Oops..that was much longer than I intended it to be. I’ll try to be a bit briefer. By the way, I don’t remember the names of most of the places we ate. However, my mother took photos of each and every one of those spots, so eventually I’ll have that info if anyone would like it.

Segment 2: Galway/Salthill

I thought we might find some pleasant stops between Ballinamore and Galway, but the rain was pretty steady and heavy.  We just pushed on to St. Jude’s, our b&b in Salthill. We got soaked just moving from the car to the house. St. Jude’s was a lovely place. Our room was spacious and clean, and the shower was by far the best shower we had on the trip. Our only two issues were tea service and bus information. We couldn’t find tea service in our room or the common areas, and as cold and wet as we were we were fairly disappointed. Later, one of the women who works there told us that all we needed to do was ring the bell and request tea. Still, I like to have access myself, and an offer of a hot cup of tea when we arrived in a storm would have been a nice touch. We also received vague and somewhat incorrect information on buses to the city. Otherwise, we enjoyed our stay.

After the rain eased up a little, we headed into the city. That Sunday afternoon, we simply walked around a bit and tried to orient ourselves. We had a very late lunch at a pub (best toasted I’ve ever had) and headed back to our room. After a brief nap, we went to a pub in Salthill. I can’t remember the name, but we were very unimpressed. It seemed a bit overdone with kitsch. Hoping to hear music, we grabbed a cab (it was still raining steadily) and headed to Crane. We listened to mediocre music downstairs while enjoying a dinner of crisps. I took a bathroom break and discovered the upstairs, which had much better music.

We got back to our room late, only to receive news that a cousin of mine had passed away. We were very shook up and considered returning home for the funeral. After much discussion and encouragement from family, we decided to stay in Ireland. Lori had made a trip to Ireland 3.5 years ago, had a wonderful time, and was thrilled that my mom was getting a chance to go. For the rest of the trip, she was on our minds.

Monday we got a bit of a late start. I found the Cathedral to be absolutely beautiful. I have not seen many cathedrals, but some seem a bit ostentatious (Seville) and some a bit dreary (Dublin). The Galway cathedral surprised us. Relatively new, it doesn’t feel overly contemporary. It is beautiful without being too much, It uses the wonderful stone of the area but is still light and open. We spent a good bit of time in the cathedral sitting quietly and reflecting. That day we also walked along the river. It was SO high and choppy while we were there with very little distance between the water and the bridges. We were fairly unimpressed by the Spanish Arch. Mom and I looked at the other St. Nicholas church while my partner was having photos burned to CD. We thought this church was also quite lovely in a very different way. We did a bit of shopping, though mostly eyeing items without purchasing.  Mom was thrilled to find a bell at Galway crystal, after failing to do so in Carrick-on-Shannon and in most of the shops we visited in Galway (she has quite a bell collection). We had a lunch of sandwiches at Taaffe’s between sites, and Mom tried her first every Bailey’s and coffee. (She loved it). We had a lovely late afternoon snack from McCabe’s Bakery. And by lovely, I mean decadent pastries. We sat on a bench passing them back and forth. Yum.

The highlight of the day was the early session at Taaffe’s. The music was phenomenal, and my mother was just thrilled. We stayed for the entire session and then had dinner somewhere nearby.

Tuesday morning we left Salthill around 10:00 am to head toward The Shores near Stradbally. We enjoyed Galway, but our short time there was enough for us. We’re not big on shopping, and it seems to be quite a shopping city. We were, however, thrilled to hear such good music!

More later…

Oopsy

Well, I was going to try to write less, but I’m just not finding success in that. For those of you who like quick to the point reviews, sorry! For those of you who like detailed but well-written and entertaining reports, sorry! Below, more of my ramblings…(thanks for the permission to be long-winded Michele!)

Segment 3: Dingle Peninsula

On Tuesday we made the lovely drive from Salthill/Galway to the Shores near Stradbally. We left Salthill around 10:00 in the morning. Our first stop was at the Cliffs of Moher. My, has that changed since we were there in 2002! I’m not sure I like the changes, either. It seems too much to me, distracting me from the beauty of the cliffs. These are beautiful cliffs. I don’t know that they need an interpretive center, restaurant, guides, etc. that are to come next year. Just my two cents…

We arrived at the Cliffs to gray skies, but no rain. About halfway through the walk, the rain started. The winds and rain were fairly heavy for a bit, but Mom and I did much of the paved walk and spent a good bit of time enjoying the views. We made our way back to the temporary visitor center, still making our way through heavy rain. We pushed our way through the dense crowd in the center and walked out the doors on the other side to…sunshine and no rain. Sometimes I just love the finicky nature of weather!

