CÚIG GHRIANGHRAF-Ireland Day 6

We decided to take a drive along a small fraction of the 2500 km Wild Atlantic Way today. This is a tourism trail along the southern, western and northern coasts of Ireland. Kinsale is near the southern terminal point so we began there this morning. We made no commitment how far we were going to travel today. We have learned that travel on many of Ireland's winding, narrow rural roads force you to slow down. It's a good opportunity to enjoy the vistas.

The first destination was to travel to Old Head, a lighthouse point in Cork County. We didn't realize that we weren't able to actually make it to the lighthouse as the land is now privately owned by a golf course. We did stop just outside the golf course entrance at a memory point for the Lusitania, an Irish passenger ship that was sunk by a German torpedo during WWI about 10 miles off the coast of our observation point.

Ireland's tourism industry has detailed many points of interest along the way. We knew that we'd have several other opportunities so we picked a few tentative destination points.

Along the way we stopped for a game of miniature golf that was located in an adventure park. It was hard to picture youth navigating the ropes course without injury as it looked rather daunting; however, that part wasn't open.

We stopped in a roadside fish and chips stand in the village of Rosscarbery. The portions were massive and the fish was very fresh and delicious.

We then made our way next to Baltimore Beacon a very unusual shaped structure dating from 1850 to alert sailors about the rocky shore. It's known locally as “Lot’s Wife”, a Biblical story reference about a woman getting turned into a pillar of salt.

Before we arrived we took time to sit by a peaceful cove as we listened to the water slap against a small moored sailboat.

On site at the Beacon, we noted that the nearby cliffs were really dramatic without any protective barrier beyond a line of barbed wire. We loved the view to sea although I was a bit nervous to get too close to the edge.

We then made our way back to our flat, having been on the road for several hours. We both noted how unusual it is to see verdant pastures and hills along the coast. If you look in one direction, you'd think you were in farmland in Pennsylvania and across the road the rugged Maine coast. It's an interesting collage of geographical features.

After we returned, we took naps, and when we woke up we decided to just stay in for our first "Netflix and Chill" night since we first departed for Europe. We joked that we were preparing for life back home in the States, but I think it was also a bit of recognition that we're a bit homesick for those times despite the really wonderful trip abroad.

I think that we've done a great job deciding what we want and slowing down to just take the experience in when we need to do that. I'm grateful that we've been able to experience this together.

Sweet dreams from Kinsale.Read more