We had a nice relaxing morning around St. Finian’s Bay, enjoying breakfast and taking care of a few things around the cottage before deciding it was time to get out and explore.
We’re learning a little more about the area we’re calling home this week. St. Finian’s Bay is actually known locally as “The Glen,” and the landscape around us was carved out by glaciers. People have apparently been living around this little bay since the Bronze Age. So those old stone walls, fields and hills we’ve been looking at every day have quite a bit more history than we realized!
We hopped in the car with no big agenda other than to make our way toward the Kerry Cliffs and see what we could find along the way.
Once again, it was a beautiful drive through the Irish countryside on those skinny little roads that look like they were built for one car but somehow carry traffic in both directions. We’re getting a little more used to them. A little.
We stopped at a few scenic overlooks along the way and eventually came across one of the local beaches. There were quite a few people there enjoying the day, so we kicked off our shoes and decided to put our feet in the water.
You guessed it. COLD!
It didn’t take long before our toes were numb and we were ready to put our shoes back on.
From there, we continued meandering along the winding little roads until we made our way to the Kerry Cliffs.
And wow.
It’s about a 10-minute walk from the parking lot up to the viewing areas, and it is absolutely worth it. The cliffs tower more than 1,000 feet above the Atlantic, the rock they’re made from formed about 400 million years ago in a desert environment. Looking at all this green and the Atlantic crashing below us, that’s pretty hard to imagine.
There are two different viewpoints, and the views from both are spectacular. You can see the Atlantic, Puffin Island and the Skellig Islands sitting out in the distance. In fact, the Kerry Cliffs are the closest viewing point on the mainland to the Skelligs—which made it even better knowing that tomorrow, we’ll actually be heading out there.
By this time, we were pretty hungry. Yes, eating seems to be a common theme on this trip!
Since it was getting later in the afternoon, we decided an early dinner sounded like a good idea. And we were going to give The Oratory Pizza & Wine Bar one more shot.
This time, we found it!
After our GPS sent us to an actual oratory the night before, just finding the right place felt like an accomplishment.
The restaurant itself is inside an old church, and the minute you walk through the door you can see why we wanted to find it. It’s beautiful. Stained-glass windows line both sides, there’s gorgeous stonework inside and out, and eclectic pieces of artwork are tucked all around the restaurant.
Now THIS was the oratory we were looking for!
It’s a wine and beer bar, so naturally we settled right in. We ordered a couple bottles of wine—one red and one white—and a beer for Joey.
We started with an antipasto platter and an Irish cheese board, both delicious. We apparently had no trouble devouring those before our pizzas arrived. We each ordered our own and then just sat back, relaxed, enjoyed our pizza and wine, talked about everything we’d seen that day and had a few laughs.
It was a perfect way to finish off a pretty laid-back day of exploring.
After dinner, we headed back to the cottage for an early night because tomorrow is a big one. We have a boat trip scheduled to Skellig Michael, which means we need to be up and out fairly early to catch the boat.
Something tells me there will be plenty to tell you about after that adventure.
See you down the road!
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