Category Archives: Puru Hiko

Day 30 – To the ferry

Our last day in Ireland had begun. At 4pm the ferry to Roscoff/France would leave the port of Cork with us on it. That was quite the exciting prospect, at least for me. I am always excited when I need to get a specific mode of transport at a specific time. Flo would probably call it anxious. 😛

We got up in the morning on the campsite in Blarney, having decided not to bother the Blarney stone with our kisses. In fact, we didn’t visit Blarney castle at all. After a shower, we drove right back into the city of Cork. Leaving at 4pm, we’d probably have to check in around 2pm…a whole morning to spend in Cork. I mean, Cork is awesome. You can spend way more than a morning there.

Entering the coffee roasters hole in the wall

After parking the car, we actually accidentally went to Other Realms, the local gaming den. Being there was quite cool, even if it was mostly empty tables waiting for people to play at this time in the day. A couple of board games were on display, work in progress miniature painting and the newest D&D books. The lady in the shop even pitched the teen D&D group to Number 3 who is clearly far away from his teens.

First thing to do was get a second breakfast at one of the city’s coffee roasters. It was supposed to be have coffee and buy ground coffee for the campground but then the pastries on offer looked delicious and the kids did complain that they don’t drink coffee…

Just around the corner of this tiny cafe under a stairwell was the toy shop where Number 3 had fallen in love with the wooden train set. We spent a couple more minutes there before I managed to lure him away with a visit to the sweets’ shop on the other side of the road. It had a pick’n’mix bar, probably the first proper one the kids have seen. Given that grandma’s bucket of gummy bears was empty once more, we all picked out some of our favourite gummy-things for said bucket.

A bit further was Crawford City Gallery where we’d been yesterday in search of a cafe. Today, we went to actually look at the pictures. Or sculptures as it turned out. The first exhibition was of the Canova Casts. THE Canova had overseen the making of casts after antique statues which were then gifted to the monarch of Great Britain as a thank you for defeating Napoleon in Waterloo. Such strange things exist. The casts were back on display for the bicentennial.

The second exhibition named mEAT & potatoes was a ride through food through the ages as represented in art. It had contemporary art as well as still lifes of earlier times. All in all, our time in the Gallery was well spent.

A glass of milk with a straw – the best thing since sliced bread

From here, we went back to the English market for lunch. The Lonely Planet recommended the Farmgate Cafe for lunch as it used all of the fresh produce on offer in the market. That sounded exactly like something we should try for our last Irish meal. Flo had Irish stew with a non-alcoholic cider, Number 3 opted for the fish chowder (what a brave choice!), while I ordered the grilled goats’ cheese sandwich and a cheese & ham sandwich for the Agent who didn’t want to eat at all. But she happily accepted the kids’ choice of beverage, a glass of milk, which she finished in one go. I think I realized only yesterday that she actually has two new teeth and that this is to blame for her being the worst eater at the moment.

After lunch I got twitchy. Come one people, it was time to get onto the ferry! Flo did his best to slow us down on our way to the car, going on a detour to the only catholic church we’ve been in in Ireland. Alas, in the end, we were all in the car queued up for the passport check and then for boarding. Flo turned into his usual grumpy self because of the wait but it didn’t take much longer than an hour before we were allowed to board. At 3.20pm, we packed our overnight bag (for safety reasons you are not allowed to go back to your car) and checked out our cabin for the crossing. THE. CABIN. WAS. AMAZING.

It felt quite spacious, two of the beds folded down from the ceiling and the couch turned into a bed as well. We had a small table, everything to make tea and coffee and even our own toilet and shower. You might not be able to tell but this is only the second overnight ferry ride in the western world for me.

After storing away our things we went to explore the boat. Battleship might be a more appropriate term as this thing was huge. It even had a small pool on the 9^th deck and there was an entertainer in the bar in the evening.

At exactly 4pm, the ferry left the port. We waved goodbye to Ireland, both of the kids declaring that they want to be back. The rest of the afternoon was rather exhausting for us parents as the kids hadn’t slept on the short ride to the port and all the excitement was a little too much for them. We tried a lot from chilling outside on the deck to having a drink in the bar to playing foosball…nothing kept them happy for long. In the end, we put them to bed early which they seemed to be happy about.

