"As I was going over the Cork and Kerry mountains"

In the past couple days, I learned some things:

1) Limerick is not as fun as the namesake would suggest... I mean, what's funnier than a bawdy limerick? Not the eponymous city apparently.

2) Dingle is a fun, crowded, seaside town.

3) Killarney is a lovely, busy town.

All this, and Irish people travel too much for their bank holidays for my taste. Which means, they make it harder on me to find places!

Anyhow, things started off in Limerick after not a ton of sleep after an (admittedly talented) band was playing loudly 10 feet below my hotel room window until late in the night. I wish I could share the video of my mom enthusiastically dancing along in our room...but sadly such a thing doesn't exist.

How do you recuperate? Hitting up the Milk Market a block away for some needed breakfast. Pops kept keto, I briefly strayed:

Sausage on a stick, sausage in a sandwich with streaky bacon. Two happy pigs!

After such a sumptuous feast, you gotta walk it off. We went to go check out King John's castle, which turns out is rather pricey for a guy who had toilets named after him). Didn't go in, but here's a lovely pic from across the river.

There once was a King named John... you can fill in the remaining lines.

Limerick was alright, but it was time to get back to the shore, to better trad music, and to a city I knew had Murphy's Ice Cream Shop.

But before we could get there, we stoped in the city of Tralee for lunch. I knew nothing about this city except for the Rose of Tralee, as in when that guy's girlfriend in Caddyshack says "she's been plucked more times than the Rose of Tralee". Turns out, the city actually really likes roses, and has a contest that's a lot like the "Cherry Blossom Princess" festival in DC where they have a pageant to honor that year's finest Irish rose. Quick side note, yes, no big deal, I once sang in an a cappella group for all of the Cherry Blossom Princesses, and yes, it was a big deal.

Anyhow, here's some a couple of pics from a park in Tralee

As you can see, they really hate the breeds of dogs listed here! I mean, everywhere I've seen in Ireland, dogs are walked off the leash constantly, but these breeds (and crossbreeds) are apparently not to be trusted around the roses. And plus, they had an amazingly named restaurant around the corner

Hey, a classy pose for a classy name.

Had a lovely lunch nearby-- fish pie! Check out "The Roast House" if you're in Tralee if you like ok entrees but great desserts.

Oh me oh my how Irish people love to make pies. Out of things Americans would put... not in pies.

I mean, Tralee was pretty and all, but it was time to get to our final destination for the evening-- we had to go to Dingle! I'd heard things. And by things, I mean "2 or 3 facts barely recalled by people I barely remember".

We get there and go to this great, conveniently located, and apparently oldest building in Dingle (#irishfacts) to stay for the night. The Quayside B&B was right on the bay, and only a 5 minute walk from both Murphy's Ice Cream *AND* our boat ride in the morning to go see Fungie the dolphin. That's right, there's a friendly dolphin named Fungie we're gonna see in the morning. More on that later.

This place had all great stores in it... which were all closed on Sunday so kind of a moot point.

What you should know about Irish B&Bs is you can get your ear talked off. Even when you're really tired and just want to drop your stuff off, charge your phone, and get a drink. But if you want a catty old bald man talking to your parents about your life choices, I highly recommend it.

First order was rewarding myself after driving for hours through serpentine roads with a delicious beer in a weird, eclectic old house that became a bar. Kennedy's in Dingle is an absolute must. It's like someone made a delicious milkshake out of a circa 1900s Irish house interior, but then a bright weird exterior, and german beer garden back yard. You literally sit in a weird kitchen or by a weird steamer chest! Your choice. Here's some pics.

After some pints, you gotta have dinner. Eventually we ended up at Lord Baker's for some seafood. Pretty decent! Some fish called brill and a local beer.

The beer was much better than the fish... I'd buy another bottle if I could pronounce any of the words on the label.

But by far the best part of the night was going to see live music at Murphy's bar afterwards. Did it start promptly at 9:30 as listed? Absolutely not. Was there enough room initially for us to sit? Nope. But by the time things really got going, my parents and I were tapping our feet and singing along as much as possible. Here's a quick video of their well-known opener.

Many songs, many pints, many people enjoying themselves. A great day in Dingle!

*Nightfall*... 3 people fall asleep... and no one plays "Mafia" anymore, so no one will get this reference. But I do, and dammit, I'm here to amuse myself.

The next morning, we all woke up and admittedly only I was truly excited at first probably about this dolphin trip.

One Fungie and One Fun Guy

But you know what? You actually get to see some beautiful parts of the bay in Dingle.

Now you might be saying, "where's the frikkin dolphin"? I might have said that myself, although based on the sign below, part of me would have been happy to not see the dolphin (see below)

Hmmm... seen by whom? and for how long?

Bottom line, yeahhhh, we saw him. I tried to stitch together some videos, but my timing was admittedly awful. We didn't high five, or dance together like left shark/katy perry, but we felt a bond. Here is the best *possible* video here... just assume it all went to plan, ok? Also, side note... "the sea was angry that day my friends!" As turbulent as the waves were, I was lucky to get what I got.

All things considered, it was pretty great. So great that we went out too lunch to celebrate at The Boatyard afterward. Gotta get some seafood in right?

So many seafood salads.

Was good. Real good.

As the rain started to fall, I somehow decided to drive around the Slea Head Drive, or as it might be simplified "ridiculously circuitous narrow road above the sea with admittedly great views"

"Far over... the misty mountains cold"... I didn't want to use this as a song name for the subject, as no one would get it.

After backing up, stopping, and making only moderate process down the road, we unsuccessfully stopped at the Oratory on the peninsula. Here is an artist's rendition of what it might have looked like...

Not my picture, not my experience.

...if I had seen it. Instead, I basically paid euros to go to the bathroom, as the downpour was so bad that the 10-minute walk seemed impossible. Back to the car for me!

We eventually got to Killarney-- I'll share the details for the next post, but trust me, things are looking great here! Excited.

Random Things:

I have awful clothing apparently.

MILHOUSE MADE CHOCOLATE?!?!?!

This can't be the right word...

Pretty sure I've never heard these words in this context.

Moment of Zen: