Day 11 of 21 "Day Trip to Dingle"

 The town of Dingle on the Dingle Peninsula was high on our list of places to see, so today was the day to make it happen. There was no direct train there, so we chose to take the bus because it was quicker, and it was worth the trip because the ride from Ballyneety to Dingle offered fantastic sights and towns to visit along the way.

We left our Airbnb at 7:30am in the cold wind and rain and walked ten minutes to the first bus stop. The umbrellas struggled to stay in one piece, so the day didn't start out too promising weather wise, but somehow, by the time we got to Dingle, the skies cleared and our walk around town was beautiful.  


            Our Airbnb in Ballyneety. Monday morning rain. Our room is the left wing of the house.




                                            Early morning rain on Main Street Ballyneety


                      Limerick Bus Station.  Patrick is very good a figuring out how all this works.






                                                         Rainy bus ride to Dingle



                                                          Main Street Dingle




Not only was this dolphin shop run by a woman who sat on the bus with us to Dingle (she recognized us first), we also saw a Miami Dolphins fan wearing a #13 Dan Marino jersey.  Yep, it's a very small world.



                                     Above is a thrift store in Dingle. It closed at 1:00pm, which was 45 minutes before we got there, so I have yet to step foot into a "charity shop" as they are called in Ireland. I'll keep trying. There are a lot of them, it's just that they don't open often.




The best seafood chowder I've ever had, and we also shared a plate of fried calamari, fish, and prawns. 


Dingle spy cow (below) on one of the main roads watching cars and tourists.  👀
The picture above is also what the cow sees from his pasture high on a hill.




                                                                     Dingle Art below








                                          Below are scenes from our ride back to Limerick.










We changed buses in Tralee, one of the main towns in Ireland. Below are a few photos from our walk around town and a short visit to Hennessy's Pub while waiting for the next bus.


                                                           St John's Cathedral in Tralee



           These Irishmen love their Guinness and they are very friendly. The bartender in Tralee showed us pictures he took of the Northern Lights that happened two nights ago.  AMAZING  I'm still bummed we missed it. He was also helpful with our next planning session and gave us tips on how to get where we want to go, He also talked about horse racing in Ireland. He said it's a highly competitive sport and the horses that are not top performers are shipped to the United States to race there. What?!  

Soon we were back on the road and nearing Limerick when we saw, once again because it caught my attention on the way to Dingle, Adare Manor Golf Club. It sounds familiar, and it is a bit famous in Ireland, just not sure if it's one I really know of.  The town has several boutique shops, lots of pubs, and beautiful gardens, so they must have a good clientele. Below are a few pictures I snapped as the bus passed by. If we had more time, we'd definitely play this public course. Adare is only 15 minutes from Limerick.




We were back in Limerick 13 hours after we left this morning, and we walked across the street from the bus station to a pub for pizza, beverages, and the all important strategy session.  The last 8 days were still unclear until tonight.  As Patrick likes to say, "I love it when a plan comes together."






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