Euro 2025 ~ The Ring of Kerry ...

Euro 2025 started with an overnight flight from Halifax to Dublin, which left on “Friday the 13th” which some folks say is unlucky ~ we will see ..!!!

I arrived in a very wet Dublin at 8.00am local time. The rain was coming down so hard it was bouncing of the pavements, I got soaked, my luggage and some things inside got drenched coming off the aircraft.

After Dublin, I had a four hour journey to Kilgarvan in County Kerry. Fortunately after about an hour of driving, the heavy rain changed to alternate sunshine combined with the occasional cloud burst. This clearing in the weather allowed me to see more of Ireland, which almost immediately caused me to recall some memories from my past …

In Scotland at New Year, our house was a hub for “Ner’erday” celebrations, there was always at least one or two parties that filled the house with happy people. As a young wee laddie, I have great memories of those parties and the many songs that were sung. One stand out for me was a family friend named Theresa, who came from Dublin. Her party piece was always to sing my dad’s favourite, the famous Irish song, The Forty Shades of Green. Theresa would sing this with much passion and would always have tears in her eyes at the end. Young Graeme would watch this with questionable interest and conjure images of Ireland with all those shades of green. Well, on that journey from Dublin to Kilgarvan, I can now say for certainty, the song is correct in at least one aspect ~ there are a lot of shades of green, but far more than just forty.

There was an incident that made my journey to Kilgarvan on day one a little bit unlucky, one of the front tires on my rental car blew out. When it happened, it scared the living delights out of me. It happened just outside the small town of Mallow in County Cork and not having a cell phone I was truly in trouble. In brief after an almost three hour delay, which included a 7Km return hike while carrying a heavy backpack, then help from a Bulgarian, a young girl who sold donuts at a service station, an elderly man and his disabled daughter, two east Europeans (one of which was a crazy rocker…) who had a mobile tire service, I got back on the road with a new tire and 220 Euros lighter.

Day two, the Ring of Kerry proved to be much better. The weather was great, all through what turned out to be a 10-hour day of driving, hiking, smiling at nature and listening when I could to that lovely Irish accent, which I have always thoroughly adored.

The Ring of Kerry is located on the Iveragh Peninsula. With its rolling green hills, sparkling lakes, fast flowing rivers and patchwork of fields with grazing cattle and sheep bleating, it was an absolutely perfect start to my planned adventure along the Atlantic Coast of Ireland. In addition to the features already mentioned, there were countless stretches of pristine white sandy beaches that often gave way to jaw-dropping cliffs and mountains beyond.

High on the priority list for my day around the ring, was a stop at The Gap of Dunloe. Located along a single-track mountain pass road, which cuts across Iveragh Peninsula running north–south, separating the MacGillycuddy's Reeks Mountain range. My day ended in Killarney for some Irish Grub, before a final stop at Torc Falls located within the Killarney National Park.

The driving on the many very narrow, windy and steep roads was fun, especially with the manual transmission car, a definite requirement to add to the enjoyment of the day.

Today’s pics in the order they were taken …

8

Banking time …

I recall during my last chapter, if all my annual vacation days were used up, and I required additional time off, I could make a formal request to bank time ~ that is to save up extra worked hours then have them off later.

It is with much joy and enormous relief that I no longer have to deal with such nonsense anymore, I am now off 24/7 in all seasons of the year.

Today in this chapter, banking time means something completely different. With my Euro 2025 trip coming up fast now, I am banking time, which means I am trying to get some additional sleep. The reason for this is, after an overnight flight across the Atlantic, I arrive at my first destination at 8.30am local time, which is then followed by a four hour drive. From past experience, I have found it is very rare or almost impossible for me to sleep on an aircraft, therefore I have to plan ahead for this possible 36 plus hour day.

 

So, with that in mind I went off and had two lovely afternoon naps at Crescent and Rissers Beaches. With the following view on this warm afternoon …

…. I had an hour's sleep on the following pile of rocks at Crescent Beach. They may not look comfortable, but actually it is an ideal location for a nap, with a flat surface, together with good back, shoulder and head support.

At Rissers, I went horizontal for another hour of banking time at the following rock, where its curvature perfectly matches mine, allowing me a good, very comfortable and sound sleep.

 The view from Rissers curvy rock …

With two hours now banked, I took some more pics and headed home ....

Countdown …

Very soon I will be off on my “Euro 2025” adventure, and the usual symptoms are well underway. I have found in recent years, during the weeks leading up to the departure day, my nerves go all unnecessary. It usually starts when the calendar rolls over into the month before the departure, then I live through this for anywhere between four to seven plus weeks. It then peaks on the actual going away day at the airport, when if I can speak, there is very little sense comes out my mouth.

I think it all stems from the amount of planning I do for my trips. In a similar way to last year for “Euro 2024”, I have created pages of detailed route maps, which then causes me constant concern, about whether I have mistakenly written down “take a right” instead of a left or vice versa ~ I just did my third check on those maps and indeed found a scary amount of such errors.

Another concern that keeps the nervous churning in my stomach, is flight time changes. On this trip I am using two airlines, and daily I find myself checking their web-sites for any change of a flight time ~ it happened on three of my seven flights last year. The airlines do send out a notification email about such changes, but there may be one time they forget to send it to me ….

In addition to the above, there always seems to be constant checks that my driver’s license and (Canadian) passport is valid ~ I did have a serious incident back in September 2019, when as a Canadian citizen, I could not return to Canada like I had done many times before, on a direct flight from Britain using my valid British passport (I did not have a Canadian version at that time). I recall on that trip, a Sunday afternoon call from the Canadian Embassy in London, where they very helpfully recommended, that I fly instead to the USA and walk across the land border ~ there will be a full chapter about this event in my book …!!!!

Another headache is the permutations of baggage rules and regulations for different airlines, this does seriously drive me nuts. At $75 each way across the Atlantic I am allowed 50lb of stowed baggage and a carefully sized carry-on bag. But within Europe, the stowed baggage drops to 44lb and a smaller sized carry-on ~ why can they not be all the same …????

In an attempt to temporarily relieve myself this constant state of turmoil, I took a wonderful afternoon wander on Crescent Beach. The tide was on its way in, the west wind was fierce but very warm and the entertainment was excellent.

Incidentally, after I arrive at my destination, I am always fine, no hint of nerves and never fail to have a great time ~ I suspect Euro 2025 will be no different.

This afternoons pics …