One more drink for Flo and me at the bar while we posted the next blog post and then it was off to bed for me as well. We will leave the ferry tomorrow morning at 7am in Roscoff, still being on Irish time that meant 6am for us. 5 am wake up alarm anyone?

Day 29 – Un-cork the fun bottle

So good – what a high point to end our Ireland adventure! We love Cork – yes, I am starting with this. Who cares for a minute by minute retelling of our day?

again, the more appropriately sized ones

What would there be to say anyway? We packed up and got on our merry one. One last time deciding against the (toll laden) direct route and taking a scenic detour via the coast instead. Same as yesterday, it was really worth it. Not quite Wicklow mountains, but worth it. Probably my last single track roads on the island, framed by the sunny green pastoral landscape of the south.

Even though the reputation of Cork as the foodie capital of Ireland was calling to us, we opted to take it slow and have one last lunch on the road. Once again, a handy beach provided the perfect backdrop for a few sandwiches and some planning ahead. One last chance for the hobbits to get their feet wet on an Irish beach.

At a bit after 1 pm we had made it into central Cork. The drive in was already promising, crossing the river Lee a few times via inner city for a couple of first views. On second try we found a very conveniently located charging station right on the central island and woke both kids to get ready to explore!

hearing protection for all – AoE did not want to put them down

If you have read past blogs of ours you will not be surprised that the recommended “English Market”, a still operating market hall selling produce and delicacies, was very much our cup of tea. From there we tried to find a few self-guided walking tours (turns out this was discontinued during Covid) but ended up going our own way anyway. Teatime was up and we chose the delightfully kitschy “Tara’s Tea Room”.

We wandered from here further into Shandon quarter*!”§ aiming for another cluster of sights on the hill north of the main island in the river Lee. This turned out to lead to another brilliant stumble into adventure. The main point of interest here was the bell tower of the Anglican Church on top of the hill. Two unique features – with being able to go up for great views of the city not counting: A – it is an active bell tower, but all guests are allowed to ring the bells themselves. And B: The most adventurous ascend of any tower we had yet – stairwells down to 50cm width culminating in a wild climb through the timber framing of the belfry itself. As you pass right next to the bells, hearing protection is actually provided by the church for any adventurous visitors! I made it even with the Agent in the carrier on my back, with no more than a scraped knee. Nina was mighty impressed 😀

After that unexpected mini adventure, we decided to try our luck and go for one last proper dinner on the Island. Market Lane provided just the right opportunity we needed. So we wandered back down the hill and into central Cork on our way to dinner. Number 3 even got the chance for a second visit at a toy shop he had spotted earlier and where he had fallen in love with a particular wooden train set on display.

Dinner was once again great, including the service. The kids got their own little menus including a colouring section and were distracted for the brief wait. The food was great, too. Even Number 3 went for the edgy choice and had smoked haddock on mashed broad beans (which was very good, too).

The car was fully charged and the campground not far. The kids got to watch their good-night program while we set up the camp and were quick enough in bed that we were only a few minutes late for roleplaying. Even the 4G / WiFi was good enough for a smooth final two hours online with some of our friends before collapsing to bed ourselves.

Day 28 – Kilkenny

Our two days in Dublin were over and even our days in Ireland could be counted with only a couple of fingers. Today’s programme consisted of the next city: Kilkenny. It’s conveniently located on the way down to Cork AND it is supposed to be cute and nice to walk along in. We’d booked the city campsite in advance to avoid stress and because I was a little scared it might be fully booked.

Perfect road, perfect weather – nobody there

Both kids were very tired from our two days exploring the city and Flo wanted to take the scenic route to Kilkenny instead of the motorway so we could see a bit of the Irish countryside between our city stops. Giving the kids time to sleep and us time to admire the drive worked out very well. The Wicklow mountains were very scenic with hills and streams, a great big bog and almost empty of tourists. We really enjoyed seeing so much green and sky again.

