Waterville, Ireland

Our first week is almost over. When we arrived last week it was later than planned so that the key was in the door and the lights were on. No formal introduction to our home for two weeks. Hey, we’re professionals. We get around and are smart enough to figure things out. But it did take a bit longer on trying to figure out how doors are locked here. Since it was late my first comment was: Leave the door unlock, who is going to get lost up here or try to break in. My mistake was opening the back door and also seeing that it wasn’t lockable. Or so I thought. We fiddled around, we knew that there had to be a way and finally we found out. The handles have to be pushed upwards. New lesson learned. Onions are onions. Irish onions will make you cry a river and eating them in the raw will burn your intestines. At least the ones I bought. They look like your everyday onion, but wow. I tried making a tomato salad today to go with our pizza which we bought, but we didn’t eat it up. Too spicy, I thought my esophagus was on fire. What did we do today despite eat pizza? Today the German soccer team is playing so we organized a leisure day in order to be back home on time. I received an email from a photographer giving me a hint on trying to find my stone row. We were to ask at the Ballinskelligs Art Center. So after a late breakfast we stared out the window and wondered if we would be able to leave the house. Today was the Ring of Kerry Charity Cycle. Start and end was in Killarney and they rode counterclockwise. So we saw hundreds of bicycles pass by and they kept coming. We decided to try to head for Ballinskelligs as it is the other direction. Phew, it worked, but it is a bit scary seeing hundreds of bicycles heading towards you with the occasional ambulance in between. Strike! When we arrived at the arts center we met the right person to ask. I showed her a picture Susan had made and she explained how to find them. So we set off once more to Cill Rialaig and climbed another fence and found ourselves amidst grazing sheep. Actually we shouldn’t have any problems falling asleep, counting sheep is easy here. After a few minutes uphill we came upon a clearing and there they were. A breathtaking sight. Over 3.500 years of untouched history. Try to absorb that. I’m still trying to comprehend what time is. On the way back we stopped at the Art Center to say thanks for the help and decided to have a coffee. Next lesson: when ordering a latte macchiato you have to be precise. In Ireland they have Macchiato and they have Latte. But not Latte macchiato. So we got a macchiato which is an especially strong espresso and with it we ate a chocolate almond brownie with vanilla ice cream. Grr, we didn’t do much walking today so I know where that brownie went, but it was sooooo good. So the soccer game is on and I’ve covered the day.