Slea Head Drive - Dingle & Day 7
Bed and Breakfasts are awesome! So we ended up staying at Dunlavin House (mentioned in the last post) essentially by accident. The AirBnB I wanted didn't know their schedule when I first tried to book, and everything else just didn't seem to be right, so I booked a room at the Dunlavin House ...thinking it was more of an inn or hotel than B&B - but I'm glad I was wrong. The hosts were/are amazing and the breakfast we woke up to that first morning was fantastic. We also got a play-by-play of how to navigate the Slea Head Drive, where to stop, where not to stop, and what the best sites were based on our interests. Of course we had them mark the map for the pottery shop and cafe - the rest we really decided to play by ear as we drove.
Breakfast having been achieved we jumped in the car and started to make our way onto the drive, stopping at an old circular "fort"...i.e. a ring of mounded dirt filled with sheep that we got to play with. One side-swiped me - bastard didn't have insurance of course. Sheep, am I right? I also attempted to kidnap a baby sheep, but Brendan stopped me prior to departing the ring. Shortly after sheep abduction we stopped at an ocean-side defensive structure on a cliff, followed by an amazing hard packed sand beach that ran along part of the coast, with cliffs on either side. This drive is beyond words - close, curvy, intense, a little scary at times, but just beautiful.
So after a few near death experiences in the car, breathtaking views, sheep and a couple faire forts, we managed to find our way to a fairly famous pottery studio owned and operated by Louis Mulcahy and his wife. He's managed to create a massive studio and shop with attached cafe, which is where we spent the next hour or so, and a considerable sum of euros. Art and lunch having been achieved we packed back into the car and headed off for the final 16 km back to the B&B, where we dumped the car, took a brief nap, changed and headed back into Dingle.
Now, please keep in mind that it is Good Friday and this Catholic-run-country currently forbids the sale of alcohol on Good Friday, as well as Christmas and other select holidays (until next year when the tyranny ends!). With that in mind we decided on the aquarium, followed by an early dinner, then heading back to the B&B for the bottle of wine we purchased in advance for this very occasion.
The Dingle Aquarium is small, but definitely worth the 15 euro to get in - there was a penguin feeding, local sea life, otters and their new born babies, and an octopus that seemed to only come out for Brendan and I as we walked past the tank - he made his way back and forth twice while we watched, which is apparently unheard of.
After we learned all about the location aquatic life in the Dingle region we headed off into town in search of dinner - we ended up popping in a few shops to get a head start on tomorrow's shopping, and then spoke with the hostess at Fenton's Restaurant. Unfortunately it being Good Friday, and a Friday in general, we couldn't get a seat for an hour and a half, so we put our names in with the intention of walking around town a bit more. Most of the shops were closed, so we started by going into Saint Mary's Church, lighting a candle and walking the Stations - afterwards we looked around back and found three different gardens that are open to the public, including a tree garden and labyrinth.
With an hour left to burn we continued exploring the streets of Dingle until we happened upon the Dingle Brewery, which immediately disappointed me, as we were told it would be closed on Good Friday, so we couldn't tour or sample. Come to find out this was completely false! The Brewery was open and the owner poured us free pints and let us explore the entire place on our own! This came in second to Slea Head Drive for me - total kid in a candy shop moment. So after having our free pints we quickly made our way back to Fenton's for our reservation.
Dinner was delicious - I don't think we've had a bad meal as of yet. We started with roasted red pepper soup, Brendan had chicken while I had the rare piece of fish I tend to have when on vacation, followed by our own desserts (sticky pudding for him and espresso ice cream for me). Having sufficiently stuffed ourselves silly, we rolled ourselves back up the hill and put ourselves to bed.
Oh, and we were allowed to order wine with dinner because there was a meal involved - this country is so weird!
