We woke up to the sun shining again for us (how about this weather?) this time in Dingle (population ~1900.) The previous night, Ben had headed out around 9 PM to find authentic live music and he was successful in the tiny O’Sullivan pub, which had about 6’ ceilings and could fit around 20 people.  He had a blast! We tried three different times to hit the Dingle Music Shop to pick up some CDs for the drive, but they were always closed when we stopped by (and no posted hours.)

After breakfast (Ben went for a traditional Irish and had black pudding!) we walked around Dingle for a couple hours. The town is just adorable – pubs, bookstores, fish and chip and fish monger shops. The hostess at breakfast suggested that we hit the Slea Head drive and so we did, around 11:30 this morning.

Two pieces of advice to provide – If you are travelling in the UK, always opt for the breakfast. It usually will only cost a few dollars more when you book the room. If you wait, it will always be at least ten more, per person. The UK does a BIG breakfast, unlike many European breakfasts where it is continental. The UK will always have a continental option PLUS a hot breakfast. Second piece of advice – ask for advice! The breakfast room manager brought over a map and explained where we needed to go. We had an open agenda after two days of go, go, go so away we went.

Slea Head is MAGNIFICENT. Okay, truth is – I didn’t need any arm pulling as scenes from the last Star Wars and the one coming out next year were BOTH filmed here. There weren’t any people around. The signs were all in Gaelic. It is only about 50 miles around but we took just less than two hours as we stopped so many incredible places. It was magnificent and  someplace really off the beaten path. You can see the Great Blasket Islands from the drive and many interesting ponies, sheep, goats and cows.

At our stop back at Dingle we opted for Fish and Chips (me) and some sort of Beef Pot Pie (Ben). Dingle is truly a foodie town where you can’t go wrong – the cheeses and butters and meats mostly local, the fish fresh caught and never frozen. There is a fish monger food truck, local ice cream, delightful coffee shops.

As we headed out to Killarney, Ben first chatted with the Bartender at the pub we were lunching at. He suggested a route change to Killarney to save time. Again, that advice! It was a beautiful, cliff-hugging adventure.

We’ve landed in Killarney and to my delight we were upgraded to a suite with a Jacuzzi tub – which is fantastic as we are here for two nights and my back is suffering from the driving and walking non-stop. I’ve bought some water and mandarin oranges for a treat  (“still water and easy peels” if you are Irish) and will jump in the tub now to refresh myself for our adventure in Killarney tomorrow.