Off to Killarney!

Fortunately, the program I’m in allows us Friday through Sunday off, so I can actually travel and see some of Ireland. So, I went with Kelsey and Victor to Killarney. We took the train, which was very nice and didn’t seem too long for a 4-hour ride. When we arrived, we made our way to our hostel. Killarney is a very cute, quaint town, with lots of little shops of all different colors and really only a few streets. Our hostel was very near the middle of town and was very nice (or at least it seemed so – this is my first hostel). 

Killarney

our hostel

We left our stuff and went to lunch. We found a cute little restaurant. I got a sandwich because I wasn’t too hungry and it was on the ‘small bite’ section. Yeah, the bread was 1.5x larger than our standard size. Dinners are usually the size (or density depending on how you want to measure the food) of Cracker Barrel food, so it’s very difficult to finish anything. Though that comes in handy if you’re trying to make it last for more than one meal. So, I think the best word to describe Irish food is ‘hearty”. Anyways, the food was good and then we went to go hike some in the Killarney’s National Park. It turns out that one of the heirs of a large estate, an Irish American in fact, bought the surrounding land and then donated it to the Irish state, creating the first National park for Ireland. Once we entered the park, we headed for Ross castle. We passed many fields with mountains in the background. Part of the path went along a brook, which was very pretty. There were many Irish people walking: old couples, owners throwing sticks for their dogs, moms running with their babies in their strollers, bikers and horse-drawn carriages. 

beginning of the National Park

fields and mountains!

more beautiful paths

stream running through the park

Kelsey, Victor and I in a field

It was a very beautiful walk to the castle. Once we reached the castle, we no longer had the trees to shelter us from the wind and basically got smacked in the face with the strong wind coming from the lake at the feet of the tower. It turns out Ross castle is actually a tower, but it was still very cool to see. We couldn’t take photos inside the building, but the brilliant engineering and architecture of old buildings never ceases to amaze me. Our guide told us about how the windows are narrow slits so it’s difficult for attackers to shoot in, but the inside is wide so guards can shoot out. The doors had little holes on the wall beside so they could shoot out. The steps of the one stairway are purposefully unequal to cause one running up to stumble and are in a clockwise fashion so the (most likely) dominant right hand will give the advantage to the guard running down while the attacker coming up will hit his sword on the center part. The spikes sticking out of the doors prevented anyone from using their shoulder to bash down the door. There was a grated opening over the entrance to the stairwell called the slaughter hole where guards could shoot attackers from above or pour boiling water on them. Things like that, with so much foresight and reliance on (assumed) human tendency, really amaze me. It was a very cool tower. 

Ross Castle

Lake next to Ross Castle

Kelsey and I at one of the doors in the outer wall

artsy photo - entrance of outer wall

After we walked back, we went early to the Danny Man pub, one of the oldest pubs in Killarney and one that also features live traditional music. We wanted to go early so we could get prime seats for the performance later on, which we got front row seats. The food was very good – I got shepherd’s pie because I wanted to see how they make it here. They put cheese on top, which made it quite good. Victor got potato cakes with chives and spinach in them – they actually turned out really good (I don’t think I would ever think to put that in them). Kelsey got a goat cheese salad, which turned out to be a wheel of goat cheese on some salad, which made it a little hard for her to eat. Definitely, some descriptions of restaurant food are very misleading, but you never really find that out until after you’ve ordered. After the soccer game between Germany and Greece (because every single soccer game in the EU cup is shown in every single pub – guaranteed), the band took the stage. There was a mandolin player, a guitarist and a guy who sang and played the bodhran. They were very good, I really enjoyed their music. I think I like that there are quite a few pubs that feature live music like that. It’s a good way to support these musicians, to hear new bands (or old ones) and to sing with other folks. There were many older people in this pub and they all joined in and swayed for their favorite tunes. It was really cool.