Petersontravels

On our drive to Bantry we ran into a wee bit of traffic.  Damn cows!  You may need to click on the photo to see them better.  Yes, the road below is two way, and that’s a wide one!

The contrast between Kinsale and Bantry was remarkable.  Bantry is not a tourist destination, at least not as a city.  A lot of places in town were either out of business or on the verge of being out of business.  Fortunately we stayed 5 minutes away from the town center at the Seafort Luxury Hideaway, which was excellent!

Our first full day was a repeat of the perfect weather we had in Kinsale, so we ventured out to Mizzen Head, a nearby peninsula, with some incredible views.

The Mizzen Bridge was originally built in 1909, and was replaced with a replica bridge that opened in 2011.

The views from the other side of the bridge are incredible!

Likely not the best site for somebody with a fear of heights.

There are several viewing platforms and each has a unique perspective.

Looking out into the open ocean.  We were so lucky with weather!

We then visited Barley Cove beach.  The first time we’ve seen surfers in Ireland…and a lot of footsteps!

We drove through Schull (pronounced “skull”) as our host in Bantry advised us about a murder mystery on Netflix regarding a case based here.  We figured we’d visit, get a beer, and watch it when we get home.  Cute little town!

This church in Bantry was all lit up, and I had to get a shot after dinner.  I love the flipped over shopping cart out front…feels like we are back home already!

One of the “must do’s” in Bantry is Garinish Island.

There are two ferry services from the village of Glengarriff to the Island.  I would suggest using the “Blue Pool” ferry versus the “Harbour Queen”, as the “Blue Pool” ran every half hour versus the competition that only ran on the hour (despite their signs that said every half hour…grrr!).  The Blue Pool was also apparently “on time”, versus the other.  Double grrr!  You only have so much time here….don’t let a company waste some of it for you!

You get to see some seals on the way to the island.  Lazy seals!

The obviously wealthy John Bryce bought the island from the War Office in 1910 and built extensive gardens.  The below is inspired by Italian gardens…maybe on Lake Como?

The Bryce family took inspirations from other gardens, including the Greeks.

The flowers are gorgeous!  The gardens benefit from a mild humid micro-climate in this harbor.

These are a line of Dahlia’s.  I had no idea what Dahlia’s were….now I know!  Isn’t that the most contemplative look a flower has ever seen?

There is a restored Martello Tower from the Napoleonic Wars.  These towers were small defensive forts built with a large canon on top to defend against the potential of French invasion, which never happened.  This is the view from the top.

Our last trip in Bantry was to head up to Healy Pass, which turned out to be one of the most dangerous drives we’ve ever done.  One lane most of the way, with small cutouts here and there, and sheep everywhere.  It was a total white knuckle ride!!  The below photo is looking back down the road we just drove up (click on the photo to see the road better….it was scary!!).

The Healy Pass was built in 1847 during the Potato Famine to help prevent starvation.  This became the main road between the Kerry side and the Cork side of the Beara Peninsula, allowing the transfer of food (I have no idea which way the food transferred, more research needed!)

On the way up the pass we ran into a bit of a traffic jam.

This is the view to the west from the top of the Healy Pass.  That’s the ocean in the far distance.

On the way up to the Healy Pass an old man walking in the road waved us down.  We though he needed help so we stopped, but he just wanted to chat.  He asked questions for at least 10 minutes, particularly questions about how we met and how long we had been married, how many kids, on and on.  When we got back to our hotel the owner said “oh, old one tooth?  Yes, everybody knows him.”  Bantry is a small place!

Our next stop is Kenmare, where we are staying for 4 days.  This is on the route of the “Ring of Kerry”, likely the biggest highlight of any trip to Ireland.

 

 

 

We had excellent weather on our way to Kinsale.  The roads were very crowded near Cork, and I’m glad we didn’t stay there.  Big cities are definitely not our thing.  Kinsale on the other hand is spectacularly beautiful!  Here is the view from our hotel.

