Day 4: Ring Forts, Chocolate-Making Elves, & Funghi the Dingle Dolphin

We left our little place promptly at 8:30 to drive the Ring of Kerry, which is a peninsula in the western portion of Co. Kerry. Rick Steves, a travel writer with whom Zach and I have become obsessed, recommended driving the Ring backwards so as not to get stuck behind any tour buses who would be traveling the opposite way. And if Rick says to do it, we were gonna do it.

For most of the day, we felt like we had the Ring to ourselves. Our first stop was a quaint little town called Sneem. There isn't much to tell about this place except a lady was rude to me while I was getting coffee (I thought I was over it, but maybe the fact that I'm even mentioning it shows that I'm not). We then went to an old ring fort that was supposed to be thousands of years old. It was in the middle of a field, and there were sheep grazing all around. Zach and I were both very impressed with this structure. Not only was it old, but it was huge and had these elaborate stair systems leading up to the top, not to mention little hideouts on the lower portion. There are different theories as to the original use of these ring forts. Some say that wealthy people used them for their own protection, while others contend that farmers used them for their animals. Either way, it was fun to imagine them in their original state.


Another place Rick had mentioned in his book was the Skellig Chocolate Factory. He said they had free samples, so we had to try it. However, we almost missed it and had to turn around because this impeccable chocolate making occurs in the most inconspicuous little building. Boy am I glad we did turn around,though, because that was the most amazing chocolate I have ever tasted. We walked in the door and came to this closed door with elves painted on it and a sign that said, "Please no cameras, elves working with secret recipes." I could hear people working on the other side of the door, but I was honestly nervous to open it. After working up the nerve, Zach and I opened the door to find 3 ladies (who appeared to be around our age), in white coats and hats, making chocolates. It was a little anticlimactic, but they sure were as pleasant as I would imagine real elves would be. One lady gave us a little history on the place and told us that they provided chocolates to the President of Ireland. After tasting just about every flavor they offered, Zach and I purchased some of our favorites and were off. Here we are with our bags of chocolate in front of the factory:


The rest of the Ring included more ring forts and breath-taking views of the Atlantic. Since it was just around lunch time when we finished, we decided to go ahead and drive the Dingle Peninsula, which is just north of the Ring of Kerry (a Scottish person later told us that that was a very American thing to do). Before we got there, we made a stop in Port Maggee at another place Rick Steve's mentioned- Ireland's top toilet. I kid you not, it's a public toilet with a plaque proudly displayed on the outside of the building. See for yourself:


We finally arrived in Dingle town and began our tour of the Dingle Peninsula (after I got a picture with Funghi the Dingle Dolphin-Dingle town's mascot).



My favorite place on the peninsula was this old Christian oratory, which is supposed to be the oldest place of Christian worship in western Europe. It was so little and looked like a honeycomb or something. Zach and I were both taken aback as we pondered the thought that people were worshiping our Lord there thousands of years ago.

After a few more stops at some really old and interesting places, we decided to head home...but not without a sunset picture at the beach.