No surprise, we woke up before the alarm again. We were also extremely hungry (again). I headed downstairs to the kitchen for breakfast, checked emails, and reviewed the itinerary for the day. Unfortunately, check out was at ten, but our planned bus route didn't come through Killarney until two that afternoon. Don't get me wrong, Killarney is great, but I'm not sure I can find 4 hours of activities that allowed us to carry our luggage with us, especially since we had planned on renting bicycles and touring Killarney National Park. After navigating my way through the Bus Eireann website and finding an earlier bus, JJ and I packed lunch and rung the doorbell for the hostel keeper.
The hostel keeper, a short man with a potentially Italian accent and a unique hair style, met us in the common room and it turns out we could rent the bikes there and leave our luggage until we returned-score! We checked out of our room and hopped on our bikes, planning to return in an hour and a half to catch the bus at noon. We had no idea where we were going, but a handy postcard sized map from the hostel provided us with enough sense of direction to find the mountains (which may or may not have been obviously looming to the west of town). The hostel keeper had also given us verbal directions which JJ fortunately listened to, as I have developed my zone-out tendencies to a dangerous level. If you thought I was bad before this trip, it's gotten worse.
We reached the exit with an hour to spare. Should we venture on to the 12k loop around the lake? I think so. The waterfall on the other side was too much temptation to resist. Following the guide of our oh-so-accurate map led us down a picturesque lane framed by blossoming trees towards what we assumed to be the Muckross House. At the end of the lane, there was indeed a house—but it was not the Muckross House, which stood at the entrance to the 12k loop. We reassessed our location, and determined that the next street on the right was surely the one we needed—in case we haven't mentioned it before, the Irish have a tendency to not use street signs. We followed this road for another 3k give or take, which headed directly for the base of the monolithic mountains. Just as we thought we were nearly to the Muckross House, a strangely familiar sight rose above the trees. For any of you who plan on visiting Killarney soon, keep in mind this morsel of information: Ross Castle is NOT the Muckross House, and can be accessed from both a walking path and a road.
Whilst our second trip to Ross Castle had been lovely, time was working against us. We had two options: accept defeat and take the bus at noon, or venture onwards hoping that an additional two hours would give us time to reach the waterfall. The bag I was carrying had two sandwiches, four oranges, and our water bottles, making the choice quite simple. Bring it on, Torc Waterfall.
Again, we reviewed the map and returned to the main road. A few kilometers later, we came upon the entrance to the Muckross House. Another glance at the map we were given revealed the source of our original issue: Ross Island had been disproportionately expanded and the actual streets had been shrank. Awesome.
As we rode around the lake, our sacrifice was well rewarded—the views were absolutely breathtaking. The mountains, still tipped with fog, rose sharply from the opposite bank, and the waters reflected the overcast hues of the clouds overhead. We took a break for lunch next to the lake, and discovered a rocky outcropping that defied the laws of physics. At the point where we were exploring the base of this mass of stone, we both realised how grateful we were that there are no snakes in Ireland. Our lunch break had left us with a bit less than an hour to spare, and at this point, the map was useless as an approximation for distance. We nearly turned back, but decided that we could always catch the bus at four if all else failed.
The risk was worth it—the remainder of the loop was even more incredible than the first half, and we reached the Meeting of the Waters and the Torc Waterfall with time to spare. It is important to note, however, that such suggestively impressive titles should be reserved for spectacular things...the Meeting of the Waters was just a bridge over a stream between two lakes, and Torc Waterfall was a runoff pipe with a trickle that happened to go downhill before reaching the lake. A few kilometers later, we returned the bikes and hopped onto the bus towards Limerick.
On the way to Galway via Limerick, the views were pretty great—I personally enjoy the inside of my eyelids. There was an irritatingly helpless American girl on the same route (surprise), and once we arrived in Galway we followed the Google Maps' directions to the White House B&B in nearby Salthill. Whoever is in charge of Google Maps in Ireland should use better discretion—the walking route gave us a sketchy industrial road route to Salthill (which was avoidable, as we discovered today). Checking in to our room was unimpressive, as was the woman who greeted us (if you can call it that).
Dinner, on the other hand, was amazing! We decided that we were both finally hungry enough to each eat a full sit-down meal, so we headed to The Galleon restaurant where the evening two course special was in line. JJ ordered a Cajun chicken salad and roast chicken with stuffing and gravy, and (being a 200m walk from the coast) I ordered seafood chowder and the catch of the day (cod). I can honestly say I have never enjoyed seafood chowder so much. All of our dishes were served quickly and were impressively delectable. Not one to ruin a good meal, we passed on desert and grabbed some groceries for the next day before calling it a night.
PS--if you plan on taking a casual 20 mile ride as we did through the semi-unpaved paths of Killarney National Park, make sure you rent bikes with shocks...
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| The Supernatural Rock Formation |
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| Ross Castle |
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| ^Note the mileage... |
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