Dingle: The Western Edge of Europe

Not many people can claim that they have been to "the westernmost town in Europe," but now I can (although I wouldn't've known it if the guide book hadn't said so). Now, there are a few villages further west of Dingle...so I haven't been as far west as you can go...but really, I think we did rather well considering we decided to take a day trip.

So, this morning we left from the bus station at the early hour of 8:30 am. I learned at 7:30 that my phone alarm also lights up when it goes off, since it's was completely dark then. The sun was starting to sort of come up around 8:00, but it was cloudy all day -- until it went dark again around 6:30 pm (although, I'm sure it was still cloudy, it doesn't really matter as much then).

The bus went from Cork to Tralee. Then we had to wait in Tralee to get to Dingle -- or An Daingean (pronounced: on dang-un), as it is now offically called since it's in a Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking area); full story over at the BBC, if you're interested (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6062312.stm).

We got into Dingle after the most horrific bus ride I've had in ages. It was fine until we went up into the mountains seperating Tralee from Dingle. Up there the fog, the winding road, the jerking driving and the funky smell combined to make 3 out of 4 of us feel ill (the fourth was in a deep sleep).

So, after being released from the bus about an hour after getting on, we headed for lunch. Because that seems like the logical thing to do after nearly getting sick, right? Then after lunch we went in search of water (and possibly the local celebrity: Fungi the Dolphin). We did not see Fungi (aside from the bronze statue by the pier) and there were no lovely views to be seen due to the fog. We did manage, however, to wile away three hours there, just wandering around. 'Twas grand.

The fog decided to lift some around the time we had to head back (we caught the last bus out of Dingle that would allow us to catch the last bus out of Tralee), which made the ride back much more enjoyable. Even if there was this lady talking to the driver (for longer than was probably necessary to cover the topic) about how most people don't have any respect anymore, thanks to the prosperity that came with the Celtic Tiger.

Then we had dinner in Tralee -- on The Square (which sounds so official). And then headed back to the bus station, since everything touristy had closed by the time we got into town anyhow (around 5:30 pm & everything closes at 5, of course). Then we came back to Cork -- & despite all of us being exhausted, none of us could really sleep on the bus ride back, alas.

So that's pretty much the most exciting thing I've done recently. Unless you want to count actually going to a nightclub on a student night (which, I admit, was hilarious) & going to a very late Oktoberfest at Francisan Wells (one of my new favourite pubs, if you were wondering). Although, things should get interesting agian with Hallowe'en just around the corner -- I might have two parties to go to! This is perhaps more exciting than it should be...but I don't care. :P

Also, pictures have been massively updated (since I actually went somewhere), so go check 'em out!