Part 1.5
Oh Ireland, the Romanticized country of fair haired and fair skinned beauties that will take you away and entrance you with their Gaelic charm and witty banter. Beautiful landscapes as far as the eye can see and more kind people than you could ever imagine.
It is amazing what our brains will tell us, through the temporary dementia of the last trip we went on with other people (I know I am a pain) and how much of a struggle that can be. this was my first trip out of the United States and it all seemed so sublime before I left getting to tell everyone where I was going. Envy is a real thing and romanticism was running rampant, the typical young guy talk between about falling for an Gallic girl, making her my wife and never coming back to work ever again. Romanticism right? (thanks Gerard Butler).
That's what we all imagine as were flipping through the latest travel everywhere magazine.
Over edited photos, jazzy young people words and a fancy 23 course meal at the hotel restaurant makes it sound so awesome right? You get so excited to get on your fancy smart phone or laptop.. or call your local travel agent (don't act surprised we have one in our home town) and
look up these super awesome hotels they have been paid to advertise or do a review on. Behold! the romanticism.... Quickly fades away as you look at the 5-star hotels with the hipster juice bar for $1,200 usd a night, and the juice isn't free. not to mention the Flights and fees involved getting there. OK.. I KNOW! My Anthony Bourdain style rant is over.
Now just before we get going here after this, I just want to say that my outlook on this trip was highly positive, and I want to go again. Maybe next time i'll head to the northern end of the island.
We stayed for a week in Limerick Ireland as our home base, and it was in September.. which is the tail end of the tourist season and there are a lot less people. I have never really been a people person so i try not to go to heavy population situations.
Finally getting going, the beginning.
We left on September 14, 2019 from lovely Torrington, Wyoming. Everything went well with the flight for my girlfriend Allie and I out of Denver, to John F. Kennedy Airport. smooth weather and no turbulence. The only part that stinks a little is that from where I lived its about a 4 hour drive to Denver Internationl Airport, and there is a satellite airport nearby but that's super expensive. We had the second flight from JFK to Shannon airport near Limerick, Ireland that was 8 hours long and was surprisingly shortened by 1 hour due to a Hurricane pushing on the rear of the plane that was adding another 100 miles per hour. I looked at one time on the backseat screen said we were cruising at 630 Miles per hour.
we arrived and had a rental car reserved. It was a little Vauxhall 3 speed that sounded like the engine was about to hit the rev limiter and blow up in 1st gear... and like it was about to die in the other two gears. the brakes were terrible as well. after a little faff on the insurance coverage ( American Express had better coverage than the rental service) we looked over the car and everything was ok except the left side of the car was all scratched up. I mentioned it to the rental guy and he just said with a odd smirk " yeah it happens on that side a lot". there was some serious foreshadowing that was happening and I had no idea!
As most people know that vehicles are right hand drive in Ireland, that may have slipped my mind with all the stresses of flying. I'm glad my girlfriend rented one that was an automatic. We had a little disagreement about who was going to drive most of the time, and I told her I was probably going to be frazzled after a few days of pretty much re-learning how to drive. There were a lot of faces made at each other and finally we both got our names put on it.
It took some time to get used to driving on the left side of the road, about 2 days. Also i learned that the reason why the brakes were so bad and were burning hot (literally) was because I was stopping and slowing down too much. when you are there.. you have to drive like you never really intend on stopping ever. at roundabouts you never really have to stop and you rarely use your brakes. Just learn quicky what lane you need to be in if its a double roundabout and how to use a blinker correctly.
For example:
1. you are going through a roundabout and you need to use the first exit, turn your left blinker on and stay in the left lane before the roundabout.
2. if you are going straight across, get in the right lane and don't use your blinker.
3. if you are using the 3rd exit to the right, then have your right blinker on.
4. if you screw up and miss your exit on the roundabout.. just stay in there and try again. don't be embarrassed, were all human. This is not national lampoons, you wont be trapped forever . And there will be times where you have to drive like an absolute jerk to get where you need to go, but it is forgiven because they look to yell at you and see you with a map in your hand. Just remember that the locals are usually going to drive crazier than you all the time.
Most of the roads of Ireland are paved, even the county roads. Just be careful because most of the county roads are one lane roads, with traffic going both directions and its very narrow. There are a lot of tight corners with pull offs and drive ways so if you don't feel comfortable just pull off and let the person behind you drive around. Also the native population drives like its Nascar or the Grand Prix everywhere.
Now here is a short little tangent here talking about country roads in Ireland. When people think of a country road.. most people imagine that its a comfortable two lane road with traffic gong both ways with plenty of room for vehicles. WRONG! It's a single lane road with traffic going both ways, and nobody slows down. the average speed is about 40 Kilometers per hour which doesn't sound like a whole lot, but when there are hedges with stone walls inside of them about 3 feet off the road you feel like you are flying through a death trap. Luckily there are pull offs and driveways most of the time so you can pull off for large equipment such as dump trucks and tractors. Its a real charge with all that.. and some mad Irish person trying to run you off the road behind you going the speed of sound and cursing the whole time.
