Ireland - Day 5 thru 8 - Killarney

     We arrived in Killarney in the afternoon of our 5th day and we pleasantly surprised at the excellent accommodations of the bed and breakfast.  After we were settled in our rooms we decided to visit Muckross House & Gardens, a National park, which was only a few miles away.  We spent all afternoon at this beautiful park and gardens, very picturest and relaxing.  Since it started raining we took a buggy ride back to the main house after we walked around all afternoon.

     We ate dinner at the Muckross House then went back to the B & B and spent the evening playing cards.  The next morning we had a nice hardy breakfast before driving around the Ring of Kerry.  It was raining off and on that day but it was a fun day stopping in small towns whenever we wanted.  We even visited an out of the way beach, down narrow winding road.  While we were on the beach we looked up at the steep hills and saw white dots all over which turned out to be sheep or goats grazing on the hill. Driving a car rather than taking a bus tour gives you a lot more flexibility plus you can go places that a bus can't.  

     We left right after breakfast the next day to see the Blarney Stone near the city of Cork.  We stood in line to see the stone but we skipped the kissing part, too many other lips on the stone.  The gardens were beautiful plus they had a separate poison garden, which was interesting and contain an enormous amount of poisonous plants.

     On the 8th day we headed to Dublin but stopped in the town of Waterford to see the Crystal factory.  Initially, I didn't think this would be all that cool, but I was wrong.  This was a great tour where we got to see how the artisan’s hand cut the crystal; they even stopped while cutting to explain what they were doing.  Well worth the stop on our way to Dublin.

     It was dark when we arrived in Dublin and we could not find our hotel even with the GPS.  We must have tried 4 or 5 times when we finally decided to stop a cab and pay him to take us to the hotel.  It was right in front of our nose but somewhat camouflaged.  We checked in the hotel, turned in the car, had a nice dinner and rested with a nice glass of wine in the bar.  Tomorrow we planned on buying a bus pass and start our self-guided Dublin tour.