back to Dublin Wednesday and spend some time hanging out with the Irish cousins before (hopefully) properly boarding the plane to come home. Thanks again for everyone who has been reading this over the past 4 1/2 months and I'll be sure to put a follow up in the next two weeks with everything!