Today we complete our circle by returning to Camp, after a lovely breakfast prepared by our host Sheila Rohan. Jim had porridge (oatmeal served with cream and honey), salmon and eggs (known as a Scottish breakfast). I stuck with Muesli and scrambled eggs.
We set out through Castlegregory and returned to the beach by way of several RV parks containing many walking and gardening senior citizens, out to enjoy a beautiful Sunday morning. We passed acres of yellow flag iris in bloom.
We walked along the water’s edge for about 3 miles, having to remove our shoes at one point to wade across a river that emptied into the bay.
Unlike yesterday’s cloudy quiet, today the beach was filled with families, sweethearts and dogs happily fetching sticks out of the water.
The sky was gorgeous and we saw an egret perched at the shore. It was a brilliant walk!
Our guide instructed us to leave the beach when we saw the church steeple at Kilgobbin. Isn’t it amazing that we’ve made it all the way around without ever knowing the name of a single road?
We saw something that looked like a castle, and thought we’d better check it out, and sure enough, it was the church steeple.
From the church it was a short uphill climb back to Camp, and the familiar Ashe’s Pub where we’d eaten fish and chips the week before.
We ate our lunch at the picnic table outside the pub, and had one more Guinness while we waited for the bus that would take us back to Tralee. As we finished our lunch, the Germans arrived again! Kirsten, Daniel and Timor joined us in a final toast, and we rode back to Tralee together, parting ways at our respective hostels.
We went back to Finnegan’s Hostel (the place with no soap or towels…) dropped off our packs, and walked to the train station to see about tomorrow’s schedules to Cork or Killarney – we haven’t decided where to go next.
We strolled back through Tralee Park, finding a Five Senses Garden, and a bust of Rose Kennedy surrounded by roses in bloom.
We spent some time in St. John’s parish church, which has a really magnificent central altar, then, as we walked through the gardens, found not one, but two headstones of priests named O’Keeffe (my family name) who had lived and died here in Tralee.
Back in our room, we pondered our next destination. I had wanted to go to Cork to see where my grandfather came from, but without a real address, that now seemed like a poor reason to make the trip.
We had consulted several travel guides that said there was absolutely nothing to do but shop in Killarney, but it was supposed to rain tomorrow, and that didn’t seem like such a bad idea…. Killarney it is!
