Nicole schreibt...

Ireland 2006

Ireland has been all the hype in Germany for some years now and with most of my friends trudging off to the Emerald Isle lately, my own curiosity was awoken. Now I'm not the type who can gush over scenery for hours, I vividly remember how close I was to jumping into the Orinoco River in Venezuela last winter when all the greenery became too much for me. Besides I'm far too lazy to hike and driving around beautiful nature in a car somehow defeats the purpose. Luckily there are alternatives and I had the grand idea of taking a look at Ireland on horseback. May I rant about my least favorite airline Ryanair again? Oh well, I won't because at least they took me straight from Germany (albeit from Hahn Airport, somewhere tucked away in the deepest forests of the Hunsrück) to Co.Kerry, where the Killarney Reeks Trail would lead along the famous Ring of Kerry for a week.

I was picked up at the airport and taken to Killarney, the tourist hub of the area for the first night. After an early dinner I indulged in some shopping and marvelled at all the Irish-Celtic junk being flogged in the souvenir shops, mainly aimed at the American tourists who swarm all over Ireland in search of their Irish roots and the New Age-types going for the Celtic stuff. Next morning we were all assembled and taken to meet our horses. So here's me and my new buddy Apache, an Irish Draught Horse - not the prettiest race on God's fine earth, but I came to respect him greatly, carrying me over crumbling mountain paths, through forests and bogs and still had the stamina for long gallops along the beaches. The next five days were spent riding around Kerry, so here are some photos of the area:

Day One: Climbing over the Windy Gap mountains first, we first saw Caragh Lake and later came to Coomasaharn Lake, ending the day's ride in a small touristy village called Glenbeigh where we stayed overnight as well.

Day Two brought us to Rossbeigh Beach (above), a stretch of sand and dunes which is excellent for galloping along the beach. Unfortunately this was the day Ireland had to prove its reputation for shitty weather and it was raining most of the time. It didn't stop our hosts from serving lunch outdoors as usual, so picture a miserable soaked lot eating sandwiches in rain and wind on the beach.But things shaped up later with a nice dinner in a typicalc cozy Irish pub.

Day Three: Still cloudy but at least dry and the heavy grey clouds formed a perfect background for riding through the bogs of Cnoc Bawn, where turf is still cut to heat people's houses. We came to Tulligane Woods, again a perfect spot for conjuring up images of medieval knights and Celtic warriors. (though I doubt they were ever so sore as I was at that point of the whole undertaking).

Day Four: We returned to the woods for some morning gallops first then continued on along the Inny River Valley. I couldn't help marvelling at all the Heather on the Hill (yes I know, Brigadoon is set in Scotland), reaching Lough Currane in the afternoon before being taken to our accommodation in Waterville, another place popular with the coach trip parties where we became something of a tourist attraction with folks taking photos of our group whenever they spotted us.

I had been disappointed that the traditional Irish pub fare has been replaced by that universal standard type of fast food, from burgers and fish & chips to tortilla wraps and even chicken tikka. But at least in Waterville I got lucky and was finally able to order some Irish Stew. Well, it's just a mash of potatoes, carrots and meat, the sort my grandma would fabricate, too. But hey, even if it wasn't too good, it beats eating prefab chicken tikka.

Day Five: The morning was spent on Waterville Beach for some more galloping, this time at least in sunshine. The afternoon ride would be the last one and it seemed Ireland was keen on whacking us about the head with breathtaking scenery one last time during the ride along Ballinskelligs Bay (where supposedly the first Celts clambered on dry land many centuries ago to found the Gaelic Nation). In the afternoon we were taken back to Killarney and next morning I went home to Germany with alot of dirty clothing to wash and an urgent phone call to my massagist Andrea to make. But while it was undoubtedly exhausting to spend five days on horseback, it was indeed a very special experience and the best way to explore the beautiful countryside of Ireland.