Looking through our pictures, I am reminded that our second week in Ireland was mostly sunny. The glorious blue skies with puffy white clouds drifting by were a far cry from the previous week where the sun was an occasional visitor.

The Old Stone Cottage is a spacious country house; I gather it was converted and modernized and added on to from what would have been a rather small farm house in its former life. We drew straws for choice of bedroom, although there was very little difference among them, and it would not have mattered who got which one. Our nearest neighbors in the pasture across the fence were a herd of young cattle, all black and white with yellow ear tags. There was occasional traffic along the road. This was a most peaceful setting for anyone wanting rest and relaxation.

The town of Skibbereen is roughly 12,000, and it had a few large grocery stores. We did all breakfasts at the house; lunch depended on the day’s activities, and dinner was a mix of cooking for ourselves and eating out. It was also a fun town for wandering, with narrow one-way streets at the center, interesting shops, quite a few galleries, and lots of local color.

We were lucky enough to discover that the All Ireland Trotter & Sulky races were occurring about a mile from our cottage on that first full day in County Cork. The morning included a drive to Bantry, a bit of shopping, and lunch out, and then we backtracked to the horse races. This was so cool!!! The car parking was in a pasture, the race track was in the adjacent pasture, with a single line of rope comprising the fencing to keep sulkeys & horses separated from the crowd. I think the length of each race (once around the pasture) was a half a mile. Along with the actual racing, there was a dog show with children showing their pets, and ribbons for virtually all normal categories as well as lots you’ve never heard of before; a soccer match being shown on a big screen tv on a truck/trailer rig, one of those bouncy castle things for the kids, and bookmakers for betting prior to each race. The weather was overcast and cool but no rain, and we stayed for almost the whole card.

The rest of the week included car drives to various locations along the coast: Castletownshend, Tragumna, Baltimore, Ballyhoben, Schull, Goleen, Mizen Head and its lighthouse. The names dance in your brain and on your tongue! Some days all six of us went together, and some days we split up. There was golfing for a couple of the guys one day, while wives went shopping, and others hiked in a manor-house nature preserve. We spent quiet time at the house, reading, sketching, and picking blackberries. We took a ferry boat through Baltimore harbor to Sherkin Island for a stroll around that tiny island. And, as during the week prior, we sampled Guinness or Murphy’s or Smythwick’s or … all varieties of ale or beer or hard cider, or drinks that combined one of those with a mixer.

One of the most interesting experiences throughout Ireland was how connected the people feel to the U.S. Almost everyone we talked with, in B&Bs or shops or restaurants or pubs, or the taxi drivers have relatives who live in the U.S., and many told of their upcoming trips to the U.S. Another fun eye-opener, mainly from the previous week in the northwest, was listening to the Irish language. Especially in the Connemara region, there are still a lot of pockets where Gaelic is the local language.

Because we had chosen a house so far from Shannon Airport, we departed a day ahead of time. Again, one couple rode the bus north to Limerick (not the same couple), while the other four drove, taking a different route than on the drive south. We had made advance reservations at the Two Mile Inn, a large motor inn just south of the airport (by about 2 miles… <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" />). For a place just to spend one night and move on, it was acceptable, but nothing for ambiance! After checking in, my husband and I took the car to the airport and turned it in, took a taxi back to the inn, and arranged with that taxi driver to pick us up in the morning for our flight. The other four, on a slightly later flight, had the hotel arrange for a taxi for their group. We had a great dinner at the restaurant next door. I can’t recall now if that is where we read our limericks, or if we had done that before leaving Skibbereen, but in any event we had some good laughs with those.

The best of Ireland: the people! The pub experience! The sweaters! The green, all shades, everywhere!

The bicycle trip was a fantastic way to see and experience a limited area in great detail, and the house and car rental opened to door to another distinct region. We had a ball!