Day 3: A Jaunt, a Ring, and Whole Lot of Animals

It is just past 10pm in Ireland.  We have had an amazing day.  As we closed out our night walking around downtown Killarney and having a slice of pie, I realized that we haven't really experienced true Irish weather.  Sure, it rained a little today and we were bit by some harsh winds, but the downfall has yet to appear.  Hopefully, we get a small taste of it tomorrow.

Yeah, I said hopefully.  [Author's note:  The "H" key on my chromebook is sticking.  I jinxed myself by bragging about its longevity last night.  Every time you see an "h" realize I probably had to press it 3-5 times, lol]  The reason why I want a bit of rain is because travel to me is what "we" make of it.  It is the simplest of lessons in life. We make our own luck and our personal attitude towards things dictates what is fun or not.  It rains in life.  The wind whips.  Temperatures drop.  If we find ourselves somewhere and the weather is not ideal, we shouldn't let it bring us down...instead, we should find a way to embrace the uncontrollable realizing that it makes us stronger in the long run.  Irish rain could be a stepping stone for these kids to realize just how important our own perspective is in defining our reality.  I choose to embrace learning experiences, especially when traveling.

Another travel experience I embrace is food.

This morning, we met for breakfast at 8am.  The offerings were slim, but no one really noticed or complained.  We had cereal to choose from, an egg, bacon, and coffee/juice/water.  I think the most important part of breakfast was the realization that our internal clocks had reset...for the most part, and we were ready for the day and everything that would come our way.

The first thing to come our way was the Jaunting cars.

This is a traditional Jaunting car.  It is pulled by a horse.  There is a driver, lol.  Today, our cars arrived at the hotel and picked us up. 

 We were all able to pile into one of the carriages.  Our car was nice.  There was a screen on one side to help prevent the wind and the driver had lots of carpets (blankets) to help us stay warm.

The horse behind us got really close a few times and might have bumped his head.

 We made our way down the road towards the national park.  The city of Killarney is a really nice city, but it is still a city, horse drawn carriages make for traffic jams, but not in the national park.  Only walking, biking, and jaunting are allowed. 

 The national park is over 65,000 acres large.  It contains a bunch of cool things to see.  Ruins abound.  There are also quite a few lakes and islands.  The largest lake seemed to be about the size of Saugus...and the smallest island (Mouse Island) is so small that only a family of mice can inhabit it.

 There is also a lot of wildlife in the park.  We saw a ton of different birds, but no squirrels.  We also saw a herd of deer.  The photo above has some baby deer in it.  These were wild animals.  Later in the day, we would see a ton of domesticated animals too.

The biggest ruin in the park is Ross castle.  I think I heard someone say that Oliver Cromwell destroyed the castle, but we didn't get to tour it.  It might have been on one of the islands and no one was prepared to swim.  The castle tower peaks above the wood line and looks pretty formidable.

All good things must come to a close and our jaunting car tour was soon completed.  We met with Sean and Joseph and began our day tour of the Ring of Kerry.  Our first stop was the Bog Village.  Irish history is exciting to learn.  There are so many facets of the culture that impacts these folks today.  One of the cooler parts, to me, are the way bogs are utilized by the early Irish.  The Bog Village is a tourist trap, but it captures the essence of what life used to be like.

While Jaunting, Hallie (I think) made the connection that their national park was kind of like our Breakheart. While not similar in size, she was right. It is a little oasis in an otherwise busy modern world.  The Bog Village, according to the kids, is like our Iron Works.  I includes replica homes, tools, and customs that would otherwise be forgotten.  It is also a small petting zoo.  The kids loved it.

Peat - taken from the bogs is used to heat their homes and flavor their whiskey.

The girls posing in front of the forge.  A little bit of Iron Works in Ireland.  I actually gave an impromptu history lesson to one of the chaperones from Maine about our Iron Works...it was fun!!!

Wishing visitors good luck!

Inside a traditional Bog home.

The little field here is growing real vegetables.  The sign told of the potatoe famine (Spelling it the Dan Quayle way)!

This type of pony is native to Ireland.

An Irish tuckered out from being petted by 30 American kids.

The girls making their way through the village.

After the village, we continued into the Ring of Kerry.  Joseph, our Tour Director spoke to us along the way.  He isn't just the person who coordinates our trip; he is also a tour guide.  The long bus rides are broken up with tidbits of history, folklore, and interaction with the kids.  He is doing a fantastic job so far.

We stopped at quite a few scenic photo opps.  I am including them in no particular order.

Just a kid with his accordion playing some tunes.

An Irish Ice Cream Car

Safety first along the waterfront.

Waterville, Ireland used to be a favorite vacation spot for Charlie Chaplin.  He just chilled when he got there and the locals loved him for it.

King Puck.  Legend has it that a herd of goats saved an Irish village from attacking British soldiers...now, in August, they have a Goat festival.  I didn't see any Tom Brady posters though?

Almost every rest stop had some small animal for people to pet.  This one had a puppy on top of a horse.

The wind here was so fierce.  It was hard to even walk through it.

A model of the first trans-Atlantic telegraph cable. 

Some of you may have noticed that the girls all have matching rain coats.  These coats were embroidered by Old School Apparel and they look amazing.  Additionally, they were gifted to the girls by the Saugus High School Alumni Association.  The Alumni group has been so generous to our school and students and they deserve some publicity!!!

Along the way, we stopped at a few other places too.  A small town called Smeen had some gift stores.  Waterville had a few statues, an art gallery, and a beach.  The thatched house had lunch.

I had Shepard's Pie.  It wasn't as good as my Mom's but no ones ever will be!!!

I mentioned that I might try rhubarb pie and the girls chipped in and bought me a slice.  It was under $49.99 so I accepted.  It was tasty.

Nearer the end of our drive, we stopped as the Kissane Sheep Farm.  There we were happy to see a live demonstration of how sheep are corralled.  In addition, we got to pet and play with more animals.

That's right...a youtube video...I am so tech savvy!

This little guy was camera shy...you might say, he was sheepish!

As Joseph called them, punk sheep.  The spray paint isn't for the Sex Pistols or Ramones...instead it is how owners keep track of their herd. This farm owns over 2000 sheep.

Pups in training. These guys came out to play fetch.

Pups failing their training?  They watched while everyone else had fun :(

Another lamb.  

Today was a relaxing day through the Irish countryside.  We laughed a ton.  Whether at something someone said or someone losing their footing a bit...or spilling their coffee on themselves....we laughed.  The day went well even with the bit of rain we had and the time spent sitting on the bus.  I started tonight's blog with a though or two on maintaining a positive mental attitude.  It bears repeating.  When one travels to learn, they let the little things go.  When one travels to learn, weather only enhances the memories.  When one travels to learn, their guards are dropped and they are able to enjoy things that are usually just fleeting thoughts.

I write this blog every night as a way to recap the days events.  I go through and read them periodically, but I am really just trying to emulate best practices (teacher friends will understand the jargon).  A few times today, I heard the girls talking about writing in their journals...another gift made possible by the Alumni Association.  They were not looking at the journals like a school assignment, but instead, to me, it looked like they just assumed that that was one of the things travelers do.  Of all of today's memories, them discussing their journals might be favorite.  I hope years from now they are still taking the time to think about their adventures and recording their thoughts for future reference. 

Well, it is 11:45.  I should wrap it up and head out for another room check before bed.  Thanks for taking the time to read and I hope I shed some light on what our day was like.