We arrived in Kilkenny after (our usually early) lunchtime. But since the kids had slept through most of the drive, we were still okay. I’d picked a recommended restaurant on the road where we headed now. Foodworks was right up our alley, having a farm to fork concept. Lunch was delicious. Flo had pulled pork, I had a veggie stew with eggs and the kids shared two sausages and potatoes. For some reason, the kids’ portions are super big in Ireland.

Kilkenny has a couple of sights, including Kilkenny castle. I felt especially sight-seen out ( :P) and only wanted to stroll through the city in search of postcards. There was another destination named “Truffle Fairy” which was pretty high on my list, though.

So we wandered around High street, down the Butter slip and ended up at the castle anyway. But we only had a look from the outside. It just seemed too involved to get in. Number 3 was disappointed, so for his sake, we checked out the entry. “No credit cards, cash only, sorry” told us that we wouldn’t go in with a good enough reason now.

From here, the Truffle Fairy wasn’t far away. Delicious truffles were bought, carried for a short way and then eaten before we hit the car. To be fair, we decided to check out the campsite earlier than usual today as we had some much needed laundry to do.

Back at the car, we realized that we still had to go grocery shopping anyway. We already stocked up on Guinness 0.0, in case we won’t have time/ the car close by when we go to Cork, along with the usual milk and bread.

The campground turned out to have three horses and two ponies so the kids were instantly sold on staying here. My immediate chore was all that laundry…checking out how it works here, getting tokens for the machines from reception, getting all our dirty clothes into one big pile and then getting all of them transferred into the washing machine.

Flo checked out the horses with the kids and then prepared our bread and cheese dinner. We tried to be on time as another gaming session was scheduled. We managed to game but our connection was frustratingly slow and I was indeed, super tired.

Scenic route through Glendalough and Wicklow

Day 27 – Have a Guinness when you’re Tired

Given the unreliability we experienced with the public busses yesterday, we decided to go into town once again with the hop-on option. We had a two day pass anyway, so why not. Number 3’s pick from yesterday got elevated to TOP 1 for the day.

Yup, dead zoo it is. Giant Irish deer in fact

Turned out, we got pretty lucky – with all the bussing and transferring we made to the National Museum – Natural History branch at about 10:40am. We were greeted by a staff member asking, with a mildly concerned look, about a reservation on our part. Reservation? This was a free museum; we did not expect that. Turned out that they were renovating to modernise the exhibition and had only about half the space to use – it was still free, but attendants had to be limited to avoid dangerous pushing and shoving. As said though, we arrived just in time to be allowed in without a booking.

The exhibition, also dubbed the “dead zoo” was packed with taxidermies of local animals. We have a similar wing in the Senkenbergsches Naturkunde Museum in Frankfurt, so Number 3 felt right at home. With only one floor open, 45 minutes were plenty to the get through the exhibition. All of a sudded, we had some extra time on our hands.

We decided to give Nina and myself a small treat and have a really quick browse next door at the National Gallery. We only had enough time to check a few of the Irish artists up to the expressionists and switch to the Europeans for a few minutes with the resident Caravaggio.

The kids were excited to be on the hop on hop off bus again

Our lunch appointment was at 12:30, the hop-on-hop-off bus leaves every 20 minutes. That means we should have plenty of time to get to the Guinness storehouse. Or so we thought. First, the bus was late, then we had to switch to a different one entirely due to a defect on the first one. All in all, it took over an hour – we maybe could have walked.

It did lead to a bit of a sour start of the Guinness Storehouse experience, unfortunately. When we finally arrived at the 1837 bar our lunch reservation had been released and the wait time was up to an hour. We settled with the bistro style Brewer’s Dining Hall – a rather disappointing choice.

The storehouse itself was anything but, fortunately. A tasteful beer-themed Disneyland experience, including sights, sounds and smells. All very well done, not too overcrowded and not feeling like being charged for getting a commercial. To be honest, it still is just that in the end, but the smartly converted storehouse and the laid back confidence in the quality of the product made it second only to a port lodge tour in Porto. Especially since you get to top it off with a beautifully pulled pint of Guinness in the spectacular Gravity Bar with views all over the city. Nina volunteered her free drink (plus Phoebe was dutifully asleep). That meant I got to get a side-by-side of on tap Guinness to Guinness 0.0. The alcohol-free version is shockingly good, in my opinion.

