Twenty.7

Day 6

Ashley and I went on a bus tour today of the Ring of Kerry, a 110 mile roadway around the Kerry peninsula. There were 3 other couples ont eh tour with us, so the pace was moving, but relaxed. We atarted off passing through teh town of Killorgling, where they have the famous Puck festival. THis is a 3 day party, started when the men of the town capture a goat from the mountains and tie is on a scaffold in town. For 3 days, pubs stay open, people awake and the goat stays fed, with his fair share of Guinness.
We then went to the Kerry Bog Village, a little replica of what a town would have looked like 150 years ago. The thatched cottages, turf piles and miniature ponies help to give the feel of a real village.
We continued on through various towns and mountains, stopping for lunch in Waterville and for shopping in Sneem. Making our way back to Killarney, we drove through the Killarney National Park. The beautiful mountains, moving lakes and overall ambiance make this place unbelievable.

It's funny how we see the Irish people just driving around not caring to look at the smashing ocean or the seemingly artificially green valleys. Back home, while there are definitely beautiful places, nothing compares to the scenery you find everywhere in Ireland. I know that if I were to live in Ireland I would appreciate the landscape more than the average Irishman because I would not be used to it. But would it ever become old hat to me? I hope that it would not. i wonder what an Irish person would think of America's landscape. Helen said that she once drove from New York to Florida and she loved the States. I don't even think they can compare! Some might say its a different kind of beauty, but I think its really the age. Ireland has basically always been inhabited and cultivated while America has only truly been cultivated for the last 500 years. Its like the feeling of a new house, with its nice white walls and carpets, clean mantle, sharp kitchen, and an old house, with its worn wooden floors, dirty fireplace, and old furniture. The old house has a completely different feel than the new one.
But one day, America will be one old worn in house for someone.~