All(th)ebest Moments: June 24: Killarney National Park and on to Dingle

We woke up in the very functional hotel in Killarney and headed up three carpeted stairs to the breakfast room, where there was sausage, fried eggs, baked beans, runny yogurt that Lucy said tasted “the way feet smell” and Cocoa Krispies. Luckily I rarely eat breakfast anyway. We headed out to Killarney National Park, following the directions our guide gave us that included things like “at the bend in the road, cross the little bridge,” and “turn Right at Paudie Fitzgerald’s Motorcycle Shop.” Amazingly these low-tech directions worked perfectly and we arrived at the black van labeled “Killarney Falconry Tours.” One of Stone’s classmate’s moms went to Ireland last year and told me that one of her favorite parts was a falconry experience, so I was excited to find one in Killarney. We found our guide, and Erik drove behind his van through the forest. We were all rejoicing about the good fortune of the trip so far – the gorgeous weather, the wonderful tour guide, the timing, etc., when in a split second I saw a very long log on the side of the road and thought “Erikseesthatright?OHNOHEDOESN’T” and yelped “Erik, there’s a log!!!” Too late. Focusing on the right side of the van (as one does when he is new to driving a gigantic van on the other side of the road), he had not seen the log on my side, and had driven right onto it, and then the wheels slipped off to straddle it, wedging it under the van. Silence. Then a chorus from the kids, “How fascinating!!”

Long story short, we tried to push it backwards off the log, but it wouldn’t budge. Then our falconry guide called a friend who brought another jack (we had one in the van) and Erik waited for him while the kids and I went ahead and held falcons and owls. They were amazing birds, and Erik got to join us with the rescued van in time to hold an owl!

Next, a hike in Killarney National Park, which I found out was not the part of the park I had planned, but it was still beautiful and we played our traditional hiking game, “Psychiatrist” where everyone except one person, let's say Sophie,, choses an identity for Sophie, and then she has to guess who she is. Our all-time favorite was when we made Lindsay be Shamu one time, and through many questions she had established that she was a male, had no hair, and lived in Southern California. She then asked “what kind of clothes do I wear?” and we nearly cried with laughter when we told her she didn’t wear clothes and she shrieked “I am a naked bald man living in Southern California????” It took her awhile to finally get it. Anyway, this day we chose the cow mascot from Chick-fil-A for Stone and the Gene Wilder Willy Wonka meme for Lucy, and those two bought us a nice long walk through beautiful forest. After the walk, a just-barely-edible cafeteria lunch in the National Park’s restaurant and a drive through Killarney to Kissane Sheep Farm.

I wish there were a way to really transmit the beauty of the Irish countryside. I recently had a conversation with someone (maybe Erik's mom? I don't remember) who was telling me that there is no green like the Irish hills, and I contended that the Northern California hills in February are just as beautiful. Now I'm not so sure. I do love my Bay Area hills in the rainy season - they make me weep every single year - but there is a stunning intensity to this green. And it's different too because the landscape is often divided by hedges into squares of varying shades of green that make the hills look like a patchwork quilt. Cows and sheep and horses everywhere, for miles and miles and miles. Rolling hills, some with interesting rock formations, some with lakes, some with ancient ruins and castles. I took some pictures and video but it just doesn't do it justice.

Next, Kissane Sheep Farm! I was so excited to find this place, which does demonstrations of border collies herding sheep. We watched the sheep being sheared (sweet Stone was incensed at the roughness with which they handled the sheep, and the cruelty of keeping them in a pen while they waited. He was almost in tears and ready to start a rebellion until I heard Lucy explaining "the pen is just like a waiting room at the doctor's office, and shearing them maybe isn't their favorite, but it helps them so they don't get weighed down by the wool - the can suffocate from the weight..." and he calmed down), and then we went outside and watched the shepherd calling out commands to the dogs, who can hear him from half a mile away!! They were incredible animals - so smart and so obedient to their masters, and those poor sheep went wherever the first sheep went, and the first sheep went wherever she could get away from those scary dogs!! The sheep are instinctively terrified of the dogs because they are associated with wolves - they don't know that the border collies are not going to kill and eat them, so they huddle together and shake with fear with the dogs come near. This fear is exploited successfully by the sheep farmer as he sends the dogs out to round up his sheep as they graze all over the property. Lots of lessons to be learned here... but this time we just marveled at the beauty of the place and the skill (and later, the cuteness!!) of those dogs.

Next, on to Dingle! We started listening to the book "The Golden Compass" on Audible, which I hadn't realized was set at Oxford University! What luck. As we drove along the sunny road, taking in the gorgeous scenery and eventually spotting the Atlantic Ocean, we suddenly heard a loud "POP!!!" and knew our tire had blown out. Sure enough, Erik pulled over - luckily we were close to a house and he had room to pull onto their property; long stretches of road are insanely narrow and have absolutely no shoulder - and our back left tire was indeed in shreds. Erik called the car company and was told it would be 1-1.5 hours, so he decided to change the tire himself. SO lucky to be near this house - no one was home but we drove up their driveway and utilized a flat space. Erik was a hero and the kids were such good sports!!

Eventually we arrived in Dingle, where we were supposed to meet our host at #8 of a street with an Irish Gaelic name that I cannot even begin to remember or pronounce. We waited and waited... then messaged him and learned I had written the address down wrong and we were in the wrong place. Luckily it wasn't far and we found our way to a lovely, clean, modern house. We showered and changed and walked into town for pizza, ending a magnificently up-and-down day!!!

The van, stranded on a log

Falcon!!!

Our guide was very helpful with the van, and gave us great instruction with the birds

The guide thought Lindsay's owl was hungry so he gave him a dead mouse, then turned his attention to the other kids with their owls, not seeing that Lindsay was just standing there saying quietly "Um, he's not eating it... Um, I think he might not be hungry..." and her owl would sometimes turn its head quickly and the mouse tail would come close to whipping her face, and Lindsay would plead "please don't touch me with it, please don't touch me with it..." The guide kept talking to me but I couldn't concentrate and kept almost bursting into uncontrollable laughter, seeing Lindsa with that dead mouse!!!

Hiking through Killarney, playing Psychiatrist

Erik and Stone talking about their latest favorite computer game, "Subnautica" as we left Killarney

Stone was in heaven with the sheep dogs!!

He played catch was we waited for the demo to start

Sheep herding demonstration on the most beautiful landscape

More driving

Flat tire!! We lugged our heavy heavy suitcases up the long driveway so the van wouldn't be so weighed down

Luckily there was a great extra tire (not just a small spare) under the van. Great opportunity for a tire-changing lesson!!

We talked about how strange it was that the owners of the house had no idea we had used their driveway and sat on their front porch for 45 minutes, and thought it would be funny to mess with them a little by leaving their lawn chairs (which were just sitting there on the driveway) in a stack.