Oh look! I am trying Guinness again! It’s…

It had been a long day; I am still under the weather and on mild cough meds. The decision what to do for dinner was not easy. Ultimately, we stuck to our guns and went with the booked table at yesterday’s choice: The winding stairs. We arrived a bit before our reservation time, not feeling temple bar on our last stroll through the quarter. What a great decision it was. The views and the atmosphere in the place were great. We got a table on the second floor upstairs (poor waiters) with the river Liffey as a backdrop. But all that paled in comparison with the quality of the food. The kids shared a vegetarian “scotch egg” while Nina and I went for mains – cauliflower and pork belly respectively. Everything was just perfect – well cooked, smooth, exciting flavour combinations. And not even that accordantly expensive. I kind of doubly regretted the Lunch now – how can two dishes of such diverting quality be charged at the same price?

Regardless, we were glowing now all the way back to the campground. Even the bus was not that much too late this time (it was, but conveniently so for us). A good end to a packed day!

Day 25 – F… This Day

No further text

…

Was what I intended to write. But I guess Nina would not let me get away with it. So here the cliff notes: The plan was to take it slow, go a bit past Dublin to Brú na Boinne to check out the really cool megalithic stuff there and then head to Dublin to get set for two full days of Dublin exploration.

So close and yet so far…Newgrange on the hill

Problem Number 1 – I have taken ill, for now with a moderate cough. So everything takes a bit more time, is a bit harder and done with a little less patience.

Number 2 – the curse of overbooking struck again. We failed to check ahead, and so it turned out that the site is booked out for the entire week. Last week before the school year starts and all. In short, we waisted 2 hrs on the motorway and a bit of toll for this folly, to see a bit of an underwhelming exhibition of the place we were locked out of seeing.

Right, so maybe a coffee place on the way back as consolation? Nope, nothing good. Instead, the kids started getting antsy and picking up on the moody vibe. Stern words were exchanged. Campground it was – and, well. That was not much consolation either. The standard “feels like roadside robbery” vibe of so many city camps grounds. At least it had a playground, and we had some peaceful hours before bedtime.

I did not last much longer, apart from a cheerful conversation with a Swiss couple that we kept running into for the last two days. Ever since Mizen Head – what a small world. I’m sick, let’s skip that day …

Number 3’s amazing ability to make friends on the playground gave the Agent someone to push her

Day 24 – Castle Rock

Our not so glamorous campsite didn’t get more shiny in the morning. We got to use the campers’ kitchen which is always helpful as a jug is so much easier than boiling water on our camping stove. On the down side, the Agent spilled her glass of milk and we had to clean up. 😉

Trying to feed a very brave and cheeky little birdy

Before we left, we had a great conversation with a French family. They were super nice, the kids were inquisitive and looked into our tent and they gave us recommendations for our time in Brittany next week.

Today’s goal was to take it waaaaaay slower than we had done lately. Just looking at where we’ve been in the last week makes my head spin. Slowly but surely we’re coming to the end of the Irish part of our holiday. The biggest ticket item on our “to do” list now is Dublin. From the far south, we’re going to drive part of the way there today. Along the way, Cashel is a good point to stop and the Rock of Cashel is highly recommended too.

We were lucky enough to prebook the campsite in Cashel which took a lot of stress out of the day. Get there, look around, set up camp, done. Getting there was a bit of a challenge as it meant more than two hours straight in the car for the kids. That’s always a harder sell.

The “backside”: The tower is the oldest part, the rest is the cathedral

We broke it up with lunch next to a charger. Unfortunately, we seem to have lost the Agent’s hat there. L I hate losing things.

After lunch, the kids could take a nap while Flo and I took a small detour through the Glen of Aherlow. It consisted of a scenic drive, more time for the kids to sleep and time to listen to our audiobook.