We made our way around the coast a bit and stopped for lunch in sunny Milltown Malbay (I think; I did a horrible job taking notes). We had a lovely lunch at the (new?) Old Bakehouse Restaurant. I can’t remember what exactly I ate (some Asian inspired wrap?), but it was a delicious vegetarian wrap. The café was pleasant, with a light and cheery feeling and a number of local artists’ work displayed on the walls. We hit the road again, making several “ooh and ahh” stops along the way to the ferry. We reached the Shores around 5:00ish that afternoon.

The Shores…wow! You know how there are glowing reviews of the Shores on every Ireland travel board you peruse? Well, they’re not overblown. It is LOVELY! Annette is LOVELY! The food is LOVELY! Our room was the one right next to the front door. This felt a bit odd to me at first. As I looked out the window, I saw everyone coming in, and they saw me. I quickly adjusted though. Something about sitting on a chaise with a clear view of the water makes me relax, relax, relax. Mom’s room was directly above ours. Not quite as special a room, but still lovely. Mom actually loved her view out the bathroom window to the hills and the sheep.

After we settled in and gave Annette our dinner orders, we headed toward the beach. Annette recommended a drive to Fermoyle Strand that afternoon. Wow. It was just stunning. I can be mesmerized by moving water…waterfalls, ocean, rambling brooks. Still, I found myself torn between the view of the water and the view of the mountains. It was just lovely. I took my own little walk (I like solitary beach walks) and took a lovely walk with my Mom. We had an incredible laughter incident together, about nothing really, that was a beautiful moment. We ended up having a lot of these on the trip, moments that are more difficult to have when we’re visiting each other’s homes and worried more about hosting guests. I think it’s a special gift, time spent like that, in our adult lives, with family.

After the amazing time on the beach, we went back to the Shores for dinner. WOW!! We were all so impressed, by the taste and presentation of the food, the ambience, the service from Annette and her daughter. It was a wonderful dining experience. For an appetizer, I had a blue cheese and grape phyllo tart that was a savory joy to eat. Annette conjured up a vegetarian stir fry for my main course that was also very good (it’s so common to have overcooked and poorly spiced veggie stir fries…this was neither). I had the apple crumble for dessert…also divine. Mom and partner also loved their meals and the entire experience. I had been a bit hesitant to schedule this indulgence and am now so glad that I did.

Wednesday morning we returned to the dining room for a spectacular breakfast. Again, presentation was lovely. I had fruit and yogurt and was thrilled at the variety of fruit on my plate. Mom had stewed prunes as a first course, and she is still giddy about them (and Annette was nice enough to tell Mom how she prepared them). That day we did our Dingle tour. We did a slow drive of the Connor Pass. We had to stop at the waterfall, and as is often the case, my traveling companions had a difficult time getting me to leave. We stopped at the scenic overlook as well, but the view was quite limited by the fog and clouds. In Dingle we stopped at Dingle Crystal. Amazing work. I spent a good bit of energy trying to convince my partner that we should buy a particular vase for his mother but was unsuccessful. Now I’m going to have to go behind his back and order it online as a Christmas present. J We also stopped at Lisbeth Mulcahy’s store. I really loved everything I saw in the store, but limited myself to four scarves (all intended as gifts, all I am having difficulty actually wrapping and giving away now). We did a quick internet café and supervalue stop and headed off.

We made several stops on our drive…some down roads that were pretty unmarked (what does that castle looking symbol on brown signs mean, anyway?), some the “standard” stops, including Dunbeg Fort, beehive huts, the beach with the Ryan’s Daughter stone marker (Coomeenole?), Reasc monastic site, Gallarus, and all of the lovely drive between spots.  We had periods of sunshine, periods of mist, and periods of steady rain, but little of the high winds we had been experiencing. We really loved Dunbeg Fort (and had a nice lunch at the restaurant there). We made several beach stops, our (surprise?) favorite being Clogher Strand. Really liked the Reasc site as well. After the Gallarus stop, we headed back to Dingle and then back through the Connor Pass to the Shores. This time the skies were clear and we spent quite a bit of time at the scenic overlook.

