Kinsale to Killarney 7

Is was a sad goodbye leaving the cabin.  We loaded the car and headed out.  Once again, the route took us through super twisty and narrow backcountry roads.  I am intrigued with the ancient piled rock fences.  They are everywhere!  The older, the better.  Some are moss covered and others are vine covered and you can't even see the rocks.

As we drove into Killarney, we drove past the Airbnb house just for fun, and then headed to town.

Coming into Killarney, we noticed the mass of motorcycles in the area.  We just happened to show up on the weekend of the Irish Bikefest event.  Luckily, we got a parking place at the supermarket and walked into the main area of Killarney.  We hit up a pub called The Laurels for lunch, and then did a little shopping.  There was live music being played in the street and it was very crowded, but with biker people instead of the average tourist.  It was like being at Sturgis, but in Killarney.

After loading up our bags with provisions from the market we headed to the Airbnb.  This is where we met Frank and Siubhan.  They have a second home connected to their main home overlooking the lakes in the area.  The house was impeccable. They showed us around the house and then asked what we were doing the next day.  When we mentioned hiking, Frank took out a home-made guide book and started showing us maps and giving us details.  He was a bible of knowledge, and seemed like a guide book.  We found out later that he in fact did write the Killarney guide.

The house log book was detailed from 1986.  Frank and Siubhan have been hosting people in their home since then!  We made a yummy dinner with steaks being cooked on the charcoal grill in the rain.  Not cool, but it worked.  The property overlooks the national park and we even saw red deer in the back of the house.

The view from the back of the apartment.  You can see the national park mountains in the background and there are lakes between us and the mountain.  There were deer out here many times a day.

  As we ate dinner, we watched the final soccer game for the Euro Cup.  Liverpool won, but it was a pretty boring game. 

Tomorrow, we are going to hike the Muckross Lake Loop and check out the national park.