Then, we arrived at the Rock of Cashel. Cashel is the anglisized version of the Irish word for castle. It describes a castle on a rock from the 12^th century. Just looking at it from below gave us flashbacks to Carcassonne even if it is way smaller. We walked in, bought tickets and learnt that the free guided tour had started 20 minutes ago. We could try to catch up with them (it’s not a big place) or wait 40 minutes for the next one. Given that we have small kids, we opted for the first option. I love that the guided tours are for free. Number 3 listened very well to the English talk and repeated some of the facts afterwards: The round tower is the oldest part of the castle. The big cross got hit by lightning and that’s why the top is in pieces, lying on the ground now.

It’s pretty cool to see your kid do this. Maybe history will be one of his interests one day.

We finished the guided tour and then walked around the perimeter for a bit. Since I wouldn’t allow the kids to balance on the graves, they soon lost interest in more walking. Happy that we got most of the guided tour, we left in search for coffee. Since it was Sunday, the recommended cafe was closed when we got there. None of the other places looked inviting, most were kiosks selling ice cream.

Taking it slower is also paraphrasing “getting to the campsites earlier”. Which is exactly what we did. We pulled up at the campsite and had coffee there. I mean, we made the best choice really, as the campground was literally underneath the Rock of Cashel and you had a view of the castle and a ruined abbey a bit further away. We got to enjoy the view for a couple of hours now.

Number 3 instantly made friends on the playground and the Agent just refuses to acknowledge that she’s younger. She is always in the thick of it, too.

In the evening, we even managed to have that postponed gaming session as reception was really good here.

The Rock on Cashel in twilight. We were so lucky to be on this campsite!

Day 23 – The southern end: Malin to Mizen

Camping in Beara was nice despite the slightly abandoned vibe of our campground. We had so much space and quiet, the kids could be as noisy as they wanted during breakfast for a change. To make it even better, Number 3 found a plastic dinosaur another kid must have forgotten. It made both kids very happy.

one last pass – Lonely Planet recommended

Beara peninsular also has a ring road (how could they be left out) but we were a bit peninsular-ed out. Instead, we only drove a little bit along the coastal road and then turned inward to take the Healy Pass to the southern side. We had a light drizzle, many clouds and a bit of fog going up. The moodiness suited the landscape a lot! It cleared up every now and then to give us really nice views of the rocks. From the actual pass you could see down to the road which wiggled through the landscape below…quite a bit of awesome road. Probably amazing on a bike. J

recovered anchor from a failed rebel relief effort by a French armada

Now following the southern coastal road, we got to Ballylickey where the Lonely Planet advertised a foodie grocer with a cafe. Of course, we had to stop there for a second breakfast. The kids and I went for the sensible option of tea and cake while Flo couldn’t resist the sandwich options. In the end, we also bought cheese and bread for the road, all of which looked and smelled delicious.

We didn’t have a real plan for Bantry. The Lonely Planet suggests the Bantry House which didn’t appeal to us. Instead, we opted for a fast charger, a bit of shopping at Supervalu and lunch at Organico, a zero waste organic place. During lunch Flo chatted up a couple on motorbikes so we had a lovely conversation about places we’d been.

Going further south, Mizen Head was our next destination. It was a while away and offered a good opportunity for me and the kids to have a nap. The night had been short and full of terrors. The Agent of Entropy had been too cold and then wet and all of it had cost the rest of us valuable sleep. So against our habit on the road, I had a nap as well. Only Flo needed to drive. I like to tell myself that he enjoyed the quiet time but he was probably also very tired.

We woke up shortly before we stopped at Mizen Head. I was still a little wobbly and disorientated when we moved into the visitors’ centre. I knew it counts as the southernmost point of Ireland as the races seem to be Malin Head to Mizen Head. However, from the visitors’ centre you could walk over a bridge to Mizen Head Station on a tiny island. So we did. It was very cool even though the bridge worsened my wobbly legs. It had the “end of the world” feel to it. Mizen Head Station is a signalling station that isn’t manned anymore these days as everything can be done remotely.