We finally made it to Limerick from the airport, and stayed at a hotel downtown, which was called the Absolute Hotel Limerick. The view was very nice, and the restaurant to the hotel looked over a canal for water drainage through the city. There was no smell, but it sure was pretty in the morning eating breakfast. The only issue we both had was lack of sleep due to the bed being fairly worn out.. and we would constantly roll into each other.
The breakfast was a welcome surprise, full of delicious foods for an Irish Breakfast. This was a MONSTER step up from the normal continental breakfast. I mean its a total head turner for me, delicious foods like: blood sausage, streaky bacon, eggs, fried tomatoes, pancakes, waffles, breakfast beans, streaky bacon, and cereals. There was way more too but that's just what i remember. And there were no grumpy people eating breakfast, which was lovely.
The actual travel
Killkenny, Day 1
We had a previous plan of what we wanted to do on the 7 days we were there, but travelling to Ireland was a little tiring so the plan was at least adjustable.
Our first destination was Kilkenny castle. From Limerick it was about 1.5 hours, and me being a stubborn male decided that I wasn't going to pay a toll for no stupid road. So "we" decided that the country roads were going to be the way to go.. I was driving and boy did I regret my decision
within about 30 minutes. It started with getting out of town, and remembering that mostly everything is left side of the road. I had to start really slow just to get comfortable with the idea of reversing my brain on most things. Then once you get out of town then you really start hitting the roundabouts, which can be single or double lane depending on the traffic. There is usually one after another in about 1/4 of a mile, kind of like our stop lights in the Americas. We actually got to drive on the interstate for about 30 minutes until the first toll booth showed up (more foreshadowing) so we pulled off onto a country road.
Ok, now back to Kilkenny. This castle and gardens were massive! A real show of aristocratic splendor. I wish I could have taken a picture of the whole front of the castle and the grounds, but they were repairing a pipeline in front of the castle and it was a literal huge hole in the ground with chain-link fence that only the most patient with photoshop would have made a outstanding picture. No fault of theirs, I
just have impeccable timing. so i had to settle for my off kilter side castle shots that are just as sexy but not as fulfilling as I hoped. There were guided tours there, but we opted to just mindlessly wander and soak up the majesty.
There is pretty much everything you would be looking for in the castle and surrounding towns. If you " geek out" on history, there is enough history in the castle for at least a few days, not to mention the town. If photography is your thing, there is more photo opportunities than you probably have storage room just in the castle. If you just want to gift shop, or you are a foodie the town has all of those items.
you can elect for a guide service when you arrive to show you the whole area. There are also free bathrooms available inside the castle as well.
Inside the castle, it was just amazing. there were 3 floors to explore and they were all gorgeous. my favorite part was the hallway that led to the rooms with historical objects. the blue coloring was just stellar and just took you right in to the next rooms. most of them you aren't really allowed into because there are so many historic items that they do now want destroyed.
Make sure you go into the main room.. now you want talk about fancy! Beautiful red walls with massive paintings on the walls, two giant fireplaces and all sorts of other decor that just blows you away with the majesty.
You are free to walk the grounds and the whole castle as you please, but if i recall it does cost money to get into the castle to walk around or do a tour.
after the castle, we walked around the backside of the courtyard and enjoyed the fountains and the beautiful landscaping. I took a lot of pictures and Allie was getting irritated with me because I was taking forever, and we were both getting hungry. If I recall, I was told to hurry up and I spouted off something stupid and she was really mad at me for quite a while. I still feel bad about that. after a few more pictures we were on out way into the town of Kilkenny.
We walked out of the side gate and to me the town was very pretty, It had sort of a new world charm mixed in with medievel old buildings. We don't have much of that in my part of the United states, I mean there are a few castles in Wyoming but they really weren't built for sieges. Mostly built by rich people with gobs of money. Anyways, we decided to go gift shopping. there was a place right down the street that was called Kilkenny Crafts, the owner was very friendly and the prices were reasonable.
We found a delicious little place outside of the castle called the Pantry Patisserie. the owners were delightful and very friendly and the food was delicious! If I remember correctly I had a pastry, and Allie had a sandwich.
There are places for paid parking as well, free spaces disappear pretty quickly. We parked at a supermarket that was a short walk to the castle. We went inside the supermarket as well to stock up on a few things.
Then we started the 1.5 hour drive home, what a tiring day. We tried to get home before it had gotten dark because it can be a madhouse about 5 p.m. or so because of rush hour. That is the first time in my life i have been in a traffic jam in a roundabout, what an experience.
Galway , Day 2
The next day we decided to go to Galway, because that is where Allie's family came from and the Cliffs of Moher. We both didn't sleep very well, but the breakfast was very delicious again. Off we went to the city of Galway, I started the drive since i was most comfortable, and we took and actual road up there, not my infamous county roads. It was a pretty easy drive up there, and things were going well, until we made it to Galway. Allie and I switched off before we got to the city since I'm not a total city fan.
