Even though the bed was cozy and it was quiet, I woke up at 6 and could not fall back asleep. I showered and took a peanut butter cookie to go and went for a walk through the country roads down to Charles Fort and Kinsale. I saw a bunch of beautiful flowers, pretty views of the coast and a friendly horse in a paddock. Coming back to the house, they made us breakfast. Andy and Marilyn were our hosts and they were awesome. Very friendly and great cooks. I had my first full Irish breakfast complete with white and black pudding (sausage) egg, sausage, bacon. They also had fruit, cereal, coffee, and yogurt with musli.

After saying good bye to our hosts, we headed to Kilbritan to see the whale. Our GPS Bridgit tried to take us down a gravel road through the woods where there was surely trolls. We elected to stick to the narrow, curvy country roads instead. We saw Kilbritan Castle in the distance while playing in the Village Park that had the whale. The road to it was marked private to we couldn’t go see it closer. Instead we listened and watched the video about how the whale came to be in Kilbritan. We played on the swing and other play equipment too.

We then set off for Killarney. Some driving was tight country roads, others was quick turns through cities. We arrived in Killarney and parked by Ross Castle at noon. The next tour didn’t leave until 1:45 so we ate at the little cafe (hot dog and chocolate muffin) and did the miners walk through the woods and around the lake. It was so pretty with the green hills and mist surrounding them.

We did our tour of Ross Castle, another traditional Irish Tower house. We then took a “20” minute nature wall to Killarney house and gardens which really took about 40. We saw both Killarney and Knockreer houses and gardens which were the manor houses of the estate owners of Ross Castle and the Killarney National Park before it was such. They were unimpressive and you could not even go in the houses. There was some flowers but definitely not gardens as described. We took a Gelato break and saw St Mary’s Cathedral which was huge and had beautiful stained glass windows. We checked into out hostel; the Black Sheep, which was cool. It had a common room, veggie garden, chickens, bikes to rent, kitchen with free breakfast, bunks, and clean bathrooms. Brandon and I made the journey back to Ross Castle to get the car and move it to a public lot. We saw a male, two females, and two baby deer on the way. We then went more into town to eat at the Smoke house. It had a cool vibe. I had a lamb burger. Brad got a local beer and I snagged the bottle for Dad for the hunting shack. The downtown was very touristy and all the souvenir shops were more expensive then other places we have been. But it was cute and quaint Irish. We then went to a bar called the Whiskey Experience and our awesome waiter Luke guided us through the menu. Brad and Brandon got whiskey flights and Ciara and I got cocktails. I tried Irish amaretto which was more flavorful then the ones I usually drink. I also tried a Muckross Mule which was gingery and delicious. Ciara got a Killarney old fashioned which was strong. We then headed back to the hostel for a shower and bed.