As we had gaming on tonight, we’d picked a nice campground but when we got there, we weren’t too sure anymore. It advertised its glamping opportunities but it felt unstructured, more like a side project than a tightly run business. It was expensive, had no wifi or signal and seemed to be much busier than we would have liked it to be. We were too tired to debate or move again so gaming had to be cancelled or rather postponed unfortunately.

close call – that is part of the (not quite 16A stable) socket molten to my extension cord plug

Day 22 – Kerry-go-Round

Campground forgettable – time to go. Not as quick as we wanted, though, or to do the Gap of Dunloe guilt-free (it is a public road, but traditionally used by jaunting cars, bikers, and hikers). At least early enough to go for the Ring of Kerry itself clockwise without much trouble.

In the end, it all worked out fine. The road has been upgraded in recent years and we have been on much worse with worse traffic. We only encountered the first oncoming busses around lunch-time (they are only allowed to go counter-clockwise) and never had much trouble passing each other.

Much worse (but more fun) was the first minor side road to a well-preserved ring fort. Not quite as spectacular a location as up north in Donegal but preserved instead of re-constructed. We had fun and both kids eagerly climbed the ring, this time fully uninterrupted.

After that we made our biggest mistake of the day and allowed the Agent of Entropy to fall asleep before lunch. It would come back to haunt us later. Said lunch worked out absolutely perfectly, though. After a 3 minute supermarket stop, we were stocked on great bread, fresh salads and veg. Only 15 minutes later we had pulled into another great spot to drop our picknick blanket once again. This time, at a beach somewhere on the Skellig ring, with added ruins and big skies to round of the image. Oh, and as a beautiful reprise of our first trip with the roof tent, we found very passable Pastel de Nata in said random supermarket as well!

The extra bit around along the Skellig loop was described as an adventurous bit of road in the Lonely Planet. In the end, it was scenic but certainly not worse than many other roads we have been on by now. Traffic was also very manageable. There was good reason to dare the wilds of Kerry’s far West though, regardless of road conditions: Another Chocolate Factory. We got a neat free tasting and way too much sugar for the hobbits and sat down for a round of hot chocolate for all of us.

A bit worn out after so much of the Wild Atlantic Way we were not going for many more stops after that. In the end, the drive is a bit of the attraction with this one. We found a campground a bit further along on Beara, the next peninsula south of here. We pushed it, but not before taking “the road less travelled” to avoid a third visit to Killarney in two day. Turned out that the road via the Ballghbeama Gap was the sketchiest bit of driving for the day. It was also totally worth it! We had the road almost to ourselves (minus the obligatory sheep) and even though a light rain had set in, the vistas were still great!

After that the only question was about what to do with dinner. We would have enough time to cook, but not much inspiration. On the other hand, we were passing a second time today through Kenmare, which we had snobbed earlier today. The Lonely Planet had a top recommendation for a local restaurant. A quick call confirmed that they had space for us for dinner at 5pm sharp, kind of perfect for our plans.

The dinner was excellent, and our kids both managed to stay well enough behaved to keep it a pleasant experience. I was especially proud of them for trying both my mussels in white wine sauce as well as the really excellent chowder that I finally got to have. The vegetarian options were taken serious as well. So, we all ended up properly stuffed and ready to fall asleep right there and then.

Luckily, the campground was only 15 minutes away. It had a bit of an abandoned charm, but at least we were left alone and could collapse well and early into our camp.

Day 19 – Drifting around

The Forest Park was a nice spot and both kids were keen to go back to the playbus. So we took our time this morning to blog a little, let the kids play and go on a walk through the forest. The small loop track that Flo had picked didn’t lead through the forest unfortunately but meandered through the Arboretum of a now-abandoned manor house. Not quite what we had in mind for this morning.

Both kids absolutely loved the short walk through the forest. Number 3 made up fairy stories about their houses and furniture

From here, we went back to the coastal route. It was nearly lunch time already. After stocking up on groceries in a tiny supermarket (and gummybears. Always gummybears. Grandma had given a tiny bucket full of them to the kids before we left and it needs to be refilled regularly), Flo followed a roadside viewpoint sign to Carrigafoyle Castle. Another lovely picnic spot for us plus a “castle” for Number 3 to explore. It was actually quite cool to see how much of the ruin you could still explore.

