Coffee, the Irish way

My first trip in 2005

Looking at some of the photos of my past travels and trips, I came across some photos made while on one of my many tours to Ireland. A colleague of mine had done the trip before me and had given me all his notes and stuff and told me about this, that and the other. And then it was my turn.

We spent one day 'doing' the Ring of Kerry. Exactly what it says on the tin: you drive a loop around the county of Kerry! And a very beautiful loop at that. Only to be done one way though, since some stretches were really narrow. When I say some, read quite a few! It was a beautiful part of Ireland and it was a joy to be driving there. 

One of our stops was at a small pub/restaurant right by the side of the road. Most of the coaches stopped there in fact, so it might have been small, but it was also always busy! There were two reasons for stopping there: the ordinary reason of food/drink/toilet and the other reason of the tiny little museum right beside. 

The little museum showed life in a small Irish community, with cottages, tools and peat. A lot of peat. We could go inside the small cottages and look and wonder about how they were able to live in such basic conditions, but that's humans for you: surviving on the minimum. 

The museum wasn't the main attraction of my passengers though. The coffee was. The Irish coffee. As soon as people got through the door, the serving staff started. The glasses were waiting already, containing whiskey and brown sugar and then hot coffee was poured in. After which they would hold a spoon upside down and pour cream on top. Five euros later and people were enjoying their coffee. Irish style. 

I never got to taste it though. Something with alcohol and driving and such. Until one day the European laws changed and I had to have a day off during a trip. Which meant that I wasn't driving, but still very much working as a tour guide of course. It also meant that I wasn't driving and could partake in a coffee myself. Made with decaffeinated coffee of course. 

Let me tell you: if you are ever being driven around the Ring of Kerry and see a sign for the Red Fox, make the driver stop and buy yourself a coffee! It's worth it!