Day 9 - Ring of Kerry & Cart Rides

A higgledy piggledy breakfast start not knowing which breakfast room to go into or what the go was. When inside, people are queuing up for cereals as if there is no tomorrow and then we notice the Wait Staff bringing in trays of hot food and serving at tables. So Tony has the brilliant idea to just take our juice and sit down with that. Sure enough, to be sure, to be sure, the waiter comes along with bacon and eggs, then toast and then coffee and tea pots. My gf toast arrives shortly with a flourish from a young serving maid and we are all set. We even finish before the others who are still jostling on the queue.
We set out for the drive around what is called 'The Ring of Kerry', a spectacular scenic drive around rugged cliffs with ocean views, craggy rocks and green hillsides dotted with a few sheep and cows.

We hear from our Tour Director that 32 busloads of tourists will take the drive along with us today, so there is much communicating going on between the Tour Guides so as to space us out. We are to hit the road early and 'stay ahead of the pack' as it were. We stop at a few good vantage points to take photos; the wind whistles in our ears and there is a chill in the air. Our driver has several challenging manoeuvres squeezing the bus around tight corners or past drivers who don't estimate well. We also come upon cyclists riding two by two, so have to swing out wide to pass them.
We have lunch at a cafe with the best view in Ireland, and there is no blarney in this boast at all. It is amazing scenery!
But we can't stay and linger as there are coaches nipping at our

heels. We do have fun.
At the cafe, there is a souvenir shop, and Tony buys a 'Ring of Kerry' wind jacket. He has been admiring the functionality of mine that I bought earlier. Another tourist says the R looks like a K, and he keeps calling Tony the King of Kerry!
In the afternoon we wander around the shops of Killarney, then line up for our 'Jaunting Cart Ride' through the Bourne Forest and surrounding streets. Killarney has dozens of horses and carts for visitors to travel in. Lots of horse dung smells in these areas and just before we board our cart, our horse, Charlie, lets go of a stream of urine. Our driver, 'Patrick' of course, swishes it away with a bucket of water. But then we have to walk through it to get on board!
We are happy to have the best driver, we think, who looks so Irish and speaks so Irish and he has us laughing all the way on our hour long ride. Tony and I are lucky to be seated up the front with him so

we have a great unobstructed view. I have to step right up high onto the skinny wheel and am very proud of myself for doing so. Not so agile these days. Patrick's humour is so dry and unexpected as he holds the reins with a dead-pan expression on his face. He often talks to Charlie, telling him to stop fooling around and not to even think about rolling over or playing dead - it's not an appropriate time. Tony asks him how long he's been a Jaunting Cart driver, and he says: 'Just 5 minutes'. At the end of the ride, I have difficulty getting down and have to be almost carried off by Patrick. Embarrassing for me but he said it made his day!