Killarney

We arrived in Killarney around mid-day and brought our luggage to our residence, an apartment with kitchen, bedrooms and a living room.
Then we set out to find a place for lunch - the town seems to cater more to the evening crowd, but we managed to find a place. Then we went out exploring. We saw the Cathedral and strolled in the Killarney national park. The park still has some of Ireland's native woodlands. The bird-songs were amazing. There were also lots of wildflowers that I didn't recognize. Lots of wonderful trees, plants and ferns.
Our next day, we went out to Dingle by city bus. There weren't stops along the way and we had a good long time in Dingle, a quaint sea-side town that caters to the daily ebb and flow of tourists. We explored the sites and spent some time by the ocean.
Yesterday, we did the Ring of Kerry on an organized tour. Again, a perfectly lovely day, amazing variety of landscapes from sea-side to mountains, farms and towns, scenic overlooks and sheep being herded down the road by a guy waving his cane out the window of the car. We met interesting people and and saw interesting places, and there was a good spirit of camraderie on the bus. We had lunch at a quiet sea-side cafe run by a couple of Germans.
Now the bus back to Dublin will bring us through the interior of Ireland, which we haven't seen. However, I'll be there for my last week here - doing a workshop / retreat. This is Mary Louise's last full day here - and I will miss sharing the adventure with her. She has been a wonderful partner on the journey. This also brings to a close the vacation part of the trip. It was two weeks of work, then two weeks of play. Now I'm heading in to two weeks of work before heading home. I'm thoroughly enjoying the trip, and I'm also beginning to look forward to getting home. This next few weeks should have some great conversations about religious life, where it is today in the US and in Ireland, and where it is heading.
Peace,
Amy