Saturday 3.23, Killarney National Park and Curraheen Greyhound Park

Saturday in Ireland started with a quick drive over to see where Chris works!

Our planned boat trip to see the Skellig islands was cancelled due to sea conditions, so we drove up to Killarney National Park and started with a guided tour of Muckross House. 

Noah got a nap in on the long drive west

Muckross House is a nineteenth-century Victorian mansion. Queen Victoria visited in 1861, and many of the furnishings and decor date from that visit. We enjoyed seeing how the upper class lived in Ireland long ago, along with what the servants' quarters and kitchen was like. It was kind of like being in Downton Abbey!

After that, Chris and Noah threw the rugby ball for a little bit and we explored a little around Muckross House. 

We had lunch in the cafe and enjoyed the beautiful gardens. 

Next, I wanted to walk to Torc Waterfall, which was quite a hike, but we made it there and were rewarded with splendid views of moss-covered trees and a cascading waterfall. 

Look very closely in the tree...

After the long walk back to our car, Chris was unable to unlock the car with the key fob. It seems the battery had died! Thankfully, he moved the batteries around enough for it to unlock, but we knew we’d need to replace the battery ASAP. On our way back towards Cork, we first pulled over to see the "Ladies' View" on the Ring of Kerry. 

We then went through Kenmare just to look at the views. This was a very small portion of the famous Ring of Kerry, a coastal drive around a peninsula on the western coast of Ireland.

We stopped at a Tesco in Ballincollig, just west of Cork City, then went to Sliced for a pizza dinner. Chris got on the wifi and had a message from his coworker Rob, asking if we’d like to meet him and his girlfriend at the Curraheen Park Greyhound race track. I have been wanting to see the greyhound races, and encouraging Chris to check it out when he’s there over the weekend, so we took the opportunity. 

Noah was really interested in watching each race and trying to pick the winner. 

We met a couple of Rob and Laura’s friends and enjoyed the conversation along with the excitement of the races.

 By around 9:30 we decided to head back to our hotel—we were pretty fatigued and also worried about Noah’s cough and asthma troubles. We were so glad we got a chance to go!