August 21st – Our first full day!

The morning was lovely—beautiful warm sunshine, minimal clouds, and a front-row seat to the most gorgeous view of the bay and the Skelligs.

A “skellig” is a splinter of stone, a steep rock or a crag. You’ll hear more about the Skelligs down the road!

After a nice breakfast of rashers, eggs and toast, Johnny, Kelly and I decided it was time to explore our “neighborhood.”

As I mentioned before, the roads here are VERY narrow, especially up in this area. Most are really only wide enough for one car, so if two cars are coming from opposite directions, somebody is going to have to back up!

Walking wasn’t too bad since it was early and there were hardly any cars. 

There are numerous old Irish cottages in the area, fields filled with wildflowers, some new construction and some beautiful newer homes. But, of course, the views are incredible. The Irish countryside is something you just can’t get enough of.

We walked down our little path as far as we could go, turned around and headed back, and then walked down to the beach at the end of our road. It was such a beautiful day that quite a few people were out enjoying what may be some of the last warm beach days of the year.

We eventually walked back up to the house, collected Joey, and decided it was time to do a little more exploring by car.

From the cottage where we’re staying, you can actually see the ruins of an old abbey. It was built around 1210 for Augustinian canons and was established to house the monks from Skellig Michael after Viking raids and severe weather made life on the island unsustainable.  Those Vikings sure got around!

It was later in the day by the time we got to the abbey, and after walking around and exploring, we were all getting thirsty.

It was time to go see Rosie.

A stone’s throw from our cottage is a cute little local bar called Tig Rosie’s. When we pulled in, it was right around opening time and we were the first ones in the parking lot.  Imagine that!

As we were walking inside, a van pulled up and out came a man we later learned was named Mike Kelly. Funny enough, John had actually talked to him earlier during our walk. He’s a mason and was working on refurbishing one of the old abandoned cottages we’d passed.

And just like that, we had our first new friend.

He wasn’t the only one. Pretty much every person who came through the door became someone new to talk to and someone willing to give us information, suggestions and tips about the area.

Rosie herself, the owner, was just lovely and very helpful.

And since we’re in Ireland, we figured it was probably time to start sampling some of the local whiskey.

Of course, this very important job was left up to Kelly and me. The boys stuck with their pints of beer.

Our first whiskey was Skellig Whiskey, which is distilled right here in the area. It was quite tasty, nice and smooth, and Kelly and I were happy!

After a couple of hours talking with the locals, getting some great tips and enjoying a few beers and whiskeys, we were getting hungry.

Earlier in the day we’d decided to try a local place recommended by the owner of our cottage—a wine bar and pizza restaurant.  Yes. Pizza in Ireland. And apparently, it was located in an old oratory.

We left Rosie’s, piled into the car, and I loaded the restaurant into the GPS. It was supposed to be about a 20–25 minute drive.

We followed the directions until we finally heard those wonderful words:

“Your destination is on the left.”

Well…

As luck would have it, there actually IS an oratory near the little town of Waterville.

An actual oratory.

Not a pizza restaurant.

So there we were, exactly where the GPS told us to go… just not where WE wanted to go.

Fortunately, the luck of the Irish must have been with us because on the way into Waterville we’d passed a restaurant called The Fisherman’s Bar. We remembered that Rosie had mentioned it earlier and said she’d been pleasantly surprised by it.

Change of plans!

We headed inside, and it didn’t disappoint. We all enjoyed what we ordered, so our GPS mistake worked out just fine.

Waterville itself is a charming little town right on the water. At one time, it was a favorite vacation spot of Charlie Chaplin, and the town has definitely embraced that connection. There’s a statue of him as well as a huge mural on the side of one of the buildings.

It’s a small, quaint town with beautiful views of the water and exactly the kind of place you hope to stumble across while exploring Ireland.

After dinner, we headed back to the cottage, relaxed for a while and eventually all turned in.

I think we’re still dealing with a little jet lag. Hopefully tomorrow we’ll have a bit more energy!

But for our first full day in Ireland?

Not bad at all.

See you down the road!