Ireland has many dreamy locations, particularly on the beautiful western coast. The day we went to Lough Annascaul in the Dingle Peninsula, the misty weather gave it a dream-like quality.
You can find more dreamy scenes at the original Lens-Artist challenge. You can also check out some dreamy sea lions from the Galápagos from when the Weekly Photo Challenge had the same theme.
From Dingle.
Strangely, I took no pictures of sunrise or sunset on this Ireland trip, but between the long summer days and all the hiking, etc., I did not have much cause to be awake at either sunrise or sunset.
This, however, was an early morning sight upon rising in Dingle: a charming way to start the day. Everything about Dingle is charming. I enjoyed the view of the cows eating their breakfast as we were eating ours.
From Dingle.
I wanted to take a shot of one of the main squares in quaint Dingle, while at the same time highlighting something very important about it: ice cream. Murphy’s is “handmade in Dingle,” and could legitimately be called the best ice cream ever. I think I had chocolate and sea salt flavors in this dish (but I sampled several, all good).
From County Cork, Ireland.
One of the interesting features of the grounds around Blarney Castle is the Poison Garden. As the name implies, the plants here are various poisons, including wolfsbane, mandrake, and ricin. There are signs basically warning you to enter at your own risk, and not touch anything!
Pictured here is common juniper, Juniperus communis, a very common ornamental shrub (especially common in Ireland, too). The berries are edible, but bitter. They have some medicinal uses, even possibly acting as a contraceptive or abortifacient. They are also thought to be toxic to dogs.
Remember, the poison is always in the dose!
From Dingle Peninsula.
This trip that I have been documenting in my Weekly Photo Challenges was an eight-day trip around Ireland that I took with my mom in 2015. This particular morning, we had been scheduled to walk on the beach in Dingle, but our tour guide had a better idea: a hike up a little hillside through some farmer’s fields to find some old ruins and a Famine graveyard for unbaptized babies.
We wandered past some ornery goats, some picturesque cows, and through tall, wet fields, all the while getting such lovely views as this one. I’ve often found that just doing some wandering is the best way to see and understand a place. I certainly came away with a great appreciation for Ireland!
