A Weekend in Dingle

The drive from Adare to Dingle is fabulous.  The greens are greener than I’ve ever seen, and the blues are bluer.  We picked the perfect day to travel.  The sun was beginning to set over the mountains, and the clouds were still storybook-like in the sky.  We drove through Connor’s Pass and stopped for a photo op.  I loved the random waterfall that had formed in the rock and the little alcove I climbed into to frame the mountains.  The drive took about two hours, but the scenery made it anything but boring.  We arrived at Ann’s friend, Shelia’s house at around nine thirty.  Ann and I were still tired from the night before, so the three of us stayed in and watched Catch and Release.  It’s not a very good movie, but it was mindless, and that’s what we were looking for.  On Saturday morning I woke up and laid in bed until nine when I heard other people making noise.  I think that’s the most awkward part of staying at someone’s house you don’t know.  You never know quite when to get up or move around.  I hopped in the shower quickly, and Shelia knocked on the door to say she needed to get ready for work, so I then hopped out quickly.  I continued to get ready, and once I was finished, Ann woke up and said I could walk into town or wait an hour for her to get ready.  She said the walk was only 15 minutes, but I was a little hesitant about the route since we had driven it in the dark the night before.  I told her I would wait.  It only ended up taking her a half hour to get ready anyway, and before I knew it, we were pulling up to Dingle Harbor.  The harbor is beautiful and is part of the Atlantic Ocean.  Boats are lined up along the shore, and diamond water looks like it stretches on forever.  I sat and had a cup of tea with Ann and her friend Sandra before heading out to explore the city on my own.  At first I felt a little lame walking around alone, but after awhile I saw a sign advertising hour long boat tours to see Fungie the Dingle dolphin in his natural habitat.  I inquired within about how much it cost, and they said 16 Euros, but you don’t have to pay unless you see the dolphin.  If Brendan had been with me, I probably wouldn’t have gone because he gets sick on boats, and 32 Euros is a lot of money, but since I was on my own, I decided what the heck.  I hung around for the 30 minutes until my expedition started, people watching and appreciating the beauty of the nature surrounding me.  At noon, our guide started to line people up for the tour.  In total, our boat had about 20 people, none of which were my age.  Most were older, and there were two families with small children.  As we pulled out of the harbor and into the ocean, I felt a freeness overcome me.  I love boat rides.  I love feeling the wind rushing through my hair and the cold breeze that hits my face as water mists it.  The landscape was spectacular, and I envisioned having a house in a place so beautiful.  After a little while, we all head our breaths, as we scoured the area looking for Fungie.  We weren’t having much luck, and I was beginning to think I had gotten a free boat ride when a speed boat next to us spotted him.  The couple on the speed boat just happened to be on holiday for the weekend, and spent the next hour finding Fungie and getting him to do tricks for us.  It was such a rush to chase him and wait for him to reappear.  All 20 people on our boat shifted from side to side each time we thought we spotted him.  I even made a short documentary about the experience.  After almost an hour and half of exploring, we started to head back to the harbor.  Our tour guide told me that the couple spotting Fungie doesn’t work for them, and our group really lucked out because rarely do they have that much interaction with the dolphin.  I would say the trip was worth my money.  After hanging out with Fungie, I took the long route back to the Garden Café where Ann and Shelia were working.  I ate a Dingle dog for lunch, which the Garden Café is infamous for, and when I was done, Ann asked if I wanted to do the Slea Head route.  I had no idea what that was, so I said sure.  If you do nothing else when you’re in Ireland, make sure to drive that route.  I am not a good enough writer or photographer to capture its beauty, but it is the most beautiful place I have ever seen.  It’s more beautiful than Colorado or the English Lake District or the Cliffs of Moher.  The drive is around the Dingle peninsula and is only one peninsula away from the Ring of Kerry.  The beaches there are untouched by commercialism.  Standing looking out at the ocean crashing against the rocks, I felt like I was on a calendar that people buy to dream of visiting all the most beautiful places on earth.  I don’t know how I got so lucky to randomly meet Ann who offered to take me to Dingle with her for the weekend, but it was really the most beautiful place on earth.  After driving Slea Head for several hours, we came back into town and hung out.  I ended up being brave enough to walk back to Shelia’s house where I spent the next several hours reading Water for Elephants.  At eight I went to mass at St. Mary’s in Dingle and then walked back to Shelia’s to read Water for Elephants some more.  I could have gone out, but I felt tired of being “on.”  Being around people you don’t know constantly is exhausting.  You always want to be making a good impression, and it requires a lot of talking and a lot of politeness.  I didn’t feel like talking, and I didn’t feel like being polite.  I just wanted to be.  Plus it helped that the book was absolutely addicting.  I fell asleep around eleven thirty and got up at ten (again waited in bed until someone got up) to get ready and go into town with Ann.  I finished Water for Elephants while sitting in the Garden Café and felt very proud of myself for reading two choice books in a matter of a week.  I never have time to read books of my choice during the school year, so I tend to forget how much I love to read, but I absolutely adore reading.  I spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the town with two streets and writing in my journal.  I also forget about how much I love writing.  I was even motivated to write some poetry.  I wrote several poems, but this is the poem I wrote about Dingle:

A Two Street Town

Traffic in and out of a deserted city –

Too beautiful to be sad,

But sullen just the same.

Faceless people, crossing, passing,

Making their way to whatever

They came to see.

A blue jean jacket man

With a cigarette in one hand a smug look

Across his dirty features

Stands on the corner not asking for anything but

A firm handshake and a look in the eyes.

Postcards hang out of shop windows,

“Wish ewe were here.”

And “Caution – Sheep Crossing.”

With cartoon furs that have googly eyes.

In the distance is a never ceasing tide

And an ocean that remains unchanged,

Despite time.

A shameless love that once brought so much happiness

To a town with color and cobwebs,

An unmistakable once upon a time.