Kinsale to Dingle Thursday, August 3

 This morning began with a 10 minute walk to our coach  our luggage had been taken there by van. Thr weather was cool and sunny - a great start to a travel day.

Our first stop was in the town of Kenmore. There we visitedthe bronze age stone circle. Located  apart from the town itself it wasa circle of large stone we walked around them and were informed their purpose is unknown. A burial site is one possibility; another possibility is to measure time. Nearby are two "fairy trees" to which we hung wishes and messages. An extra treat was a demonstration and explanation of the game of hurling; the young man at the stone circle ticket booth was the demonstrator. It appears similar to cricket and baseball.

We had time to eat lunch or explore the town,  I visited an exhibit of the history of the town located in the tourist information center. I appreciate the time and effort people go to in order to educate others.

A sheep farm was our next stop. Inwatched in amazement as the border collie trainer blew into his whistle to instruct the dog regarding where to heard a group of sheep, probably 50. The dog looked only at his trainer and we learned he would respond only to his trainer. The training of he dog takes a year. Then we watched a sheep being shorn. This is done yearly on each sheep.. It took less than 10 minutes. The fleece will be sent to England and then returned for spinning g into yarn. They currently receive 1 Euro by or a fleece since the EU stopped selling them to Russia. That's a good impetuous to open the sheep farm to tourists -  to watch the herding and shearing and to sell lanolin products,, a by product. It keeps sheep dry.  

We drove on to the town of Dingle located on the Dingle peninsula.  We are staying in two B&B just around the bay from the town. Our hostess greeted us warmly and directed us to our rooms. Our room overlooks the bay and city. Both homes belong to the same family.  The landscape is filled witha variety of flowers , some of which appeared on our breakfast plate the next morning.

We joined the group at the  B&B next door for a supper of seafood chower, lamb stew, potato and green salads, and homemade apple cand chocolate cakes, all preceeded by a glass of prophecy, or however it is spelled. We ate our supper in the enclosed patio, so we could enjoy the stunning view of the bay and town, and garden flowers. 

The evening concluded with a concert of Irish folk music by two well-known artists. Guitar, penny whistle and voice were a wonderful introduction to Dingle. 

It was still light at 9 PM. and a few of us walked the short road in front of the two B&B - a perfect conclusion to the day.

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