In the interest of minimizing backseat vomiting, we decided to take the short, not winding way to Killarney. The short, not winding way was considerably winding and there were some peeps about upset stomachs from the back of the car. Luckily there was a place for us to make a pit stop en route in the form of a Toy Soldier Factory and as we approached it, a giant white bus full of tourists passed us going the other direction. This, we knew, was the place to be!
At the Toy Soldier Factory Warehouse we were greeted by a slightly socially challenged woman who was passionate about her toy soldiers. We wandered around looking at the varieties of toy soldiers and metallic creatures. The options were limitless and included dragons, fairies, Christmas ornaments, ballerinas, super heros, unicorns and more! For 9 Euros you could make your own. Evie chose to make a ballerina and Millie chose to make a reindeer Christmas ornament (despite my best efforts to persuade her to make something more seasonally appropriate like, for instance, an Easter egg).
Our tour guide did the melting and pouring and the girls held their molds in place until they were solid enough to remove.
Then they brushed them with a wire brush, to get all the filaments off and moved over to the painting table.
The painting table was no slapstick affair and there were very strict rules about the amount of paint you could use. Only one color allowed at a time. Only one drop of color allowed. It was essential to rinse and wipe your paintbrush between every color switch....you know, all the ways that children who are ages three and five DON'T paint. But I guess when your job is to make and paint toy soldiers, precision is key!
The result: two proud and happy little girls and four adults with a lunch stop referral!
When we arrived at our lunch stop, the same giant white bus was in the parking lot and we were soon to find that we were about 60 years younger than everyone else in the restaurant. We didn't have the fish chowder this time, but the girls enjoyed their healthy platters of chips and sausages. It was one of the few meals in Ireland that wasn't that good. But the people were really nice (and so was the Irish soda bread) so that made up for it.
Back on the road again, things started to get hilly and our giant van suddenly refused to shift gears. We considered turning around and going back to the restaurant where we had just eaten, but mostly we just wanted to get to our next destination so, at a speed of about 30 mph, we chugged up the hills to Beaufort. Thus began several days of international calls to London and within Ireland to negotiate having the van towed, getting a new rental car (because without one we were stuck in the country), getting the old van back, etc. etc. Luckily we were staying in a beautiful place that had other children, a working fireplace, FOUR bathrooms and THREE amazing chocolate labs. So five of the six of us weren't worried at all about the car problem.
There was the rushing River Laune nearby, from which one of the dogs--aptly named Cadbury--enthusiastically retrieved logs and stones and where we had some pretty competitive games of 'Pooh sticks.' (I always seemed to lose)
There was also a non-motorized go-cart and a swing that provided hours of entertainment:
But for those of us who were running out of underwear, perhaps the most exciting part about our self-catering accommodation at Beaufort House were the washer and industrial sized dryer!
Dad was also pretty excited about the woodpile.
The day after our arrival, we finally managed to get a new, slick and tiny (in comparison to the Transporter) ride...
and off we went to do some hiking!
Looking back on these pictures, I'm pretty impressed with the girls and their stamina, because this was not an easy walk for little legs (although it said it was on the sign). It was supposed to be about a 2 hour walk, but it took us considerably longer than that.
Up we went to our first destination: The Torc Waterfall in Killarney National Park.
Then we ascended some very steep steps...which just kept going for about a mile. (this is the view from the top of the first set of steps)
And this is the view from the bottom (Millie was clearly thrilled):
Eventually, we all straggled up and took a slightly tilty family picture with The Lakes of Killarney in the background.
Followed by a healthy lunch on some rocks:
The path evened out and the scenery became more lush. We kept the girls motivated to keep walking by initiating a 'leprechaun hunt.'
We also stopped to chit chat with some friendly walkers who assured us that some day we, too, would be able to do lots of country walking and hiking again. They were from Dublin and were going off piste from their larger walking group by taking a hike through the Killarney National Park.
Looking for leprechauns!
Leprechauns or Blair Witch Project?
Taking a rest:
And hitching some rides. Jim and I had very big shoulders by the end of this trip.
And were we tired? No! Not too tired to go to Muckross House down the road and do some wool shopping. Mom's enthusiasm for buying discount woolen goods knows no bounds and this was just the beginning of a two day wool binge that ended at Kerry Woolen Mills the next day. We came home with several scarves each, some placemats, wool socks, sweaters and three wool blankets. Just in time for spring!
Here, Dad and I model our newly acquired Muckross wool scarves on the streets of Killarney:
We were clearly tourists. I had been warned by an Irish friend that Killarney was focused, these days, on attracting American tourists and I can now confirm this. Lots of hokey live music venues and LOTS of Americans having a good time. The town itself was pretty tacky, but the park and the scenery around the town was spectacular. Jim, Dad and I had a delicious dinner there at Bricin Restaurant, where I had my first Irish pancake (Boxty). It's kind of like a crepe and mine came with ratatouille. Delicious! We finished off with shared Creme Brulee and then waddled down the street to find some rather disappointing live music.
The Gap of Dunloe was just a few minutes down the road from where we were staying so for our next family adventure we decided to hike up to it (three miles there and three miles back. Don't ask me what we were thinking). Upon arrival, we were stopped by a very earnest Jaunting Car driver who insisted that we would never make it by foot and for a mere 70 Euros he would drive us up in his cart. I was adamantly against this plan but was outnumbered and, ultimately, he was right. We never would have made it up by foot. So he and his trusty horse Tom took us halfway up.
Jaunting should be called 'jolting.' We got rattled around so much that I thought we were going to fly out of the back of the cart. The driver kept hopping out to encourage the poor horse to keep going and finally, having had enough of this nonsense, Tom stopped and turned around to head back down the hill. He was panting and sweating and it was with great relief that we hopped out and gave him an apple for his efforts. Poor horse.
Looking a little nervous in the jaunting car:
Poor tortured Tom:
Happy to be free of us!
The Gap of Dunloe is very barren and rocky and populated by sheep raising families. Said sheep were hanging out high up in the rocks above us and we could hear them bleating across the lakes and through the valleys. The Gap is also famous for its echos and we had fun yodeling from the top of rocks.
Greetings from the rocks!
Mom and Dad before Mom left us in her dust.
It was cold and windy en route to the Gap...
And the clouds were rolling in, so we decided to make haste back down to the parking lot...
stopping only for lunch on the way (during which it started pouring).
Skipping helped to keep us moving.
but eventually Jim and I ended up with a child on each shoulder. It was a relief to get to the touristy cafe in the parking lot where there was coffee, hot chocolate with an abundance of marshmallows and a roaring fire waiting to warm our soggy bones.
The next morning we packed our giant van (which had been repaired and returned to us)...
said goodbye to our new doggy friends (who we managed to feed an ENTIRE BOX OF DOG BISCUITS IN THREE DAYS)...
took a picture in front of the beautiful Beaufort House (http://www.beaufortireland.com/)...
and off we went to Galway!
