Dingle with own chauffeurdriven tour. Happy Thanksgiving.

This morning we were on our way to the Dingle peninsula. Our first stop was that wonderful beach at Inch , which featured in the movie "Ryan's Daughter". Here you see Joseph and Eliane enjoying the lovely weather, which has been such an unexpected bonus for us once again. The mountains in the background are the McGillicuddy Reeks on the Iveragh Peninsula , which runs parallel to the Dingle peninsula. That peninsula is best known as the Ring of Kerry.

Here we have Joseph and Eliane, with the amazing patchwork quilt-like landscape in the background. No wonder the Irish countryside is described as having "Forty shades of green". Don't they look happy?

Another lovely picture. In the distance you can just make out Dingle bay.

 Dingle is famous for its Beehive huts, ancient stone dwellings which you can see here in this picture, and the one below.

These were home to ancient farmers and fishermen many centuries ago.

The Blasket Islands are located in the Atlantic at Slea head, at the western end of the peninsula. They have been abandoned since the middle of the nineteen hundreds, with the vast majority of its inhabitants moving to Springfield Mass, where many of their own relations had settled in previous years.

This great picture shows Joseph and Eliane sitting on the wall at Slea Head ,with the Great Blasket island, the main one, to the right and the others in the distance to the left. This area also featured in Ryan's Daughter.If you have not seen this movie i would highly recommend that you try to get your hands on it.

This bay, with its lovely sandy beach, is also shown in one of the final scenes of the movie, when the rebels are smuggling guns ashore.

I can never see too much of this magnificent coastline, and my new friends just cannot get over how beautiful Ireland is. They were excited about their visit before they came over, but they are even more excited about what they have experienced over the last few days.

The Conor Pass is a pass high in the mountains above Dingle town, from where you not only have a view of the town, but also of the other side of the peninsula, where you are looking north over Tralee Bay, and on towards county Clare and the Cliffs of Moher. Here we are looking down on Dingle town, and the harbour.

Now here we are looking northwards, where, below, we have peat bogs, forestry and lakes, and Tralee bay.

The descent down from the Conor Pass to the Tralee side, is not a road to be taken lightly, and no place for inexperienced drivers, so beware. It is extremely narrow and has a lot of completely blind corners, and there is a sheer drop of hundreds of feet to the valley below if you go through the stone wall on the left of this picture. Do you really think you want to drive in Ireland? Well, if you do not , then maybe you just might want to give me a call.

Well, Eliane was a little reluctant to have her picture taken, like a lot of ladies, but when you appear like she does in this picture above, you should have nothing to be shy about.

Tomorrow is our final day, and that really consists of a long drive to Dublin with this lovely couple, and then a long drive back to Galway, and home for me.I hate goodbyes, and tomorrow will be no different, but i am very grateful for having had the privilege of spending such an enjoyable week with two special people. We had so much fun, and had such wonderful and truly interesting discussions about so many things, and i can honestly say, that maybe i, learned more than they did in the past few days, and i am richer for that. I know that my store of great friends has been enriched. Thank you for that Joseph and Eliane.
I would just like to send a message to their families at home in the USA, they have missed you and hope that you have enjoyed travelling along with us here on the Blog, and make sure that you have the kettle boiling for them when they get home. That is what we would do here in Ireland anyway. I know that i have no need to remind you about how lucky you are to have them, but i am doing that anyway. Take care of them.

Your pal also,( here in Ireland)

Dave

P.S  Thank you also John N.   (for reminding me to bring them to Partry. They will tell you all about it soon)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY








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