A Laddie and A Lassie In Scotland and Ireland: Dingle to Cork

Dingle to Cork

While at Foxy John’s the night before, we mingled with the locals and the bartender (the owner’s son). Everyone said that it was a must to do the drive around the peninsula; it was called the Slea Head Drive. So after checking out of the hostel, which Monika was very sad to leave, and purchasing a couple of souvenirs we left Dingle and headed out on the drive.

The weather was much nicer than the previous day when Conor’s Pass was clouded over with fog. Right from the beginning of this drive, we understood why everyone was very adamant that we do it. Our lane was right on the edge of a cliff which fell off into the Atlantic. This very rough landscape made for a very scenic adventure. Farmlands separated by stone walls were spread out up steep embankments. “The edge of the world” is what this coast of Ireland had been referred to for so many years before European exploration to the Americas.

Along the road, we stopped at a group of houses that were still standing from the years of the potato famine (mid 1800’s) which severely depleted the population of Ireland. The homes were very spooky. Just before entering one of the houses, we read a tragic story about the inhabitants of the house. Seven children from one family, did not live past their first birthday. As they didn’t live long enough to be baptised, they couldn’t be buried in a catholic burial ground. Therefore they were buried directly behind the house. Pretty eerie! We entered the house, turned the corner and I heard Monika scream. She almost knocked me down trying to get out of the room. In the loft handing over the kitchen, there was a life-like doll of a young child. Too creepy for me, I was out of there.

Our drive continued. We saw a few beaches that dotted the coastline. Being on the coast of the Atlantic, without any land until North America due West, this is a surfing hotspot. Unfortunately, it was about 15 degrees today, and although there were many people in the water, it was just not that appealing to me. The remainder of the drive, which took about an hour and a half, was spectacular. Sometimes tricky, two way traffic on a one-lane road. Lots of close calls as car slowed to a halt to scrape by each other.

After the drive, we left Dingle but only after seriously considering about the hit on the prepaid hotel in Cork and staying another night. The drive to Cork took about 2.5 hours.

We entered Cork City and went to our hotel, The Ambassador Hotel on Military Hill. It was a beautiful older hotel. It was our first hotel on the trip with a health spa with whirlpool and sauna. We had to try this out before we left the hotel for the night.

We journeyed into Cork on foot. We found the popular streets with the restaurants and pubs and sat down for dinner. After a bite to eat, we searched for a bar. Searched… I guess I figured there would just be pub after pub. But we eventually found one in which the band was just setting up to play, perfect. Well not really. Loud blues, not really what we were hoping for. We left after a pint. Walking down the street we saw a patio of a hotel, which was carved into the side of a massive waterfall. It was really cool to see this waterfall (maybe 40 feet) in the middle of a city. It was definitely man made, but was one of the coolest spots we have had a pint on our trip. On our way back towards the hotel, we popped into one last pub, called the Windsor Pub! Monika enjoyed some Stella while I sampled Cork’s finest stout’s, Murphy’s and Beamish.

Irish Famine Cottages