Dingle

While still in the midst of the bank holiday weekend, we had to decide whether we wanted to stay in Killarney or head to the Dingle Peninsula. We decided to go to Dingle despite the threat of increased holiday traffic.

And holiday traffic there was. Most of the ride was unpleasant. Motorists are allowed to drive 100kph on roads barely wide enough to fit a car in each direction. While 90% of the motorists gave us plenty of space when they passed, they still passed at sometimes frightening speed.

Needless to say we were grumpy about the ride. But there were a few highlights. Inch Beach was a nice rest spot. The brave were taking surf lessons, while some dude in a land sailing buggy was doing donuts on the wide beach. We also made a point to avoid the main road as much as possible. Some of the farm roads were pleasantly quiet.

After pitching our tent at the Rainbow Hostel just outside of Dingle, we decided to walk to town to check out the pubs. Downtown Dingle was hopping. We passed maybe ten pubs before settling in at one that was advertising live music and that wasn’t already standing room only.

Turns out we picked a good one. We got a spot at the bar, had some drinks and listened to some talented musicians play traditional Irish music. The fiddler was especially impressive. She had the growing crowd whooping and hollering after every song.

This was also my first pint of Guinness in Ireland. I’ve been trying to sample the local options instead of going for the default. So far so good. While the US continues its love affair with IPAs and hops über alles, it’s nice to have so many good choices.