So I jumped on the plane, delayed two hours and arrived tired and hungry and ready to stretch my legs in Ireland. My aunt and I decided a great way to see Ireland would be if we rented a car. I contacted my friend, Alex, who is studying in Northern Ireland to meet us in Dublin and away our trip went.
We checked out from Avis, and I pretended that I knew how to drive a manuel. I had a concept, and have driven once or twice, but the last time I drove a stick was about three years ago! So jump in the car and I read some tips about driving in Ireland. They said especially if you are an American and will be driving on the other side of the car on the other side of the road, you should drive it around the airport for a minute and then take it on the road. So that is what I was going to do... Didn´t happen. We looked around for where to drive around and the only thing we saw was the exit. So quick learning happened and off I went, white knuckeled and praying not to stall. Amazingly I didn´t! Made it on the road and headed south to Kilkenny.
Kilkenny was beautiful. We saw St. Carice´s Cathedral, St. Mary´s, and the Kilkenny castle. We took a tour through Kilkenny castle and then looked for a place to eat. We went into a pub off of the main street. Alex said that he heard the way to tell a good pub is if there is an old man sitting at the bar. So we looked in, found the old man, and sat down. We ordered delicious food, paid and then it was off to find housing. Well since it was a bank holiday, the cheaper places were booked full so we decided to head out to our next destination and just stop off at a B&B on the side of the road.
Alex was the navigator and took us through back roads and off of the main highways! It was amaying! We drove around through the Irish countryside and saw lots of cool things. We saw so many, as we called them, significant archeological monuments, or SAMS for short. There would be an old abbey from the 1700 or earlier just hanging out on someone´s farmland. Some had signs, others didn´t. Every once in a while we would just get out to stretch our legs and take pictures. We saw beautiful countryside, so many sheep, cows crossing the road, and no other cars. We eventually met up with a road with other cars on it and drove towards Cashel. As we were coming up to Cashel, we saw the Rock of Cashel and Hore Abbey. We were hungry by now and read to find a place to stay. We walked into the first B&B we saw and checked in. We were so lucky to stumble on this place, because we really did not have a set itenirary, we just drove. As the owner showed us the room, we were amazed by the sight. Right outside our window was the Rock of Cashel!
We dropped our stuff off and went to a nearby pub that was still serving food. We placed our order and I had the most delicious mushroom soup I have ever had! Amazing! After significantly full, ready for bed, and ready to start the next day, we went to bed on the most comfortable bed of the trip!
This was an excellent way to start the trip around Ireland!
