Galway and the Southwest

The next day was a short and haul into Galway city. The wind was gale force along the Bay and knocked us either right into traffic or up against the curb. Galway is a pleasant and lively city with a lot of young people. I find it pathetic to see young Americans there with a fiddle or another instrument almost begging for money. I asked one young man - couldn't have been 20 yet - if he found food expensive in Eire. He said he did and so far had only been able to afford cans of beans.
The next morning, I found a bus through Limerick to Tralee in the south. I had been advised that it would be an ideal place to rent a bike and ride out to Dingle or the Ring of Kerry. Wrong. I found that everything happened in Killarney instead. I spent the night in Tralee, a depressing town with a beautiful park, some nice buildings and a lot of really tough looking young girls.
The next morning I took a bus to Killarney and indeed, everything was there - many tours and bike rental places. I realized that to cover the area I wished, I would have to take some day trips. That very morning, I went to the Ring of Kerry. It so reminded me of Cape Breton - rolling, long hills all looking out to sea. Many long views - maybe 20 miles - of tiny houses, farms, fishing villages, and a ribbon of a highway so narrow that tour busses have agreed to travel only counter-clockwise to avoid meeting each other in opposite directions. So many golf courses, all nice, all include the most challenging wind possible. Tiger Woods was at one while I was there and the media just called him a mere adulterer and was only interested in the details of what he put where and how and when and would he please repeat that a few times for the slower of them.
The next day I took another day trip out to Dingle. This may sound cheeky, but Ireland is repetitive - villages, coastlines, cows, horses, churches, stone fences, ruined castles etc. being to fatigue even the most enthusiastic. I think you could take 10 good photos of landscapes, then shorelines, then churches, villages and animals and with those 50 shots, you could capture the surface of Ireland.
The next evening I hired a bike so I would have it at 7:30 a.m. when I set off for the Gap of Dunloe. It is a gap in the mountains of the Ring of Kerry which is somewhat challenging and very pretty. It was raining hard and I left behind my camera and just took a rain coat, energy drinks and a chocalate bar. I rode harder that day than all the rest of the trip, but was back in time to go out and visit the National Park in Killarney. This is a really beautiful place right along the sea and still at the edge of town. It is amusing to see all the bamboo there (altho I have just found a stand of Bamboo in a park here in Toronto where I ride) and lotus flowers in ponds. The warm ocean currents make it possible to keep tropical plants like palms there.
The following day, I bussed to Dublin to spend the night and catch my international flight the next day.
Sometimes we say things like "Germany is wonderful except for the Germans," but with Ireland, most people would say "Ireland is best because of the Irish." It was a great trip and it was far better because of the cycling through the reality of it all.