I'm being put to shame.

My fellow bloggers Dorothy and Catherine are putting me to shame with their great blogs, so I really need to kick it up a notch.

In the spirit of kicking it up, here is a 360 view of a spot on the Dingle Peninsula:



And here is a really quick shot of the westernmost point in Europe:



These are both from last Tuesday, my first full day in this lovely country. It rained pretty much all day, which really only added to the wonder of the Dingle Peninsula. Especially in that latter video, you can see how the wind and rain were buffeting us nonstop, threatening to cast us from the side of that precarious peak. Here is an excerpt from my travel journal to describe how amazing it was:

Amid ever-increasing wind and rain, we climbed this point [the westernmost in Europe] and looked off toward the new world; we may as well have been looking off the edge of the earth. Around us gale forces threatened to knock us down or push us to our deaths in the water below. Rain pelted our sides, soaking everything not protected by a raincoat. The climbs up and back were equally harrowing, every placement of a foot hugely important, let we slip. By the time we returned to the bus, we were cold, windblown, and wet, wearing jeans that would not dry until they were given a few hours with the radiator. I have never been so exhilarated in my life.

As I said, by the time we descended the mount, our jeans were soaked and remained that way for the remainder of the day. Only when I got my hands on a coffee with good Irish whiskey at around 6PM did I finally warm up. But let me tell you, that trip was totally worth it.