Just back from 23 days in Ireland (Part 2)

Since nobody else has answered, I just wanted to thank you for these observations.

I can especially relate to your comment about the "scenery and the people" as opposed to any particular sight. Ireland tourism always strikes me as overly hyped -- "you must see this" "no visit to Ireland is complete without this" "don't miss this" -- and it gets kind of tiresome. It seems that the real beauty of the country is, as you say, taking time to appreciate the scenery and get acquainted with some of the local residents.

You might want to post your Part 3 on this forum under Trip Reports.

Thank you for your observations and hints. Most spot on and very helpful. Might quibble here and there - for instance never had a tendency to drift left when driving......and being aware of the left hand side off pavement - and using it when needed is critical.....yes there can be drop offs....there can also be a safe spare foot that is great to use at times.

My main disagreement is about Ireland itself. But that's what makes the world so wonderful....people perceiving things differently. Italy was beautiful with spectacular scenery but never connected with my wife and I like so many places in Ireland did.....McCarthy 's Castle on a wonderful misty day at Ballinskellig, a house abandoned during the famine and its haunting ruin, wandering alone together on a raw day on the Cliffs of Kerry watching the utterly spectacular surf and cliffs then making our way into a pub in a town FAR more welcoming than anything we encountered in Italy, wandering slowly through Glendalough and feeling like a door to the past was slightly ajar, or walking through Tomnifinogue Woods with a beautiful small miracle around every bend......and many many others locations big and small ( the road above Caherdaniel - Dear Lord how beautiful ).

Sure some spots are kind of goofy - the Blarney Stone - or over commercialized like the Cliffs of Moher.....but for us the Collosseum in Rome was interesting but left us cold......and nowhere did history, the scenery or the culture come together like it did in Ireland for us. To each their own.

That's what's so neat about travel is it impacts so personally and is so individual on approach. You stayed in 13 B&B 's in 23 nights which we could never do. For us that would be exhausting, draining and eliminate, for us, the chance to really soak in a place. For our three weeks we stayed a week in a rental home and slowly explored each of those three areas. But one way isn't right or wrong.......Just individualized.

One thing I must say, again for us, nowhere in any of our travels have we ever encountered a more warm, welcoming people than the Irish. Good humor, self deprecating, ready to tease in a totally inoffensive way, generous of time and effort, hard working yet filled with a calm appreciation of the little things in life and connecting the past to their present lives in a beautiful deep way. We have only met extreme kindness there in a way unique in our experiences.

Sorry Ireland didn't capture your hearts as it has ours and sorry we didn't connect with what many find so wonderful about Italy. It's what makes the world go round. Looking forward to your location observations - as your insight is fascinating and very enjoyable to read.

Thank you for your observations and hints. Most spot on and very helpful. Might quibble here and there - for instance never had a tendency to drift left when driving......and being aware of the left hand side off pavement - and using it when needed is critical.....yes there can be drop offs....there can also be a safe spare foot that is great to use at times.

My main disagreement is about Ireland itself. But that's what makes the world so wonderful....people perceiving things differently. Italy was beautiful with spectacular scenery but never connected with my wife and I like so many places in Ireland did.....McCarthy 's Castle on a wonderful misty day at Ballinskelkig, a house abandoned during the famine and its haunting ruin, wandering alone together on a raw day on the Cliffs of Kerry watching the utterly spectacular surf and cliffs then making our way into a pub in a town FAR more welcoming than anything we encountered in Italy, wandering slowly through Glendalough and feeling like a door to the past was slightly ajar, or walking through Tomnifinogue Woods with a beautiful small miracle around every bend......and many many others locations big and small ( the road above Caherdaniel - Dear Lord how beautiful ).

Sure some spots are kind of goofy - the Blarney Stone - or over commercialized like the Cliffs of Moher.....but for us the Collosseum in Rome was interesting but left us cold......and nowhere did history, the scenery or the culture come together like it did in Ireland for us. To each their own.

That's what's so neat about travel is it impacts so personally and is so individual on approach. You stayed in 13 B&B 's in 23 nights which we could never do. For us that would be exhausting, draining and eliminate, for us, the chance to really soak in a place. For our three weeks we stayed a week in a rental home and slowly explored each of those three areas. But one way isn't right or wrong.......Just individualized.