That morning we had briefly considered a second dinner at the Shores, but decided we need not indulge so much two nights in a row. I recalled someone posting once about a restaurant/pub just up the road and we headed out. Oops. I should have checked with Annette. For some reason, I had it in my head to go to Castlegregory. We ended up, and I don’t remember how, at a place called Barry’s Bistro, or something like that. My partner, who allows himself to indulge in just one burger a month, ordered his May burger. Oops number two. What he received was perhaps slightly smaller and much drier than a White Castle burger. Mom and I were also displeased with our choices (It never occurred to me that garlic mushrooms were going to be deep fried mushrooms, though after that night I kept seeing that on menus). On the way back, of course, we found the place that the post had referenced. Oh well.

Before we went back to the Shores, we stopped at the beach directly in front of the Shores. We walked, talked, and stood in silent reflection as the sunset. It was absolutely beautiful.  We headed back to the Shores, had a cup of tea, and retired for the evening. The next morning we had another lovely breakfast (I stuck with the fruit and yogurt, Mom stuck with stewed prunes, I recall no other specific dishes). We packed up and headed toward Kenmare, with several stops along the way.

Highlights of our brief time on Dingle: the amazing views, whichever direction we looked, lovely moments together on the various beaches, Dunbeg fort, the Shores.

More later…

oopsy

I left out two tiny little b&b details that I greatly appreciated. First, Hammills in Ballinamore: I apparently ordered too small a breakfast the first morning, so Bernadette filled in the plate a bit with beans. I fell in love with beans and toast for breakfast, having it each of my three mornings there. I was so disappointed to not have it again on our trip! Second, the Shores and attention to detail: I’m not one to take a lot of time on my hair, don’t often use a blow dryer, and it never crossed my mind to use one on our trip. I was hanging things in the closet and my partner was putting things in drawers as we unpacked at the Shores. I had my back to him when he said, “hey, don’t you use one of these things sometimes?” It was a diffuser for the hair dryer. A diffuser!!  I used to take my diffuser with me on trips but it never fits on the supplied blow dryers. But here it was, just part of the room. Now that is attention to amenity detail. The next day I had such pretty curls (until the wind and rain stole them from me)!

 Segment 4: Drive from Stradbally to Kenmare

 Well, it probably seems silly to have a partial day count as an entire “segment”, but this was such a full and spectacular day that it seems right.

 Our first stop after leaving the Shores was Inch Strand. What a beautiful, beautiful beach. We arrived at about 10:00 in the morning. It was SUNNY and WARM! Mom was having a great time looking at shells (though I think she was more impressed with the shells on Fermoyle). We all took walks together and alone. I finally took off my shoes and socks, rolled up my jeans, and did an ever so brief wade in the water. Brrrr... All in all we spent about an hour there, and it was quite a nice start to our morning. We also stopped at the nearby Inch Cemetery.

 We had sun all the way to Killarney, but clouds returned as we entered the city. We saw a sign pointing to Ross Castle and headed that way. I feared my partner was tiring of strolls on the beaches and oohs and ahs over wildflowers, so I wanted to get him some good castle/stone structure time. Alas, Ross Castle was without power until later that afternoon so a tour was out (which made for a mini-adventure for Mom and I as we headed toward the toilets and the second time we went into the mens’ toilet to get soap). We took a boat ride to Innisfallen Island instead. We just loved our time on the island and were really taken with the ruins. Just as I was thinking we should have asked for more time on the island, the winds picked up—a lot—and the skies got a bit darker. We headed back to the pier, where our boat awaited, and took the ride back to Ross Castle. All three of us really loved the boat ride and I highly recommend it. We appreciated our…driver? Guide? Boatman? When I’m surrounded by such natural beauty I like to appreciate it quietly. At the beginning of our trip he was telling us about the lakes and the area, but I think he picked up on the quiet appreciation thing quickly. He didn’t talk too much after that but simply answered our questions when we had them.  This gave us lots of time to quietly take it all in. The water in the lake seemed quite high. He told us it was high for the time of year and that, sadly, heavy rains came during swan nesting and many eggs were lost.

 After our wonderful boat ride and wanderings around the island, we headed back to town. It was time for lunch and we considered two options: Look at our notes to pick out a recommended restaurant or pub OR find a parking place anywhere we could and then walk into the nearest pub. We opted for the latter. We ended up in a place that was pub downstairs, seafood restaurant (closed until evening) upstairs. We had good toasties, soup, and tea there, and an ice cream from a shop next door. That was the extent of our Killarney time, other than trying to find our way out. Somehow we kept missing turns and went round and round in Killarney. Clearly there is much to do there, but I we all felt good about our Kenmare decision. Killarney was just a bigger town than we wanted.

