Strands of Dingle

This has been such a busy busy week already after such a nice and relaxing weekend. I leave for London tomorrow afternoon, but I have to register with the Guarda tomorrow morning at 7:40 so I don't get deported or something BUT I also don't want to miss my plane so I'm sure I'll be all kinds of frazzled tomorrow. We have a place to stay Friday and Saturday night but we don't know exactllly where we'll be sleeping tomorrow night or Sunday night but we'll figure something out. If anything Rick Steves said that spending a night homeless is a worthwhile experience.

But anyways, on to more interesting things. This weekend my friends and I took a 6 hour long bus ride to Dingle which simply ruled. Not the bus ride, actually it was kind of horrible. Weird smells were wafting and other people's flesh was slowly but surely creeping towards my body. I spent a VERY uncomfortable two hours on one the rides. But we got there Friday night and the Rainbow shuttle picked us up, driven by Scott, a friendly as can be Austrailian who has traveled and worked all over the world. We got situated in the Rainbow hostel, an old little cottage with two little kitties roamin' around, and then Scott drove us into town to hit up da pubs. Since its the off season it was pretty dead but we made friends with some locals (of course I became fast friends with Sean O'Connor an ancient looking farmer whose family has been farming Dingle ground for over 150 years. We're lucky we met him because he only comes into town one night a week, he's got too many sheep to worry about to be out drinkin' on the town) and then we danced to a cover band in the next pub over and had a grand time.

We went home kind of early because we knew the next day would be a long one. However, poor Courtney is pretty much allergic to Life Itself, but severely allergic to the previously mentioned little kitties roamin' aorund. She had to sleep in a separate room than us because she was wheezing up a storm the poor thing, and the next morning when we went to go rent bikes she took a bus back home. So we walked into town and rented bikes from a place that is half pub half hardware store, with bikes in the back. Soon enough we riding off into the distance, ready to bike the 25 miles all around the Dingle Penninsula. (As an aside, the word Dingle was and is hilarious to us, and some of the names of the stores were just as hilarious, like "Strands of Dingle" or 'It must be Dingle!' and we made up many Dingleicious phrases over the weekend). We made a pit stop for some yummo sangwhiches in a small town and some cake for us all to share. We biked onward and the scenery was literally so beautiful that I thought I died and went to Aesthetically Pleasing Heaven. Also the Dingle Gods were on our side weather wise, I had my jacket bungied to the back of my bike and it was sunny and warm all day. We found a church and while in line formation did Dingle Doughnuts in the parking lot and then lit a candle inside for Courtney. We also trespassed a little bit because lets face it, what's a trip without some trespassing? But actually, the fence might have just been there to keep the sheep in and not us out...but we can't be sure. But we got an even better view of the cliffs and water from inside the fenced area, and the moment called for some Sound of Music outbursts, so we naturally obliged. We even found what we coined "Dingle Death No. 1" which was a sheep skull laying the grass. We documented it and then hopped back on our bikes and rode on. Also there were some points in the ride where we realized there was literally no one around us for miles which was such a good feeling. I love traveling but its exhausting always been around so many tourists at the same time, so it felt so great to be on our own Dangin through the winding roads of Dingle. It wasn't until the last half hour that our bums were really starting the feel the last 20 miles and some "good" samaritians told us a "short cut" that was completely uphill and we almost wanted to die. However, it was worth it in the end because going downhill full speed was quite exhilarating.

When we got back into town we rewarded ourselves with some hot chocolate and pie, and then walked back to the hostel where we died/napped for an hour. Then we woke up and made dinner and chatted with Scott and Brennen, an American who came to Europe looking for the perfect place to write/think about his "projects" which deal with poetry/sociology/architecture/anthropology but we found out as the night wore on that he's a bit nuts. Also Collin, a teacher from Cork was staying for the weekend to Surf and we all went out to a pub later that night. We met some more characters there too, but I could hardly keep my eyes open so I was in bed by 2 am. The next morning we woke up and hiked around where the bay meets the ocean and enjoyed some more breathtaking scenery. We found a little beach cove with a waterfall and of course by that time it starts getting cold and rainy but I had left my coat at the hostel because just an hour before there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Damnation. Also, while running to get into a picture KAPLUNK I'm ankle deep in water and sand. But soon it became sunny again and we walked into town for some warmth and food and then we had to catch a 3 o'clock bus back to Galway. Suffice it to say it was a long journey back home but it was one of the best weekends ever and I cannot wait to go back.

I'm sure London will be just as much as an adventure. I'll keep you posted if and when I find a place to stay. Maybe a park bench in Hyde park won't be that bad. Sleep with the stars. And ehhhh homeless people.