One thing I must say, again for us, nowhere in any of our travels have we ever encountered a more warm, welcoming people than the Irish. Good humor, self deprecating, ready to tease in a totally inoffensive way, generous of time and effort, hard working yet filled with a calm appreciation of the little things in life and connecting the past to their present lives in a beautiful deep way. We have only met extreme kindness there in a way unique in our experiences.

Sorry Ireland didn't capture your hearts as it has ours and sorry we didn't connect with what many find so wonderful about Italy. It's what makes the world go round. Looking forward to your location observations - as your insight is fascinating and very enjoyable to read.

Thank you for your observations and hints. Most spot on and very helpful. Might quibble here and there - for instance never had a tendency to drift left when driving......and being aware of the left hand side off pavement - and using it when needed is critical.....yes there can be drop offs....there can also be a safe spare foot that is great to use at times.
My main disagreement is about Ireland itself. But that's what makes the world so wonderful....people perceiving things differently. Italy was beautiful with spectacular scenery but never connected with my wife and I like so many places in Ireland did.....McCarthy 's Castle on a wonderful misty day at Ballinskelkig, a house abandoned during the famine and its haunting ruin, wandering alone together on a raw day on the Cliffs of Kerry watching the utterly spectacular surf and cliffs then making our way into a pub in a town FAR more welcoming than anything we encountered in Italy, wandering slowly through Glendalough and feeling like a door to the past was slightly ajar, or walking through Tomnifinogue Woods with a beautiful small miracle around every bend......and many many others locations big and small ( the road above Caherdaniel - Dear Lord how beautiful ).
Sure some spots are kind of goofy - the Blarney Stone - or over commercialized like the Cliffs of Moher.....but for us the Collosseum in Rome was interesting but left us cold......and nowhere did history, the scenery or the culture come together like it did in Ireland for us. To each their own.
That's what's so neat about travel is it impacts so personally and is so individual on approach. You stayed in 13 B&B 's in 23 nights which we could never do. For us that would be exhausting, draining and eliminate, for us, the chance to really soak in a place. For our three weeks we stayed a week in a rental home and slowly explored each of those three areas. But one way isn't right or wrong.......Just individualized.
One thing I must say, again for us, nowhere in any of our travels have we ever encountered a more warm, welcoming people than the Irish. Good humor, self deprecating, ready to tease in a totally inoffensive way, generous of time and effort, hard working yet filled with a calm appreciation of the little things in life and connecting the past to their present lives in a beautiful deep way. We have only met extreme kindness there in a way unique in our experiences.
Sorry Ireland didn't capture your hearts as it has ours and sorry we didn't connect with what many find so wonderful about Italy. It's what makes the world go round. Looking forward to your location observations - as your insight is fascinating and very enjoyable to read.

ewewoolknit,

I should correct the number of B&Bs as we only stayed in 12 but I do understand what you mean about to many nights in to many places. As this was our first time to Ireland we wanted to hit the main sites and planned our time (and number of nights) accordingly.
I had read about the tendency to drift to the left while driving (on this forum) and I could not understand what they meant until I drove. My husband would keep an eye on his side of the road and he would alert me when I was drifting to far to that side. I only had this problem the first day...day and a half. I drove for 3 weeks and encountered just about every driving condition (and road condition) you might expect...I even took a wrong turn and drove down a hiking trail...now that is an interesting story. After driving for awhile we could easily spot the "newbie" tourist drivers as they all drove very close to the left hand side of their lane. As far as not leaving the pavement, I stand by that statement. Of course if you can see their is no drop off (and you are driving slow) you could move off the pavement. But when you are driving and see a tour bus coming at you I think your first instinct is to move over (when in reality it is not necessary most of the time) and if there is a drop off (off the pavement) you could do some real damage to the car...not to mention lose control (depending on how fast you are going).

It does sound like you traveled as a local and we did the more tourist type travel. I totally agree about the people. So friendly and helpful. They rival the helpfulness of the people in England. If we were to return to Ireland I would seek out the off the beaten paths. I might add here that we found Northern Ireland to be less touristy than the Republic. I am assuming that most tourist (on their own) do not travel farther than Westport. The weather was rainy and cloudy for the most part with two days of what I would call a storm. However, I would take my chances with the weather so I could travel in a less crowded season.