Let's consider the GPS phenomenon, shall we? Jason has one that he uses to navigate around England. It can be very handy when one is alone in the car and maps would pose a driving hazard... but there are drawbacks to GPS as well. Reliance on the system is one major drawback (prime example: we were driving and looking for a gas station. Jason was typing "find gas station" into the system while I pointed out the BP on the corner). I will grant that there are many locations in England it would have been incredibly difficult to find if it had not been for the GPS. England does not use cardinal directions on ANY of their signs (no I-75 N or S here... it is just "M6" and you have to guess the direction... quite impossible at times). But here in Ireland, GPS just does not like the streets at all. When we were trying to find Blarney Castle, it directed us to the Blarney Business Park, which is apparently also the location of the Blarney Tourist Center, Blarney Road, and the city of Blarney (none of which are there!). When we tried to find our B&B, we were driving on a blank space on the GPS map - it didn't even register that we were on a road! Unfortunately, none of the road maps we have are very specific, so I've been navigating with very limited information (the navigator is only as good as her map!). Despite all the misadventures with navigation, we've seen some great spots, driven some pretty roads, and found some interesting locales we may not have seen otherwise.
Today we drove from our B&B near Kinsale towards Killarney and the Ring of Kerry. What a great drive! The Ring of Kerry has the Killarney National Park. We stopped several times at different locations to walk, hike, and view. We saw a beautiful historic house (Muckross House) in the middle of the woods (about a 2.5 mile hike). We stopped at the Torc Waterfall (amazing!). And then we drove along the Ring. This highway around the peninsula of Kerry is amazing. The roads are very narrow, providing for some harrowing experiences, especially when we passed tour buses. Les, you would love this trip on your motorcycle! And any of you who are avid cyclists would also love this road trip! The views are astounding.
After the Ring, we stopped back in Killarney to walk around the city. It is very touristy, but also very quaint at the same time. I had lamb stew for dinner (poor little lamb!) and now I'm typing away at an internet cafe that costs MUCH more than the one in Dublin did. Oh well!Date: 29 July 2007
Location: Killarney, Ring of Kerry
Highlights:
- Driving through the Ring of Kerry
- the view from the road
- not getting sick (too badly) on the trip (it was very curvy!)
- lamb stew (sheeps are friends... and food)
-spying the Leprechaun Crossing, even if I didn't see any of the little fellas
Thought of the Day: Maps are friends, especially when
they recognize that roads exist where you're driving.
