May the Force be with us

Waterville - and no end to Water... it has stormed and rained like crazy all night. We set aside the bad thoughts for now and treat ourselves to breakfast, well, at least we try. An Australian guest finds us very interesting and wants to chat with us the whole time. He also shares interesting things, like that he is organizing a Charlie Chaplin exhibition and is here for that reason. But we would like to eat our delicious breakfast now and not be rude eating while talking - yet we do anyway... there are so many tasty things, and everything is lovingly arranged and freshly prepared. Porridge with fruits, lots of toast, of course, a full Irish breakfast, eggs with salmon. Bad weather, very good food! We delay our departure as long as possible, but 11 o'clock is checkout, and we are ready in full rain gear to battle against wind and rain. Our plan for today: follow the Ring of Kerry northwards and, if possible, take shelter in a café or pub during heavy rain and ride in light rain or no rain at all. Biked 1 kilometer, heavy rain and total headwind. Plan failed after one kilometer. We drive along the Wild Atlantic Way, the small coastal road, which actually still looks beautiful, surrounded by stone walls and blooming fuchsia hedges and orange and red montbretia. No photos, our phones have not been tested for waterproofness yet. Occasionally a few bright clouds come by, but most of the time it rains, and water drips down from the helmet. Our Goretex clothing holds up, and that's very valuable. From the coastal road, you can see two small pointed islands in the sea - Skellig. These are part of the UNESCO World Heritage. There is a monastery (Mainistir Fhionáin) or better said the remains from the 7th century. No ships are sailing in this stormy weather, and it's better that way, too bad about the delicious breakfast. In 2014, scenes from the STAR WARS film 'The Force Awakens' were shot on the island. The surrounding villages probably still benefit from the visiting film fans today. Do they all find it great? The Force is with us and leads us directly to the Skelligs Chocolate Factory, which emerges in the fog. Quickly into the warm café. Others seem to have thought the same, it is quite crowded, but a good refuge from the rain. Chocolate and coffee - perfect.
On we go in the rain, from sea level up to the pass 240 meters steeply up, extremely steep. Yes, now would be a good time for Luke Skywalker to take us a little bit with his X-Wing starfighter... he does not come, and we manage to get up the Coomanaspig Pass all by ourselves on our sky blue ROSE super fighter bikes. From there it is already marked, steep descent, very steep descent to the most beautiful cliffs of Kerry - Kerry Cliffs. This is them, without a doubt, even in the rain, even for 5 euros entrance per person. The Atlantic waves crash wildly against the cliffs, and the wind and rain lash against our faces, the view is very impressive.
Continuing down the Wild Atlantic Way, we go to Portmagee to the Fishermans Pub. We are extremely hungry and devour two good portions including cider.
We booked our overnight stay nearby in Reenglas House, a great B&B in an old country house with huge rooms and ancient walls and a beautiful garden right by the beach. After the exhausting ride against the wind and rain, we prefer the warm bed and hot shower.
But who knows, maybe there are still ghosts from long-forgotten times living in the old walls.... or maybe Luke Skywalker lives next door.....

Route: Waterville - Portmagee
Distance: 46
Elevation: 744
Temperature: 13 degrees, Wind: 50 km/h