My dorm room was empty of other guests when I woke up.
Once again, I followed the Lonely Planet guide and had breakfast and Cathleen's Country Kitchen and ordered the "Irish Breakfast". Not the healthiest meal, but I had a big walk ahead of me in Killarney National Park and thought something high energy was in my best interest (one was a blood sausage, I think) and a tomato to be healthy. Radio Kerry played over the speakers -- I would be listening to this station much during my time in Killarney (unclear format: alternated between news stories, long DJ rants (often about a tv show called "X-Factor"), and the occasional song, almost seemed to have a public interest requirement to it as well). Here's a picture of my breakfast.
I drove to the park, having been recommended to visit the Torc Waterfall. While the weather this day officially qualified as "fair", it would have been considered pretty bad by LA standards. It rained off and on, then breaking for some sunshine, then some wind, then some more rain, and repeat. Still, it was tolerable for a hike, and when I saw other hikers coming up and down the hill at the base of the Torc Waterfall trail, I was convinced that I would be okay. I grabbed my umbrella, and backpack full of candies, red bulls, jacket and other warm clothing, and began what ended up being a 3 hour walk around the park. I walked up to the Torc Waterfall through thick woods, rocks covered in moss, along a pretty running river. It was really nice. I walked up off the path for an hour long detour to the top of a hill past cows and sheep and more woods and then back down, and along one of the Killarney lakes to a spot with a map where I met two Hungarians on bicycles. Here's the waterfall above. I walked a bit more to the Muckross House, counting each step to confirm my theory that "1 meter = one step" for the purpose of calculating distance. It ended up being a fairly close estimation. I didn't go inside the house, but it seemed to have some sort of historical significance. I listened to R.E.M.'s recent album Accelerate on my way back to my car. It was surprisingly good. The sun came out towards the end of the walk and the green gardens surround the house looked fantastic. 
Upon returning to the hostel, I began a 3 hour period on the computer, working with more efficiency than normal. In fact, I think for that entire 3 hour period I hardly stopped typing -- updating blog, answering emails. I don't think even checked facebook or any of my favorite blogs during this period. It put in perspective how much energy I spend normally per day keeping track of these things. Just taking 1 or 2 days off put me hours behind.
By now it was dinnertime, so I took a shower, and walked up and down the streets of Killarney looking for something to eat. Tourist season was ending so not so much was open, and the streets were quiet. I settled for the Bombay Palace, an Indian restaurant. I tried to order the vegetarian vindaloo (based on my experiences in Europe that nothing is really so spicy) but was persuaded by the waiter to scale it down a bit and get the Madras. Good call. It was extremely spicy, just what I was looking for, but I was able to get it all down still.
I returned to the hostel for a bit, read some of Exodus and watched Coronation Street in the lobby.
And went out again to O'Connolls. Quieter than the night before, but met a group of American planning on climbing Carrauntoohil, the tallest mountain in Ireland, one of them looked just like a fatter version of Leonard Cohen. Here was a live Irish band that did a solid cover of "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" (with a southern accent?) and MGMT's "Kids".
From here I went back to the Killarney Grand, hung out with a Polish and two Germans, listening to a band whose name I didn't catch who did a pretty excellent cover of Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out" among other things. I may have even danced.
The Clientele -- Rain
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