 As we headed toward Kenmare, I had one thing on my mind….WATERFALL! About the time we thought we had missed Torc waterfall, we saw—and almost drove by—the pull off for it. I started doing my “I’m so excited I can’t believe I’m about to see a waterfall oh my gosh I could just burst I’m so excited” dance as soon as we got out of the car. Torc did not disappoint. It was stunning. Just stunning. Once again, my companions had a tough time getting me to move on. Finally they pulled me away and we started the climb up the path behind the falls. This was a longer path than we expected, and one person who was headed down while we were headed up said that there wasn’t much to see up there. He was wrong. The views of the lakes definitely justified the walk for us.

 After I was coerced into returning to the car, we continued down the road to Kenmare. Of course, we made several stops along the way but the clouds were gathering. Ladies View was definitely clouded but still quite beautiful. We pulled into Kenmare around 5:00. More later…

 oopsy

Segment 5: Kenmare

We arrived in Kenmare to rain, and we were a bit tired (I might have also crossed the line to grumpy). We had an incredibly hospitable and cheerful welcome from Neil at Virginia’s Guest House. After Neil found us a parking place and grabbed our bags, Noreen appeared with their daughter. I have to say, they provided the most cheerful, upbeat, and helpful welcome of all of our b&b’s. Still, we had just left the elegance of the Shores. Virginia’s is not elegant; it’s roomy and simple. In my tired (grumpy) mood, I was a little disappointed at the start. First impressions can be wrong! We absolutely loved our stay at Virginia’s, and Neil and Noreen were lovely and charming and so very helpful! After getting our bags into our rooms (and reclaiming their son’s backpack, which I had mistaken for my own), they gave us an overview of the town and talked to us about dinner reservations. We suggested dinner in a pub that night (Thursday) and dinner at Lime Tree Friday night, and Noreen scurried away to make our Lime Tree reservations.

We headed out for a walk in the drizzle, and were not immediately taken with Kenmare. I attribute this, as well, to being a bit tired. We strolled the main streets looking at menus and music offerings for the night, and stopped in for our usuals (tonic and lime for Mom, Bulmers for me, Guinness for my partner) at a positively smelly bar. We returned to the room for quick naps, and then walked over to O’Donnabhain’s Pub for dinner. Dinner was good but not spectacular (much better than Barry’s the evening before!). After dinner I was exhausted and returned to the room. Mom and my partner headed to Ryan’s for not particularly good music.

Friday we awoke to rain and headed to breakfast. Breakfast at Virginia’s is amazing, amazing, amazing. Please, please try the breakfast cocktail (a mix of orange juice, cranberry juice, and fresh ginger). It is incredible. That first day Mom had a rhubarb crisp (rhubarb from Noreen’s father), I had lovely poached fruit, and my partner had a tart with pear, blue cheese, and bacon. All of us were impressed and thrilled that we would have two more breakfasts there. Neil’s service during breakfast was wonderful, and we still can’t figure out how Noreen prepares such incredible food in that tiny tiny kitchen!

We had considered going to Gleninchaquin park that day, but decided against it because of the rain. Instead, Mom and I did some shopping. Do stop in at the Lace Center…there is some beautiful work there and I enjoyed seeing someone do some of the work. Strolling through Kenmare that morning was a good idea. Seeing the town with rested eyes opened us up to its charm. While we were there, by the way, someone was delivering overviews of a new development to the businesses. There are BIG changes in the works for Kenmare. It will be interesting to see what it looks like in a few years.

After shopping and dumping photos to cd, we headed back toward Killarney for a day at Muckross. Rain lessened as we approached Killarney (and so I began to pout a bit about not going to Gleninchaquin). We enjoyed the guided tour of Muckross and then had a nice casual lunch at the restaurant. We popped into the shops so that Mom could buy chocolates for her coworkers, and I somehow went completely overboard on scarves (again) and a hat, a shawl for my partner’s Mom (I still think she would prefer the crystal vase from Dingle), and a tweed purse. I broke one of my cardinal rules of shopping by having my partner complete the transaction for me while I…looked in the rest of the store.

The sun was out so Mom and I toured the grounds a bit while my partner sat, relaxed, and watched the bags. We barely scratched the surface of the grounds, but we were stunned by the rhododendron. We also enjoyed some of the rocky areas. It made for a lovely end of our afternoon at Muckross.

