Abbey Island

Today we continued driving Ring of Kerry and exploring the various goodies. First, there was a ruined abbey located on the appropriately named Abbey Island and we were not sure how to get there, because some reviews said that you could only cross there during the low tide. And indeed it was a low tide and we were the only ones exploring this remote cemetery and abbey. Feels like the end of the world. We then kept driving and stopped by at another stone fort - it’s the same story, very old, made of stones without mortar. Next stop driving through the Kerry Ring was a random statue of Charlie Chaplin - the king of silent movies apparently loved to vacation here in Waterville. Then we drove the Skellig Ring - sort of a ring on the side of the ring - a smaller loop attached to the Ring of Kerry, which goes to the Kerry cliffs. The cliffs were stunning and very photogenic as evidenced by many pictures. In the distance one can see the Skellig islands - one of them is Skellig Michael, which is a large rock jotting out of the ocean where the monks miraculously built thousands of steps and an abbey. They lived there for 600 years until the 15th century. There are boat tours going there but we skipped because the 1.5 hour trip can be very choppy and not great for sea sickness 🐟 🤮 🤘. Then we drove to the nearby Valetia island that is home to the first transatlantic cable station. Unfortunately the museum was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays but we drove by it. This is where the cable was laid on the Atlantic sea floor all the way to Newfoundland and the first transatlantic telegrams were sent in 1850 . Before that, the news exchange between the two continents would take two weeks on the ships. We also sampled incredible farm made ice cream, kinda the best we ever had! And I made a cute 🐶 friend there. We then drove towards the direction of Cliffs of Moher to stay overnight in a modern style B&B with two cutest dogs.Read more