sunny south

Handsome fiancé (of course we weren't engaged when this was taken)

   

Just, you know, lurking on a stranger reading his Ireland map

Rather blue-and-green set of photos, isn't it?  I fully expected 18 days of green and grey (and was prepared to love it) but we ended up with a couple (totally welcome) sunny days throughout our trip.  This was one of them.  I guess in the South, near the ocean, the weather tends to be better than in other places around the country, so maybe it wasn't such a fluke that our time there was bright and cheery.  We left the B&B in Skibbereen (after a full Irish breakfast, of course) for Baltimore, where we parked the car and began walking toward the Beacon, which as you can see, is a big white structure built to serve the purpose of a lighthouse, only without the light.  On the ride there I was fretting over film, because I'd brought my Yashica but thought I left all my film in the room, and was consequently a little (lot) sad.  Turns out it was in the trunk of the car...and there was much rejoicing!  I'll share those photos in a little while.
The walk to and around the beacon was so lovely...a much more relaxing stroll than our time at Glendalough.  After we finished there, we traveled to a few nearby shore towns, eating sandwiches on the pier in one and wandering down the street in another.  I think I liked Glandore best, where the town sits atop a hill with a beautiful view of the harbor.  Restaurants on one side of the street set up tables on the other side, near the wall that overlooks the water, so we took advantage of the prime seating and gorgeous weather and hung out, Evin and I enjoying a pint and the rest of his family drinking tea.  Note: in Ireland it was always a dilemma whether to drink Guinness or tea...both so delightful.  Usually Guinness won out.  After our beverages, we climbed down to a rocky cove and skipped very flat rocks, where Evin found me a perfect heart-rock.  The sweetest :)
From Glandore, we drove over to the Drombeg stone circle, one of many similar formations around the country from many many years ago.  Then it was back to Skibbereen for fish & chips from a stand on the street, which we ate back at the car.  Obviously we tried to absorb all the Ireland we possibly could in our short time there!