Put a ring on it

We had a fabulous breakfast this morning. Pat was ecstatic...they had PANCAKES! She was tired of eggs, so something different was wonderful. We loaded up and headed out for the day.

There is one thing in common among most tours of Ireland - the Ring of Kerry. It is a loop around one of the three big peninsulas in the southwest of the country. In our 2 previous trips, we have avoided it, due to the concentration of tour buses, and their associated tour groups. This trip, we decided to give it a go, but to use some tips to avoid the buses. Since we started at kenmare, we went the opposite direction, and made it to the section of the area that the buses avoid

before we ran into more than a few.

We found a souvenir shop that would ship stuff home so we could avoid more stuff in the suitcases. We were able to find stuff for most everyone, so shopping is done...at least for those other than Carrie :).

The next stop was a museum for the Skelligs, islands off the cost that monks occupied 1500 years ago. The "islands" are little more than rocky outcroppings, so how they were able to survive, even thrive for over 800 years is utterly amazing. Star Wars filmed on Skellig Michael, so the museum had "Skellig Wars" shirts, so of course, I had to get one :)

We finished off that island, rode a ferry, and continued our way to

Dingle for the night. On our way, we stopped at Annascaul at a pottery shop that we first went to in 2003 on our first trip here. Carrie picked out a couple beautiful items for our bedroom. They remind us of our time traveling here.

In Dingle, our wonderful B&B hosts, recommended in Rick Steve's guide, were the cutest ever. Les was very happy to hear he had a ground floor room. Ferrying luggage up narrow European stairs can be a challenge.

The B&B is right in the town of Dingle, so we explored to find dinner. We ended up in The Blue Zone for, you guessed it, awesome pizza. We also had the most vegetables of any meal yet on the salad. Pat was happy to have a choice other than seafood. Though, Dingle is known for seafood, so that will probably happen tomorrow. Our internet in the room was poor, so we're huddled downstairs working on pics and journal. I don't want to get behind again :). It takes too long to catch up. And, I know the readers of the blog will give me a hard time - both of them.