Killarney Here We Come!

Truly Ireland

On our way to Killarney, we realized we were getting really hungry but didn't want to stop to eat at a restaurant due to time constraints, so we stopped at a gas station and grabbed some goods.  I went for a pack of nuts and hazelnut yogurt.  You can't get hazelnut yogurt in the US, at least not that I know of.  I have to say that it was really tasty and I wish I had some right here with me at this moment. 

Killarney

Angie on the other hand went for a soda and a bag of popcorn.  I love shopping in other countries just to see the packaging and the different treats that the country offers.  Well, popcorn is pretty tame and it seems everyone likes it.  What isn't there to love about popcorn?  At first, it just appeared to be a bag of popcorn, but soon it became a major photo op.  The reason?  It was called Popcorn Pleasure.  The name alone is golden!  Yes, it tasted good, but that wasn't the point, the point was the name was awesome and we couldn't get enough of it.  

For the next five minutes we sat in the car taking random photos of us with the popcorn in seductive/cheesy poses.  Why?  Because it was there and our parents would be proud...or something.  Angie didn't finish the bag and it ended up all over the backseat floor, so we had the pleasure of having popcorn with us the rest of the trip.  Yep, it defiantly brought us pleasure as we would laugh everytime we saw the kernels on the floor.  Pure madness!

I have to say one of my favorite things about Ireland is you will be casually driving on a freeway and then bang! In front of you is a random castle or tower right next to a grocery store or house.  Brilliant!  Well, on our way to Killarney we came upon an outlook that faced a body of water on a hill.  We had to stop, how could we not?  It was incredible, though bitterly cold at that point.  I climbed onto the wall and risked being blown over for a photo.  Why not, I was in Ireland!  That and it wasn't a huge drop off at all, more of a small hill that would break my fall and carry me all the way down.  I'm not an idiot!  Well, most of the time.

As we continued our drive, we noticed how it was progressively getting greener.  Good times!  When we pulled into Killarney we were greeted by a very clean and cute city!  I have to say that this was by far my favorite town that we had stayed in so far while in Ireland.   We found a nice B&B right out of town, but only a five minute walk back.

It was a little late by the time we got to Killarney, but we still had plenty of time to walk around as it was busy way into the night.  This was a hopping little town.  The woman at the B&B suggested a restaurant that we might like.  We originally wanted to eat at the Indian place that we found, but they only took reservations there and it would be a 40 minute wait.  Forget that, we were hungry; Popcorn Pleasure wasn't enough to keep us satisfied I am sorry to say.

Dinner was alright, the waitress was very nice, but my dish wasn't what I expected (my fault I fear).  I don't think I read the menu carefully enough.  It turned out it was smoked salmon, not regular salmon.  I don't do the packaged smoked salmon thing, it just doesn't sit well with my stomach and it didn't that night either, so drinking was out!  After dinner we walked around some more.  There was a cool club in the town, but my stomach was killing me and we were pretty tired at this point. That and we had a full day planned for the following day.

So, early the next day, we headed down the road to The Kennedy Farm in Killarney.  I had been looking forward to this for weeks, I won't lie.  If you find yourself in Killarney and you love animals, go!  I am not even kidding!  This is in my top three favorite things that I did in Ireland. 

It turns out that you can stay on the premises of the farm much like any other B&B in Ireland, I had no idea!  Otherwise, I would have booked a room pronto, but it wasn't meant to be this trip.  Still, it is worth stopping in regardless and I could have spent half the day there easily.

First off, the land it is on is just beautiful and peaceful and the animals are just adorable.  We went during the right time as there were babies everywhere!  In fact, a baby lamb had been born the night before.  There were puppies, piglets, chicks and guinea pigs everywhere.  On the farm, you are allowed to pet almost all of the animals, but a lot of them are very shy.  Though, there was this kick ass deer named Bambi who followed us around everywhere who couldn't get enough love.  The puppies were crazy and practically killed each other for some attention.  You could give them an hours worth and they would still want more!  I loved these guys, though one was a biter and if you tried to pet another puppy he would bite you or his sibling.  Crazy!!!

Later on in the day, there were children everywhere and the whole farm came alive.  I was glad we showed up early as we had the whole farm to ourselves, but it was so fun to see the children running around and having such a great time.  This seriously was a special place and I couldn't get the smile off of my face.

I really didn't want to leave, but we knew we needed to get going if we were to see anything else in Killarney and beyond so from the Pet Farm, we headed back on to the road and headed towards the Ring of Kerry.  It sounds so ominous!