cece and gus go to ireland: Great Blasket!

September 17, Dingle Town. In the tight contest for the most beautiful place ever, Great Blasket Island takes the cake. It probably helped that this was the first bright, sunny, cloudless all-day we have had, but even with problematic weather, we think we would have felt the same way.

We went out from Dingle with Billy at www.dingledolphin.com on his orange boat on an adventure that lasted almost seven hours, most of them spent on Great Blasket.

On the island, we figured we should do this thing right, so we walked the high path around the whole island, pausing for a packed lunch (bought at the SuperValu) in the still wet grass along the way. The shades of blue--from turquoise in the crashing waves to deep blue on the horizon to pale blue over on the Ring of Kerry--are enough but only the beginning. The scattered lesser Blaskets ring the island. It was a long trek but among the best hikes of our lives, right up there with the Carthew Lakes in Glacier National Park. Thank you Bruce Nelson for saying we should not miss the Great Blasket.

The settlement on Blasket was abandoned in 1953, with government encouragement. A number of those leaving went to Springfield, MA, of all places, since basketball was not a big deal on Blasket. A few are returning to rebuild the abandoned stone structures, but not for resettlement.

On the way back, Billy made an extra effort to show us the resident grey seal colony on the island and then to head out into Dingle Bay to find the rather rare Risso's Dolphins, which put on quite a show. We also saw an amazing hunting expedition on the island by a peregrine falcon. Ask us about it if interested.

As Billy was looking for Dolphins, he turned up the boat radio so others could hear the Irish Football National Championship Game--Dublin vs. Mayo. It was a close game, but, as always, Dublin won. We were just in County Mayo, and their extreme excitement had rubbed off on us. They have not won a championship game in 66 years despite having the best team in the country, we are told.

All of the above qualifies as a grand bit of serendipity. Had we stuck with our original plan to stay two days in Westport, this lovely day would have been spent in the car driving from Westport to Dingle.

A world-class dinner at Out of the Blue topped off a most memorable day.