We headed back toward Kenmare and I was hoping we would take the Black Valley drive. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the directions I had printed out and I think folks were too tired for me to risk getting us lost. So instead we went directly to Kenmare. After quick naps and some time relaxing in the lounge, we headed to Lime Tree for a late meal. Dinner was spectacular. The food was amazing, the service was excellent. I was delighted with my phyllo tart of cannellini bean puree, shallots, and blue cheese. Mom and partner also loved their entrees (pan roasted pork for Mom, butterfish for partner). The server also brought a dish of mashed turnips (yum!, really!) and a dish of perfectly cooked carrots and peas to the table. And then came dessert. We believe in the one dessert to share dining style, but somehow that didn’t seem appropriate here. Instead we shared three wonderful desserts. All in all, this was a fantastic dining experience. With great difficulty, we managed to walk back down the stairs (after a quick look at the gallery at Lime Tree) and back to our rooms.

Saturday morning was, again, a little drizzly. Breakfast was again wonderful. My partner headed off to do the laundry while Mom and I took a nice walk and did a little more shopping. Around 11:00 we decided to head toward Gleninchaquin despite the rain and shortly after we hit the road the rain stopped.

Gleninchaquin…wow. Your first glimpses of the falls are fleeting as you make your way on the twisty road to the parking area, but you know you’re in for a treat. Once we parked and got an overview of trails we made our way over to the falls. I was in awe, and these falls actually moved me to tears. If you love waterfalls as I do, make your way to these falls at some point. No doubt our experience was heightened by the excess rain the area had experienced during May. They were beautiful. Just beautiful and awesome and spectacular, and I would go back to the area just to spend more time there.

We considered the hike to the top of the falls, and after scrambling through the water and across rocks (the path was underwater), we started up the path. The winds started picking up and the skies started graying again, and I wasn’t sure how Mom’s knees would do on that walk. So, we opted out of the complete loop. We made it around a couple of bends to see another lovely lake, but we did not go to the top. I was actually quite okay with this, as it allowed more time for me to just sit in wonder closer to the base of the falls. This was by far the natural wonder highlight of the trip for me.

After a few hours, we left Gleninchaquin and headed south. We drove the Healy Pass and enjoyed some spectacular views. I had silently considered a stop at Garnish Island, but decided that my partner had probably had enough gardens on this trip. We slowly made our way back to Kenmare (again, lots of stops). We returned to Virginia’s. Mom napped and shopped a bit, and my partner and I took a walk and enjoyed a pint at O’Donnabhain’s. We had a lovely dinner at Prego’s (Neil and Noreen’s suggestion for a lighter dinner; they again made reservations for us and Neil went over to get us a menu for us to review). We shared an appetizer and a couple of good pizzas. After our late dinner, my partner returned to Virginia’s to sleep. Mom and I headed out for music. Kenmare was hopping with youngsters that night but we did find a calmer (young to older) crowd at Foley’s. It was packed but we liked the music enough to sit in the entry way (with about 10 other folks milling about). We chatted with a nice couple from Austraila. They eventually found a table inside and made room for us. The musician was Pat Kelleher, and we all enjoyed the music. Mom and I ended up staying out much longer than expected but had a lovely evening.

Sunday we awoke to…cows. Mom apparently awoke quickly enough to see the herd of cows moving through town. My partner and I, a little slower in the morning, simply heard them. We had yet another delightful breakfast before Mom and I headed to mass. Now, another guest at Virginia’s had commented two days prior that the church was one of the ugliest churches he had seen. We just couldn’t understand that comment. It’s a beautiful, beautiful church, and we spent some time after mass looking at more details. There’s some lovely tile work, we both loved some of the wood carvings, and I was really taken with the etching of the stations at the entry.

We returned to Virginia’s and finished packing. We hated saying goodbye to Neil and Noreen, who were just incredible hosts. Despite our first (tired and grumpy) impressions, we absolutely loved Virginia’s and Kenmare, and all three of us would like to return.

Next up…Bunratty and home…

Trip Summary: Logistics and Highlights

 Driving:

We rented a Ford Focus, 4d hatchback from Dan Dooley. No problems and a good size for the three of us and our luggage. We drove 1,550 kilometers (around 960 miles). I drove from Florence Court to a petrol station in Leitrim. My partner, who I believe was scared of Mom and I jointly oohing and ahhing at the scenery, drove every other kilometer of the trip. I owe him big time. As with our first trip, he really did not find the driving to be very difficult.

