June 25: Dingle

Tourists go to Dingle for the beautiful coastline and adorable little town. Most people drive the Dingle Loop or the Slea Head Loop, which is a circle around the peninsula, gazing at the rolling green hills and the stunning blue ocean, stopping along the way to see stone beehive huts used by monks in the 500's and prehistoric ring forts used by Celts in 3-2,000 BC. We were excited to see the sites but tired of sitting in the car, so I planned a bike ride instead! I had heard great reviews of electric bikes from friends, which are just normal street bikes that have a battery pack that gives a little boost whenever you need, especially on hills. I booked the bikes last minute - about a week before we left - and grew progressively more nervous as the day approached, imagining a giant tour bus careening around a hairpin turn and smashing into my children before my eyes, or Sophie (who has the least experience riding in traffic) panicking at a confusing roundabout and launching headlong into an oncoming car. The night before and the morning of the ride I had a sick feeling that something bad would happen... but it was the same sick feeling I had before I went to Israel and to Chile and before my first day as a teacher and before the births of each of my kids and before Spain and before the first day of graduate school. Also small things like my first time boogie boarding and jet skiing. So I have learned to breathe through my fear, which I did again... and I was so glad I did!!!! We got fitted to our bikes at a big open space where we could practice riding around for awhile, and even though Stone's bike was too big for him, he learned to hop forward instead of to the side; Sophie looked totally comfortable. The bike guide Cathal was completely confident that we would be fine riding the Slea Head loop counter-clockwise, so he gave us a tutorial, outfitted us with helmets and yellow visibility vests, and off we went!!!

I wish so much that I could have taken photos as we rode, but it wouldn't have been safe. Here are some of our stops along the 30 mile route.

After biking up a few steep hills - difficult even with assistance - we were in desperate need of water! We found a roadside pub and guzzled.

Churches and ruins everywhere, dotting fields full of sheep and cows

Our bike locks were on spiral boingy bands, which Lucy put on her head and said, "Look, I'm at Coachella." To which Lindsay rolled her eyes. :) We hopped off our bikes and hiked along that path to the point in the distance, which ended at the ocean.

Stone was in heaven. He jumped off his bike and we said "two rules: be nice and don't die!" He ran free over the spongey turf and crazy rock formations

Stone had a blast climbing on those crazy rocks

At about the halfway point (at which the kids found out how long the ride actually was and nearly mutinied) we found a tiny cafe overlooking the sea, and the food was actually delicious! We rested for awhile before climbing back onto the saddle.

We still hadn't seen any ancient ring forts or round stone huts (which were used in the recent Star Wars movies where Luke is hiding on the island when Rey finds him), and I hoped we hadn't biked past them accidentally. Luckily, just a few kilometers past the lunch spot we saw a hand-written sign that said "Ancient Ring Forts. Hold a baby lamb." Um... yes please!!! We pulled off the road and found a young man whose property included many stone forts from the early Christian era. I asked him how long his family had owned the property, and he answered "for generations." Apparently the government gives grants to farmers with ancient sites on their land, and imposes stiff penalties (fines and prison time) if they harm the sites. So this guy charges a couple of Euros for tourists to tour the forts, and he keeps his sheep farm going as his ancestors did, but with the entrepreneurial addition of charging for 15 minutes of cuteness. And boy was it worth it for us!!

This cute little thing was only a week and a half old

He feeds his lambs once every three hours (like human babies!) and we happened to arrive at the exact right time!!!

Stone also snuggled with the farmer's dog, named Buddy, and laughed and laughed at the lamb's crazy suckling on the bottle.

Beautiful red, yellow, and purple flowers everywhere along the path

Early Christian stone huts. Erik is going to Photoshop light sabres in later. :)

Next stop: prehistoric Irish ring forts. Erik had started to sing his trademark song, "Old, old, old, old, this is old, that is old," and plus he had lots of work to do, so I told him to sit the next site out and get some work done via his phone. He also performed the task of watching our bikes. What a view, right??

This is a complex of round stone huts from the ancient Celts, about 3-2,000 BC. They lived in family groups, and the stone ring around their neighborhood added extra protection to the ocean and cliff. There was an open area as well where the druid would perform their pagan rites.

A narrow passage leading to an underground cave where they would hide in times of trouble.

Stone took a photo in the underground cave

Walking back to the bikes

Stone got reeeeeeeally tired by the end. Sophie had many tearful spells, but pushed through like a champion. Erik and I are so proud of our kids!!!

After returning home, Sophie and I thought it was worth it to walk back to town to try the restaurant regarded as having Ireland's best fish and chips. It was AMAZING and worth the leg pain. Erik, Lindsay, and Lucy chose poorly and stayed near the house for Ireland's best pizza, which they reported was terrible. :)

Dingle is the most beautiful town! I took this picture to send to Lindsay and Lucy because I am terrified of Moriarty on Sherlock; look at those beautiful store fronts!!!

We were really sad to be leaving Dingle the next day - Stone said he wanted to live there forever.