We were going to stop, find a public parking garage and go walk around the town... but things got a little out of hand. First off, Allie was freaking out driving because it was her first real day on the roads, and the GPS just decided that it wasn't going to work. As we were looking around for public parking because we saw a church we wanted to go look in we just about had a spot and then... the busses showed up. TWENTY busses pulled right in the front and people were just piling out of them like cod coming out of a commercial fishing vessel's net. We looked at each other and said: "UH NO" and kept driving. It seemed that all the crazy drivers decided at the time to come out and raise hell. So here we were: Driving around in circles, with GPS in and out, trying desperately to pull off and park, and at this time I was was on the verge of a panic attack because we were both overwhelmed. FINALLY we found a spot to pull off and regain what composure we had left, in a very small parking area. the GPS was still acting up and just taking a
long time to show us where we actually were, and then it happened: the breaking point. While we were taking a breath and trying to get the GPS to actually work... I had mentioned to her to pull over closer to the wall so people can go around. the answer was " Don't tell me how to drive, or ill get out and you can drive." Fair enough, and I did the ever stupid male thing and told her to calm down and we'll get through it. Bad choice: as soon as the words came out of my mouth, a car came in behind us and started blaring its horn. Allie screamed at me, and instead of just pulling over a little farther so they could go by she rocketed out of the lot with the engine screaming and all hell broke loose then. I was told in a very calm, and malicious voice " get me out of this town, I'm done. All I wanted to see was Galway and you ruined it. I'm done." about that time I was pretty mad, but I shut up and just let it be because she was driving like a maniac.
Shortly after that, I almost died. After our blowup and both pretty overwhelmed and angry we were driving and reached a narrow point in the street where a power pole was literally right on the edge of the road. Another car was coming the opposite direction, and was not moving over to give us some room. using my math brain, and also being on the passengers side where said pole was going to hit, decided to mention that it was narrow. This is how that conversation went:
Me: Allie, that's really narrow, I don't think there's enough room for both of you.
Allie: What the hell do you want me to do about it?
Me: let them through, there's a pole right there.
Allie: I KNOW
Me: Allie.. There's A POLE
Allie: They wont give ME ENOUGH ROOM
Me: WATCH OUT FOR THE POLE
For context purposes, I was starting to tuck in to the middle of the car because the pole was literally right there at this time.
Allie:..
Me: ALLIE, POLE, WATCH THE POLE!
Me: POLE POLE POLE
As I was watching my life flash before my eyes, and accepting that the creator was going to take me right then, and curled up like a little baby the passenger mirror hits the pole and I say " oh SHIT , you almost killed me!" that was probably the meanest mean mug I have ever gotten. The mirror made a THUNK and hit the window! Of course you would panic.
So, without much thinking we peaced out of Galway, not to return again. There seems to be a recurring theme about being hungry on this trip, probably stress and being too busy trying to see everything. So we both decided that we needed to eat, but were both too irritated to eat.
The other part of the plan that day was to go to the Cliffs of Moher. so we just took the ring road ( the N67 ) by the coast from Galway to there. As we were driving we saw a castle in the distance in the town of Kinvarra. The castle was called Dunguaire castle. We decided to go in and check it out. It's a really pretty castle that is just off the shore on the ocean, and the tide was out. I wished the water was in because it looks rather droll and takes away a lot of the majesty of the pictures, but you can't win them all!
I went inside the castle, and Allie stayed outside because I shortly found out later that she was claustrophobic. I didn't know that until after I bought a ticket and went and found her that she had didn't want to go inside due to that. i explored a little by myself and came back down. After much arm twisting i got her to come up the winding stairs and see the inside. There was a winding staircase that you had to share space with the people coming down because it was so narrow. Allie was not liking the tightness and the staleness of the air due to there not being any windows open and there was no draft.
We got up to the second floor and there was a beautiful dining area with a big fireplace and sitting area. Of course you couldn't sit there because all the chairs were antiques. but it was well
put together and organized like a lord or clan leader would stay in it full time. Allie had enough and told me she was feeling very claustrophobic and left. I stayed and went out onto the birds nest area. I was a little too portly to fit and walk around the outside. After about 10 minutes I came back down and Allie was walking around the courtyard. we walked back down to the car. It didn't take very long because the castle was pretty small and overall it took about an hour to look around the whole place.
We were both calming down and decided that we were both getting pretty hungry. there was a well rated little bar that was called Keogh's. I looked online the other day and it doesn't seem to be open anymore, which is a bummer. That was the best Guinness and open faced steak sandwich I had the entire trip. Allie loved her burger that she had. The other nice part is that we were the only ones there pretty much since we didn't eat until like 2 PM. We finally relaxed and recharged for a little while and rested because between the madness of Galway, the distance it took to get there, the mental exhaustion, almost being injured or "dying", being hungry, and then having to circle all the way back to limerick... we were pretty worn out. so after figuring out the way to the cliffs of Moher, we went on our merry way!
So, I think i have talked enough in this first part of the blog that you, the reader, need to uncross your eyes and take a break! You have no idea how much I appreciate you reading this and i'll be getting on to the second part soon! Thank you!
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