Dingle, Ireland

 

I’ve been meaning to post these photos for this past week, but have been so caught up in pattern drafting and sewing that I haven’t gotten around to it till now. I’m determined to get it done this evening, though, because I know if I put it off much longer, it wont get done. Yikes!

Wow, so about our time in Ireland...it was fantastic. It’s so hard for me to fit in all we did, and just the whole feel of a place in a blog post, even though it was only a short time, that I’m up against a hard task. Thankfully photos are worth a thousand words, so they can do most of the speaking for me. :) Though, honestly, as strange as it sounds, it was almost intimidating trying to capture the beauty... it’s almost something that just needs to be looked at, and soaked up at that moment, if that makes sense. So, I didn’t get as many photos as I thought I would, and none that really show the depth of beauty of the place, but I still have a few to share with you. :)

The quaint little town that we decided to vacation in, named “Dingle”, was actually recommended to us by a restaurant owner at local Irish pub here in the Stuttgart area. When we mentioned briefly that we would all love to go to Ireland “some day” ( I didn’t know it was going to be this soon!), he began to list a whole bunch of places to visit and see. At the top of his list was Dingle, and I’m so glad we took his advice and went!

Driving from the Kerry airport out to the town along all the winding roads, it was a feast for the eyes... seeing these rugged hills surrounding you, with little spots of white here and there that are the sheep grazing; old stone fences; the cliffs, all the inlets of water and harbors, and the hazy blue distant mountains - it has to be one the prettiest spots I’ve been to yet.

The actual town of Dingle and the harbor reminded a good bit of the town where my grandparents live in in Massachusetts. Just the size of the town, seeing the working harbor with fishing boats docked there, the small local shops, and the friendliness of the people.

Speaking of the people there, while we were eating a late lunch in one of the local restaurants, we struck up a conversation with one of the other customers, and come to find out she was from the same town (Scituate, MA) as my grandparents, and where my mum grew up in! Not only that, but one of the cashiers at a shop we stopped in had worked for a year in Scituate, as well! It was such a coincidence that we should actually happen to meet these people, and I still have to shake my head and laugh over it. :) It was pretty neat, though.

We spent alot of time walking around the town and stopping at and browsing around the shops, as we were in search for some traditional Aran sweaters. Woolen goods are definitely really popular there, as there are more stores than I can count that sell woolen scarves, sweaters, vests, hats, blankets and throws, yarn, etc. Being a lover of textiles and especially natural ones, I had such a fun time looking around and enjoying all the earth toned colors of the wool, and all the lovely textures. I ended up finding a sweater in a soft brown merino wool and have already worn it a bunch of times since we have gotten back. It’s definitely become one of my favorite sweaters. :)

The B&B that we ended up staying at was actually one that we found on Tripadvisor, as it had some pretty fantastic reviews for the number of people that stayed there, and I definitely have to say they were well merited. The owners were super friendly and gave us some great places to stop at and visit for our time there. One of them was “O’sullivans” were they have live Irish music every night, which we went to on our last night there. So much fun. It’s one thing to hear it on a CD, but another to hear in in person!

One of the most beautiful spots of the whole place had to be as we were driving out to what is called “Slea Head”. There was a small stone fort built there in 500 B.C. that is in ruins now, but the view! I have never in my life seen the incredible rocky cliffs that drop right down into to the sea like I saw there. It was simply stunning. I could have spent alot longer there just enjoying the incredible beauty of the place.

There were a number of other places that we weren’t able to visit in the short time that we were there, so I’m hoping we will have the chance to go back again and spend more time there. :) Seriously, though, I’m just grateful we were able to go at least once, as it has been one of the top places I’ve wanted to go to since I was a little kid, so it was fantastic experience just being able to be there.