Thing 167 Carrantuohill/Muckross/Torc

You'll note the title is unspecific. It's basically just a list of place names. This is because today's Thing should have been Climb Carrantuohill, but the mountain beat us. Who'd have thunk it eh? Ireland's biggest mountain could defeat me, a short, chubby, useless lump? I'm stunned... About one third of the way up, we came across a rock wall. No more than twelve feet or so, but sheer. Wind was driving into us, rain too. Little shitty stingy rain. Rain didn't even have the good grace to be the big heavy fat kind. Which I kind of like.

Me and The Frenchman brought a sherpa...
Knight Dad. Experienced mountain climber, tea drinker, road-rage expert and all 'round top man. He's been to the top of Ireland's tallest mountain on several occasions. He also climbed a bunch of other stuff. That's what I meant when I said he was an experienced climber.

The road to the base of the mountain was gently sloping against us, there was nothing gentle about the wind that was slamming into my teeth. Stupid inclement weather. So I've still not been up a mountain.

Time to think of something else...

Enter: Muckross House.

Built for the Herbert Family in 1843, and visited by Queen Victoria in 1861, it's a fancy old gaff. Basically. A nice fancy old gaff, plenty of history. Traditional farms. An arboretum. Tourists. Many many tourists. Place was jam packed with them. For some reason I found it hard to resist the urge to put on an English accent and behave like a tourist. Don't ask, I really can't tell you what was going on in my head.

Magnificent grounds and features. Well worth a look. For an extra laugh, practice being a foreigner while you wander around the majestic grounds. Really there's few places you can go more beautiful than Kerry. Limerick, maybe... ahem.

For further proof of beautiful stuff to see in Kilarney: here's Torc waterfall.

I felt so crappy about not finishing the mountain that visiting a stately home just wouldn't cut it as a thing for the day. I had to go padding in a waterfall too. And so I did.

Guess what else I saw there? Tourists. Lots of tourists. I sang Carrigfergus as I walked past them. Nearly went back for a tip too... Decided against it. Some other tourists got a laugh from Knight Dad threatening to throw my shoes into the plunge pool at the bass of Torc. Charming. I know.

I've never really paid a lot of attention to Kilarney before. I've been there. For drinking. None of the touristy stuff. You know, what with the being Irish and all.

Glad I had some fun with this day. Even if I did get beaten by a fat mountain.