The bike route took us around the southern tip of the peninsula, most of which is also cliffs.
My first stop was a beach just outside the town of Dingle. I am assuming that at some point it gets warm enough to swim here but it was certainly too cold during this trip. But people were out walking and lots of dogs having a great time.
Beyond the beaches, we started climbing. We could look out over long stretches of farmland and water. As we got further up, we were looking down at water and cliffs, The areas were covered in these tiny pink flowers that we had seen on the coast of Clare.
Along the way, we encountered 'bee hives'. These have nothing to do with bees. They are ancient buildings from as long ago as the 7th and 8th century that were used as dwellings, primarily for religious practices. While some were totally rounded with roofs of stone, many had thatched roof. Mike and Scott too these pictures at one of the stops.
Again, I couldn't resist taking pictures of cliffs and water. It does give you an idea how high we were. The road had gotten down to one lane and twisting all along the side of the cliff. The fact that there were full size tour busses on this route was scary. The drivers must have nerves of steel. I was following one while he made a particularly tight turn. I wasn't sure he would make it.
When he made it around and I was able to follow, there was a great waterfall coming done the mountain and spilling across the road. The road had actually been worn off the asphalt, leaving the cobble stones behind. It was beautiful and I would love to have gotten a picture but there was NO WHERE to stop until way down the road. But the view was awesome.
I think this sculpture of the crucifixion was built by the people who finally made it to the top and wanted to say "thank you, I don't believe I made it here!"
Back in the lowlands, we saw some more history at the Gallarus Oratory. Similar to the 'bee hives' the guys saw earlier, records show us that this was a church. They were situated inside ring forts, circular stone ringed spaces that were protection and holy sites. These buildings were built so that the stones formed an up ward slanting structure that allowed water to flow down it. The insides would stay totally dry. They had a window and a door situated to catch the morning and the evening light.
We made it back to Dingle via some more wonderful beaches.
This was followed by a great dinner at a local pub. We had been sent there for the previous evening but couldn't get in! It was wonderful, the only thing missing from the day before was the Irish music.
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