Our first full day in Kinsale presented us with the best weather we have had so far.  We took a short walk down the waterfront to go on a guided tour of the town with a local.

We were with Barry, and he did an amazing job.  Highly recommended!  He explained that Kinsale was home to a particularly famous female pirate, Anne Bonny.

Born in Kinsale in 1697, her original name was Anne Cormac, which she changed after she eloped with Irish sailor Jim Bonny to Nassau in the Bahamas, which at the time was a sanctuary for pirates.  This is where she met the pirate “Calico” Jack Rackham, and it was with him that she gained her reputation as the Pirate Queen.  Kinsale created artwork on some local steps to honor her.

The text reads “Well behaved women seldom make history”.  These Irish love their history, good or bad!  Interesting factoid, Jack Rackham was not much of a pirate, and when his ship was captured he was apparently hiding below deck.  Before he was hung for piracy, Anne Bonny supposedly told him “If you would have fought like a man you wouldn’t have to die like a dog”.  Harsh woman!  Interesting factoid #2, despite Rackham’s poor showing as a pirate, he was the first to use the below flag, so Disney owes him some royalties!

This little town has a winding main street, which derived from the fact this was the original shoreline of the city.  The left side of this street would have been a fortress wall.

The city has only recently started painting many of their buildings in bright colors, partly in an attempt to win the “TidyTowns” award, a national competition sponsored by Ireland’s main supermarket, SuperValu.  These people take this competition very seriously!

Our tour guide told us that the hike out to Charles Fort was a “must do”, so we set off after the tour.  The tidal range is about 12 feet here, which is clearly evidenced by this grounded boat.

Looking out towards the open ocean, known historically by locals as the “end of the world”.

Looking across the water to the ruins of James Fort.  This fort was to work in conjunction with Charles Fort to protect the inner harbor of Kinsale.

This is just inside the entrance of Charles Fort.

We could not have asked for better weather.  We both wished we had been wearing t-shirts and shorts!

Charles Fort was built in the late 17th century, and is a massive star-shaped structure.

We took a private tour and our tour guide gave us a lot of interesting facts, particularly about the lives of the soldiers who lived here, 10 to a room, with zero privacy, no running water, and only a bucket to piss in.  Sounds lovely!

The tour guide told us the Governor’s house, pictured below, is haunted.

The short story is the Governor’s daughter was married to an officer here, and the newly married officer asked a soldier to hike down a hill to retrieve some flowers for his new wife.  He took the soldiers post while he did this, and apparently fell asleep (too much mead?).  Sleeping on watch is punishable by death, and the Governor went looking for the officer, saw a man sleeping on watch, and shot him.  When his daughter found out her husband had just been killed, she stepped off the fort wall and died.  She is said to haunt this place now, with many reports seeing the “White Lady” on the ramparts and particularly in the below window.

Small world story, the tour guide at the fort said her sister lived in our hometown of Livermore for 7 years or so.  Small town story, she turned out to be the bartender in the pub we went into that night!

The next day it was raining and windy, but we made our way out to Old Head anyway, the last bit of land before the “end of the world”.  We visited a museum devoted to the Lusitania, which sank 12 miles due south of Old Head.  The museum is housed in a 200 year old “signal tower”, of which there were 81 built during the Napoleonic Wars.

The below is a poster for the Cunard cruise line.

The Lusitania was torpedoed by a German U-Boat on May 7, 1915, and sank in just 20 minutes, taking 1198 lives.  The locals from Kinsale were heavily involved in the rescue of the 761 survivors.

Here is a photo of some of the survivors.

This is a memorial adjacent to the museum honoring those who lost their life.  Further past the memorial is a famous golf course, and even though it was raining and blowing about 50 knots, there were plenty of people out there golfing!

We found a pub, Kitty O Se’s, with some traditional Irish music on our last night, and they had this welcoming sign on the wall!

The guy even played John Denver on request!  “Almost heaven, West Virginia…”

Next up is Bantry, a short drive to the west.