The sun rose over Lough Leane at the start of day six, which surprised us since the night was full of thunderous storms.
We had some breakfast at the hotel, and then took off on foot on the trail around the lake, into Killarney National Park, intent on seeing several sights before lunch. The first stop was Muckross Abbey (or Friary, depending who you ask).
After thoroughly exploring the abbey, we continued down the trail towards Muckross House, where we stopped for a snack.
Throughout the morning, we were intermittently interrupted by the passing of horse-drawn "jaunty cars" conveying people between destinations around the lake. This is apparently an attractive alternative to walking for many people, mostly due to the fact that the attractions are spaced out over several miles.
The other alternative would have been to rent bicycles, which we may have considered more seriously had our (free from the hotel) map had a scale on it.
After our late-morning scones at the Muckross House, we headed down to the boathouse on Muckross Lake to explore the possibility of taking a boat ride to the other side, but there were no boats in sight and scant information about how to find one.
Instead, we pressed on another for another mile or so to the Torc Waterfall. The photos don't really do it justice; it was loud and somewhat imposing.
At that point, we had walked about 3.5 miles by my Google Map estimates, and we still had to get back to the hotel. Since the allergic-to-horses contingent of our exploration party had a quorum, we opted to walk back. Due to the crazy route we ended up taking, I estimate that it was about 12k (about 7.5 miles) total.
Having exhaustively toured the national park, we loaded into the MPV and headed into Killarney center for some lunch. The center of town was bustling with activity, but we eventually found a pub, had a few pints and some food, and then waved goodbye to Killarney (and County Kerry) and headed into County Cork.
After a two-hour scenic ride to Cork City and some brief navigational confusion, we managed to find the Ambassador Hotel. After checking in, we walked about a mile down into the center of Cork to grab a late dinner on Oliver Plunkett street, and then wandered around town a bit.
Tomorrow, we might explore Cork some more, then head towards Waterford and onto County Wicklow, possibly with a stop at the new Jameson Distillery.
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