On Saturday, we awoke to a gloriously sunny day, which was perfect for our tour of the Ring of Kerry, Ireland's most popular scenic drive. We started in Killarney and went in an "anti-clockwise" (the British way to say "counter-clockwise") direction, ending up in the small village of Sneem. We made several stops along the way, mostly to gaze at and photograph the sheer beauty of Ireland. One place we stopped was the Kerry Bog Village (photo #1), where we toured actual dwellings of villagers from the early 1800s. It was here that some of us, including myself, went over to the Red Fox Inn to have some Bailey's Coffee :-). One of my favorite stops along the Ring of Kerry was to a sheep farm owned by an Irishman by the name of Brenden (photo #3). Brenden gave an amazing demonstration of how he and his two sheep dogs work together. Each dog has its own whistle commands, as well as verbal commands that they learn to follow. All Brenden has to do is give the commands, and the dogs know what to do. It's quite fascinating to see them work!
I think that our last stop was a really cute little village called Sneem. Amanda and I walked around a little bit, and then went into a little shop to get a Bailey's ice cream cone...best ice cream ever! We left Sneem and headed back to Killarney to eat dinner at our hotel. After dinner, I went to Mass at Saint Marys with the Wahlmeiers and the rest of those in the group who are Catholic (which turned out to be pretty much everyone). That was the first time I had ever attended a Catholic service, and it was very interesting. The only thing they recited that I knew was the Lord's Prayer. I was going to say it with everyone, but the Irish talk so fast that they were half way done before I managed to say "Thy kingdom come"! After church, then some of us went to Danny Mann's again to hear music...and have a Bailey's (yes, that is the third time that word has appeared in this post!). The band that played that night was the Molly McGuires. They had a good sound, and sang some familiar songs, but their mics were sooo loud that it became a bit annoying by the time we left.
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