Further down the coast we went, now in the county of Kerry. Kerry is full of things to do and see…just not right here. So we continued until we hit Tralee. The Lonely Planet recommended the Tralee Bay Wetlands Centre as an activity plus a location for coffee. We got to the parking lot, plugged in the charger and nearly collapsed. With the sleeping kids in the back, we seriously considered just taking a nap. Instead, Flo and I planned the next campground. The response we got was encouraging, basically saying “no need to book there will be spaces on the day”. This is our preferred way of travelling so I’m quite happy we can just see how far we get and then check for campsites there.

Finally, we went in. It was actually quite lovely to just walk around in the wetland. We saw a heron and a moorhen with chicks and lots of things that are common in Ireland. Number 3 had a sheet with all the flora you could see and the Agent had a sheet with all the birds you could spot…both of them took their jobs seriously.

Getting coffee was a harder task. The cafe in the Wetlands Centre was closed, the first recommended cafe in Tralee as well. In the end, we wandered around and had coffee in one of the many coffee places the pedestrian zone had to offer.

Our next scheduled campground was at Inch Beach at the start of the Dingle Peninsular loop. It had been a weird day without any real highlight but a lot of things to see anyway, so I was happy to just hit the campground a little earlier than we usually do.

It is right opposite the beach. The weather was still fine and I opted that we’re going to see the beach in sunshine. Flo protested meekly because going to the beach now meant we couldn’t cook dinner and had to improvise. However, the kids ran around ecstatically so this time, Flo also put his feet in the ocean.

On the way back, we chose convenient dinner from a fish & chips food truck at our campground. Expecting the usual grub, this one pleasantly surprised us with its quality. They only need to work on their trucks presentation a bit …

Most of the trees along the fairy trail were enchanted in some way

Day 18 – To Loop or Not to Loop

One thing was clear, I wanted off this campground asap. All sympathy to non-neurotypical folks, but maybe running a hospitality business is not the right calling for yous. I don’t care if I can eat of the toilet seat if all your quirks and utter inflexibility make the stay annoying at every step. “Can we charge the car?” “No, we don’t do this, electricity is too expensive”. “Can I pay for it?” “No, we generally don’t allow it …” -.-

The big question was to head straight for Limerick City or take the 2hrs to go west first to do the loop head to the tip of the loop head peninsula (creative naming, I know). The weather forecast looked like the former, but when we hit the road at 9am, the look at the sky made us fancy our chances. It was the right choice, for sure. Lone single track roads with wild and exciting vistas all the way. A quick stop at the lighthouse at the westernmost point was all we needed. For once, we opted against the tour to go up and moved on. In we came on the southern route to come out again along the northern cliff-side road. Such spectacular views greeted us all along that last stretch that we really had to wonder why we were almost alone here, while fighting for bad vistas with busloads of day-trippers yesterday. This was preferable to us any day of the week!

After this great morning, it was about a 1.5 hr dive to Limerick. As we could not charge the car yesterday and won’t be able to tonight (or so we though) I headed for a 15 minute top up on a fast charger before going to town to park conveniently at a 22kw AC charger in downtown. The kids slept through the drive and woke back up with enough drowsiness to excuse this slight delay of lunch. Including another short hunt for a free AC charger it took us until 1.15pm to get to the designated lunch place. There was a short queue to get seated when we arrived at the Hook & Ladder as it was still very busy.

up there we must go – for views and fun points

It turned out it was well worth the wait with excellent food all around. Even the kids were great and did not make a scene due to the delayed lunch. Service was nothing short of exemplary, even though the house was packed. A very welcomed change to our last lunch experience. We ended up staying to transition seamlessly into tea time as well.

After that success, Number 3 got his wish as well. Of the few options to go for, we decided the King John’s Castle was our best pick. It was a bit on the pricy side, but that was made up for by an excellent exhibition part. More interactive than Galway City museum, both kids were occupied long enough for me to dive into the meat of the history part. Win-win, I’d say.

After that, all there was left was a slightly late trip to the camp for the night, delayed even further by the fact that I had not realised that it was actually “in” the gated forest park it was named after. So with a final 15 minute detour, we got there, set up and were pretty much ready to collapse after a quick muesli dinner for the kids. No internet or cell phone reception anyway … 😀