 Lodging:

We had two rooms at Hammills in Ballinamore, The Shores in Stradbally, and Virginia’s in Kenmare; we had one room at St. Jude’s in Salthill and Bunratty Lodge in Bunratty. Thumbs up for all of our stops, but with special recognition for the following:

Mom’s favorite room: Hammills, in Ballinamore

Our (me and partner) favorite room: The Shores, in Stradbally

Favorite breakfasts: Virginia’s in Kenmare, close 2nd to the Shores

Cheeriest and most helpful hospitality: Virginia’s in Kenmare (Annette at Shores and Damien at Hammills also lovely)

We recommend each of the b&b/guesthouses we used. At some point I’ll post reviews on Trip Advisor.

 Food:

Mom was really surprised by the quality of food. We ate well, though I had a few too many midday mayo-y sandwiches. I didn’t find the cream and ice cream to be as wonderful as our first trip, but I also can’t define the difference. Perhaps I was just expecting it this time so it didn’t make such a splash. As on the last trip, I was impressed by the quantity and quality of fresh produce. I’ve always like blue cheese, but we had it in so many wonderful dishes on this trip that I find I have a new blue cheese habit here at home. We ate a ridiculous amount of food and walked less than we typically do on vacation. Oops.

Best dinner: One vote for the Shores, two votes for Lime Tree. All three of us rated both these dinners very, very highly.

 Favorite Pub:

Smyths in Ballinamore. This was really the only pub we returned to multiple nights, so we got comfy there. I’d like a chance to hang out at O’Donnabhain’s in Kenmare at a less touristy, crowded time.

 Overall highlights:

Hmm…for natural beauty: Gleninchaquin was superb, Clogher and other beaches of Dingle, drive around Lake Garadice at dusk, cascading rhododendron. For historical sites and ruins: Clonmacnoise, Inishfallen and Muckross abbeys, Killamalock ruins, Grange circle. For people: finding family and “family” in Ballinamore, the lovely Neil and Noreen at Virginia’s.

 But really, how does one pick? Every day included natural beauty and neat sites, lovely walks, good conversation, and time well spent together.

 Happy travels,

oopsy

Bill,

I'll have to take you up on the waterfall tour for our next Ireland trip. I am a bit of a freak for them. We get our fix by traveling to Transylvania County in NC at least once a year. Seems to be a waterfall around every corner there.

I just did some surfing to look at Lauterbrunnen Valley. Wow! I think I'd be in heaven. We're supposed to do a Colorado and New Mexico road trip for our next vacation. But I don't know...72 waterfalls! Do I dare ask Jeff to bump an in country vacation to watch me be mesmerized for a week?

I really will be patient because I know you put a load of work into them, but I am so looking forward to your trip report. Will there be pictures of waterfalls in Switzerland? Please?

oopsy

p.s. since I will now obsess a bit about Lauterbrunnen, can you let me know where you stayed and for how long? Thx.

Oopsy,

Your trip report was great! 

I second the comments about Neil and Noreen at Virginia's.  They certainly went above and beyond for us - from making tee-times for my husband, to contacting us on the road with information on a problem we were having.  I plan to buy some fresh ginger and try making that breakfast cocktail for Father's Day!

Glad you had such a good time.

Gail

Oopsy:

We stayed at the Staubbach hotel which is by no means elegant. It's a creaky old building at the balcony creaks even more and the carpet isn't particularly new and I wouldn't stay anywhere else. Ask for room 34. You sit on your balcony and gaze straight out at the Staubbach fall. Grab a bottle of wine and sit back and enjoy. There are three other falls in view from the balcony and another if you peek slightly around the corner.

Grindelwald is the bigger town with more restaurants and hotels but Lauterbrunnen is the Kenmare and Grindelwald is the Killarney.

Now, if you come through Colorado, let me know when and we'll hook up for a pint somewhere. I'm near Denver. I can only think of one waterfall anywhere near me that is reasonably easy to get to (about a two hour hike). There are a few in the SW and a beautiful one that you can see from Trailridge road in Rocky Mountain NP, but it would take about a day to hike there.

I grew up in southern NM and my wife near Albuquerque, so I can try to answer some questions about that area too if you want.

Bill

okie dokie, keep in touch!

Bill

Oopsy, I think your photos are terrific!  I truly enjoyed looking at them.  Thanks!!

Maggie

Oopsy,

 Your photos were awesome !!!!!!!

Realy takes me back !  Loved your detailed report as well..............

Bravo !
Mark D.