Killarney

The drive to Killarney was amazing. The roads were small enough to be a one way (a tight one way) yet they were meant for two way traffic. When a car approached we had to pull over into the bushes to let them pass unless they pulled over to let us pass. It was certainly an experience. Conor was telling us that there is something like a thousand dollar fine for being on your phone while driving and you could get jail time. It makes perfect sense because there wasn't a chance in hell I'd ever attempt to look at anything but the road. This was disappointing when I wanted to check out the stellar views but couldn't tear my eyes away from the road in fear of crashing. We pulled over quite a bit to take it all in though.
Once we got to Killarney we found our hostel, the Sugan.

Don't let the cool outside appearance fool you. Read on.

My mom picked this one because they were a drug/alcohol free hostel. This was the only redeeming quality. The Sugan was a nightmare. I felt really bad for subjecting Danielle to it. Once we checked in the man at the front desk was Sweden, which was great for Dan because that's apparently the only accent she can do, Yaaaaa? He explained that we could use the kitchen as long as we cleaned up after ourselves. We decided to go out to eat. Once we got back Danielle tried to take a shower. I say tried because the shower wouldn't stay on. Earlier when she tested it it wouldn't turn off and got water all over the floor. She gave up on that endeavor and attempted to wash her face. Unfortunately the mirror was designed for someone my height only and she could barely see the bun on top of her head in the mirror.

Sorry Dan. This mirror is just for me

We gave up and decided to go to bed. The good thing is you could feel every single spring in the bed and we each got one flimsy pillow. Another benefit was that we were directly across from the public shower where people were noisily showering for a good portion of the night. When we weren't listening to water running we heard drunken people shouting outside from the pubs across the street. Needless to say, the Sugan was not our favorite place to stay.

In the morning I woke up around 7:30 unable to handle the springs in my back any longer I trekked outdoors in search of coffee. Unfortunately no one wakes up before ten in Ireland I discovered and my search was unsucessful. Hangry and exhausted I decided we should check out the breakfast situation at the hotel next door. The waiter approached us and asked for our room number as I helped myself to some cereal. 102 I mumbled (I felt bad for whoever was in room 102 but I was hungry!) He asked me to repeat myself and I said 102 again a little louder feeling the fear of being caught twisting my stomach. He nodded and asked me what I'd like for breakfast. I asked for a poached egg with toast. When he came back out he asked if we were room 102 or 112. I'm a terrible liar so I said oh yeah it's 112. I thought for sure we were busted but he came out with my egg a moment later. Sorry room 112 but breakfast was delicious.

Before heading to our next destination we checked out Killarney national park. We saw the very impressive Ross Castle and walked around the lake a bit.

Ross Castle

Ross Castle was huge and beautiful. It was in better condition than some of the other castles we've seen. The castle overlooked a lake with some islands and mountains in the background. The weather was perfect. The sun was shining and the sky was a magnificent shade of blue with contrasting white clouds scattered about only occasionally blocking the sun. We decided to take a small boat operated by an adorable old Irish man to one of the islands called Inissfallen Island. The boat ride took about 20 minutes and we learned a little about the surrounding islands. Most of which I forget already. 

We had an hour to play around unsupervised on the island. Naturally I scaled the wall of an old building made of stones. It was secluded and untouched. The building was mostly in tact still but you could tell it was extremely old. 

There were some deer nearby and we followed them to a trail around the island. The island was much bigger than I realized and it reminded me of Jurassic Park. There were dense wooded areas covered in overgrown ferns and everything had a shade of green from the sun shining through the leaves of the trees. We thought it would be funny to film me near the deer pretending to be part of the wildlife and scattering with the deer as they got startled. It was but I lost my phone in the process and we spend the next half hour backtracking and searching for it. Luck was on our side because Danielle spotted it on the ground right before panic set in. Because of the lost phone we were a few minutes late getting back to our boat but the man was extremely nice about it. I can't imagine anyone being so nice in America in the same circumstance. 

After we got back from the island we walked around the lake a little and I made my own trail because the main trail was a bit boring. Danielle was not a fan of this because there were times when we had to use our hands and feet. She draws the line at activities that involve both her hands and her feet. She prefers activities that main require using her eyes. She was also rather concerned about poison ivy but I assured her that there is no poison ivy in Ireland. I've yet to confirm that. Overall it was a perfect morning. Our next stop would be Sneem, part of the Ring of Kerry.