Relaxing in Killarney

Greetings from sunny Ireland! We arrived at Shannon, Ireland on Sunday morning, and then drove a few hours to the house we are renting in County Kerry, near Killarney and the Gap of Dunloe. The drive was a bit hairy, especially when we had to pass through small villages with narrow car-lined streets. Bill is driving…my previous attempt at driving on the left side, some 26 years ago in Sydney, Australia, ended when I ran into a truck, totaling the car. So I’m doing my best to navigate.
Our rental house (spacious 4 bed, 4 bath for around $700 a week!) is in the country…out back is a sloping field leading up to a range of mountains (big hills). It’s quite peaceful. We’ve been exploring the local area, and enjoying the playgrounds we’ve found in the towns. We’ll be here for two weeks, so we aren’t pushing ourselves too hard. The kids are enjoying the BBC and Irish kid channels on the television. They are going through wi-fi withdrawal (which is a good thing). I have limited connectivity on my phone, so we aren’t completely cut off!
We celebrated the 4th of July with a pony ride in the Gap of Dunloe (a beautiful pass through the hills near Killarney), and burgers and fries at an American-styled diner called Eddie Rockets. The weather started out cool and rainy when we arrived, but it’s sunny now, and should be in the mid 70’s next week.
Well, off to tend to my child with a stomach bug…thought we’d avoid such things in Europe, but I guess it can happen anywhere!

Kissane’s Cottage, our home for two weeks

Gap of Dunloe via pony

Not a bad way to spend the 4th of July

Fields behind our rental; not a bad view