Dingle 2

We drove around Dingle Peninsula today. First stop was Penny's Pottery in Ventry. Lovely stuff. Incredible how many talented people are concentrated in this corner of Ireland. Do lovely places produce or attract all of these talents?

Next we stopped at the famine cottages. Mom didn't want to tour them--she generally avoids depressing things. But we got a lovely photo of the coast, above.

We stopped at the ancient beehive huts. Mom didn't want to climb the hill to these babies, so I trotted up, took a few snaps, and trotted down. Didn't do it justice, but there you are.

We had amazing weather the whole day. The coast was gorgeous. One beautiful vista after another.

One of the things I pride myself on is my driving skills, which I needed to get down a narrow winding road to Coumeenoole Beach. Mom and I had a lovely walk on this secluded stretch.

Took the photo above on the drive back up to the coast road.

A lot of my photos were snapped without much care or deliberation. I live in fear that the alarm will go off if I leave mom in the car, so I run toward a focal point, take a photo, and run back, without much time for composition or getting the right shot. The Slea Head Drive is lovely all the way round. We stopped at a famous pottery, where I bought some beautiful wedding gifts for my nephew. When we got back to Dingle, we had a yummy dinner at the Fish Box then drove up to Connor Pass, getting this view of Dingle on the way up

Mom at Conor Pass reading about glacial ice:

All day I enjoyed the colourful hedgerows--fuschia, crocosmia, heather, gorse, and something that looked like purple loosestrife. I was so full after dinner that I walked around town for a while as mom read in our room at the lovely Emlagh Hotel. I went into a few pubs and listened to Irish music. Lots and lots of loud American tourists here. Maybe part of the reason I had to come back to Ireland is to escape the extroverts. Not that Ireland is a country of introverts but I think it's rare that people are as loud or gregarious as Americans so often are.

Best sign of they day: Good things come to those who bait--at the Fish Box.

Aug. 20