Sunday, October 26, 2008

2008 Ireland Trip -7 Sep 08, Part III



The afternoon yielded better weather for us as the sun came out for a while. The effect of the late afternoon light on the landscape was pretty spectacular with the greens turning more brilliant and the contrasting water becoming an azure jewel against and emerald setting.








I'll pass on this boat ride, thanks.











I love the patchwork quilt effect of the pastures on that hill across the bay.











This is my all time favorite photo of the trip.











Mount Brandon











My Woodcentral hat sighting pic with Mount Brandon








Jimmy Bruic is the owner of Coill An Roís, our B&B for the Dingle Peninsula portion of our trip. Jimmy makes the BEST! breakfast of all our B&B stays. He's also very helpful, including coming out to the lane at night to guide us to the B&B. It was so dark out there and the GPS unit I rented didn't have that part of the peninsula mapped, so it was very nice of Jimmy to come out and guide us to the B&B. We had some lovely chats while we stayed there, too.











Another look at Mount Brandon in the late afternoon sun.











Jimmy, taking a cell phone call. That's the B&B to the left.









The Dingle Peninsula was one of my favorite places to visit in Ireland.









Michael was worn out from the sight-seeing of the day and decided to take a nap. I went for a walk to look for birds while he slept.

The hedge rows are full of fuschias. These aren't native, but they've certainly taken over the roadsides.







Everyone seems to adore them, so I guess they're a welcome invasive species.
















No hummingbirds for pollination, but the bees were all over them.
















There are a lot of walking paths all over Ireland. This one was pretty muddy in spots, but it was great for birding.









Mount Brandon











More of the Dingle Peninsula













Stone Chat

















Robin (he's not one-legged, but is warming his foot)










More of the Dingle Peninsula - you can see the effect of glaciation here, too.











Grey wagtails











Notice the U-shaped valley on the hillside there? That's another tell tale sign of glaciation.










We had dinner here - on the northwestern edge of the peninsula

















The sunset was stunning










Here's the Clifftop restaurant. I had Dingle Bay prawns here, and they were super delicious. I want some more!









The interior of the house










We drove over to Dingle for the evening to have a Guinness and to hear some music. First, though, I couldn't resist taking pictures of the marina. I didn't have a tripod so I had to rest my camera on a rock for these long exposures.









The water was mirror calm - a beautiful setting for this long exposure image.












I couldn't resist doing some light painting here and....











here











We stopped here first











We were a bit late for getting a good seat, but Michael invited us to sit with some people that already had a table.








We were front and center next to the band.












Guinness, music and good craic - perfect for Ireland.









We stopped in to a pub down the street to catch a bit of a sessiun - a mix of local talent and some Americans. The guy playing Uillean pipes is a local. He's on one of the recordings I have, but I don't have his name at the moment.









Another table-top pic. We sure had a great day on the Dingle Peninsula, and a lovely evening to top it off.

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