Not much to tell. It was a long day, starting in Skibbereen with a visit to the famine museum, then a bus ride to Cork, then lunch and a trip to the (mediocre) Crawford Art Gallery. Then a bus to the airport, a flight back to London and a long coachride from Stansted. The latter […]
End of Europe
The only thing to do was to flee Skibbereen, so the next morning we took a taxi down to Baltimore (a fishing village whose claim to fame is that a few centuries ago its entire population was abducted by Barbary pirates). There was a ferry coming in as we arrived, so we hopped on it […]
Long road to Skibbereen
There is no easy way from Lough Carrig to Skibbereen, but that was our destination so we stumped up a euros for a long taxi ride, hoping we’d at least get a beautiful drive out of it. Unfortunately the taxi driver didn’t take the short, scenic route and instead went the long and uninteresting way […]
Rhododendron hills
After a very large breakfast we went for a walk around the black lake, passing first through the lakeside mansions (now mostly holiday homes or hotels) and then over a small stone bridge past dairy farms. Then up the side of one of the low hills ringing the lake, where the air was heavy with […]
Gift of the gab
We have arrived at the Carrig House Hotel, a countryside hotel of the type they do particularly well across the British Isles, it seems: an old converted mansion in a beautiful spot (here, on the shore of a lake in County Kerry), with wallpaper and old baths, supremely comfortable beds but two taps instead of […]
Misery
My cold was in full swing today, my throat constricted so I could barely swallow, I was unable to eat more than a few bites of anything (all I ate today was a bit of fish from last night’s dinner for breakfast and half a bowl of soup), and felt weak and hot and cold […]