On Wednesday, the 10th, we had another fabulous breakfast at Garnish House. I didn't mention in it the prior post, but the Garnish House sign indicates "gourmet breakfast," and that is no exaggeration. The signature dish is their porridge which comes with a choice of honey, whiskey, or Bailey's Irish cream. I had it with the latter and it was great! I followed it up with eggs (scrambled the first day, poached the second), bacon, and potato waffle.
We drove the 5 miles to Blarney to see the Blarney Castle grounds. The big draw is the Blarney Stone, at the top of the castle, but the castle itself is impressive and grounds are extensive and well-kept. Janis was fascinated with the poison garden and I thought the walk through the Rock Close was very nice. Also not to be missed in Blarney is a great store, Blarney Woolen Mills -- it has everything, and lots of it, besides woolen items. We ate at a pub just across from the store. I had a baked potato (served with "chips" = french fries -- seemed weird, but everything, just about came with chips). Also had a nice pint of Smithwicke's (say 'Smiticks') and Janis, as usual declined brew in favor of wine.
Then we drove to Dingle.
Sounds simple, but there were a couple of complications. First, we decided to stay on the main roads, so that meant driving back through Cork. The main roads are just roads when they go through the city, so that meant lots of traffic. But eventually we got out of Cork and on the way to Tralee, which is the junction you must aim for on the way to Dingle. There were two places where road construction stopped us due to one-way traffic, so we didn't get to Tralee until about 6 -- the end of normal check-in time at our B&B, Pax House in Dingle. But a quick call to the proprietor, John O'Farrell, assured us that our lateness would not be a problem.
It rained on and off all during our trip and quite heavy at times, including between Tralee and Dingle. This was the other complication, as the road became quite narrow in spots, and quite twisty and this combination hit Janis' phobia for rainy driving on curves rather severely. Had there been another brake pedal for her on the passenger side, we would have come to a screeching halt about 58 times.
We eventually made it to Pax House and received a warm, though rainy welcome from John.
As the weather remained wet and we weren't so very hungry, we decided to stay rather than venture out for dinner.
This morning we made it up (our room is downstairs) for breakfast around 9:00 -- the dining room was only half full and so we got our table right away. The breakfast here is similar to that at Garnish house. I'd say the scones were not quite as good as at Garnish House, but otherwise it was about equal. They offer oatmeal with the same choice of 3 toppings, though I didn't try it today. I did have a ham and cheese omelet, which was quite good. While waiting for the main dish, one can choose from various cold cereals, fruit, including poached rhubarb, which we tried.
We spent the morning poking around in the shops in Dingle. Then we got some snacks and started on the "Slea Head Drive," which follows the road, quite close to the coast at several points, with striking vistas and several points to stop along the way to look at the ocean or other points of interest. This drive took us 2 hours, including the stops.
Back at Pax House we're resting before going back into town for dinner.
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