Overcast in the morning, sunny in the afternoon
This is St. Brendan's Church in Cloghane - St. Brendan of Kerry, or St. Braendan the Navigator, is quite the celebrity around these parts for sailing around for seven years in a leather boat, starting around the year 512 in search of the Garden of Eden. He came back with lots of stories of sea monsters, and claimed to have found Paradise, but his accounts could never be verified. One legend says he actually discovered America...
Today’s walk is advertised in our guidebook as 18 miles of walking on Ireland’s longest beach. We asked Mr. O’Dowd if there as an interim place we could stay to divide the one day into two, and he informed us that NOBODY walks all the way to the tip of the peninsula; they just get off the beach and walk straight to Castlegregory, shortening the walk by half.
After yesterday’s climb, 9 miles instead of 18 sounded just fine to us. After a lovely French toast breakfast, with our packed sandwiches, we set off for a walk on the beach.
Except for the very occasional man and his dog, and one lone surfer, there was not much action here, considering it is a holiday weekend.
We’d been told to look for the golf course as the place to turn off from the beach. Guess what? Every piece of land in Ireland looks like a golf course (until you spot the cows)!
Jim found the correct turn off, and we walked a mile or so into the little town of Castlegregory. Here's us again reflected in a traffic mirror at the corner of a one lane road...
We stayed at the lovely Castle House B&B (with cows in the yard!)
By late afternoon, the Germans had joined us (Daniel and Timor walked the whole 18 miles, Kirsten took a cab straight to the B&B) and the parking lot filled with holiday weekend guests.
We had tea and home-made fruitcake in the parlor. As always, we were ready for supper by 6pm, but Ireland runs on a different schedule. Because it stays light past 10pm, the restaurants don’t get crowded until late, so we are usually alone enjoying the early dinner seating.
We walked around town and saw some interesting advertisements - a fisherman upside down in a barrel in front of a pub, and a man pulling his cart and plowhorse, advertising "Guinness For Strength!)
We had an above average supper tonight – I had penne pasta with smoked chicken, mushrooms and sundried tomatoes, and Jim had a chicken curry (and a Guinness of course). Tomorrow, it’s back to Camp!
