DUBLIN
We awoke our first morning in Ireland to blue skies, bright sunshine and and the smell of bacon. Breakfast was great and H got to taste her very first black and white puddings which she said were "not black or white and not even puddings". I think that she will be giving them a miss from now on. Most of the day was spent on the hop on and off city tour taking in sights such as St Patrick's and the Guinness Distillery. Did you know that Mrs. Guinness (the poor woman) had 21 children?. We actually saw the President heading off in her car flanked by dozens of police on blue bikes. At the end of a busy day doing nothing much really we went out in search of a good Irish dinner. I think we passed 2 McDonald's, an Australian pub, 2 Chinese takeaways and an Italian Pizza shop before finding anything remotely Irish. So about a third of the way through my first ever pint of guinness I decided that Ireland wasn't a bad place to be.
KILKENNY Another yummy breakfast and then set off to the airport to pick up the car. Hmmm, J's license was expired and H didn't think she could change gears with the 'other' hand so guess who gets to be the driver. YAY!!!!!!! I was so nervous about driving after so long. (what if I couldn't? which pedal does what? what are all these buttons for? The indicator switch should not be on the left!!!!) Anyway J and H promised not to laugh so we set off. It was great to be behind the wheel again. If I took my eyes off the road, I could see green everywhere, thick foliage creeping towards me trying to reclaim the space. The trees appeared older and grew more thickly. They seemed to have been standing guard since the beginning of time. Little villages surprised me, suddenly appearing around corners with flashes of bright colour before vanishing back into the landscape. On one side of the road I saw a flock of sheep standing naked and embarrassed wondering what had happened to their woolliness. The many houses along the way seem to be clutching the thick ivy to their grey-stone walls in fear of crumbling without the support. The country side changed as we headed towards Kilkenny. In Macroom, there was a Guinness Drug Delivery located in Temperence Lane. (hmm that made me think). We passed through town after town, each one more beautiful than the last until we arrived.
I was so drained from concentrating on the road and traffic and watching the speed, I fell straight on to the bed for a snooze. We thought it was an omen to have found a place near the centre of town with a car park and it was called O'Malleys. Later we set off on an afternoon tour of Kilkenny's highlights. Our guide was a friendly chap who brought his two children and dog along for the ride. Muckross house was grand and rather imposing. It reminded me of the manor from "The Secret Garden". Muckross house has 365 windows and 52 chimneys. “One window for every day of the year and one chimney for every week.” We took a 'jaunt' around the grounds with Sally (the horse) and saw the ruins of an old abbey. Torc Waterfall was cool and if you stood very still and listened you could almost hear the tree spirits whispering their ancient secrets and with each breath feel your batteries recharge. That evening we set off in search of dinner and stopped at Paris, Texas for a long cold Kilkenny and a hearty Irish meal of Nachos and Fajitas. I spent some time looking at the jewellery in the shops and found a nice little silver ring so now I have my very own 'ring from Kerry'. Home for an early night because my body is still confused by the late night daylight. It was a bit difficult to sleep with the duet of snoring filling the room but eventually I fell into a deep sleep. I slept like a baby until a strange moaning sound woke me. After a few minutes both H and I sat up and looked at each other. It was J and I am unable to describe the horrible nightmare she was having. All I can say is that it involved a big hairy scary chauffeur but no more details!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment