Ireland, UK 2017: 5/5 Day 3 - Irish Southern Roadtrip

“The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status, or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we all believe that we are above-average drivers.” 
~Dave Barry, Dave Barry Turns Fifty

Months before this trip, I bought an SD card with Ireland/UK maps for our Garmin GPS. Someone forgot to remind someone and someone forgot to pack the GPS. (Someone also forgot to bring our Guinness pouring certificates and complimentary bottles of Guinness when we checked out of the hotel.) No worries, we'll rent a GPS when we pick up our rental car! Little worry--all the GPS units at the rental place were reserved so we were out of luck. Ah well, I have an Irish SIM card so can use my smartphone GPS. Except that won't work in Northern Ireland. Ah well, we'll see if we can download and purchase maps before we lose internet during that part of the trip. Problem solved. I hope.

We picked up our rental (an Opel Corsa automatic) and then spent the next 90 minutes or so trying to get to and stay on the M50 highway. We made a quick stop for fuel (petrol is sold by the litre and costs the equivalent of $5.83/gallon) and "picnic" food. By the time we accomplished these feats, I felt pretty comfortable with the car and driving on the right side of the vehicle on the left side of the road. Eventually, I was even able to watch for my own road signs AND speed, so if my navigator nodded off for a few minutes, I did not panic. The speed limit in Ireland is 120 km/h (75 mph) on dual carriageways (divided highways) and 100 km/h (62 mph) on the motorway.

I have no idea how many miles we DROVE (what with all the missed turns in the beginning and re-routing), but we TRAVELED 172 miles and checked into our hotel in Cork at 4:30. We found a lovely restaurant for dinner. We  attempted to find some live, traditional music, but we didn't hear music when we entered the pubs that were supposed to have it and we didn't want to stick around with a crowd of sweaty, smelly, people. Driving in Cork was nuts with its narrow streets, lots of them one way that twist and turn and change names. And names don't matter so much because we couldn't usually see the faded street names up high on buildings. I didn't hit anything, Jeff didn't seem too petrified, and we feel that tomorrow we'll be old pros at this.

Today's driving route (thank you Road Warrior app):

First stop: Dunmase Castle ruins

Second stop: The Rock of Cashel (it was a cathedral)

Ruins of Hore Abbey as seen from the Rock of Cashel

Lots of dead people buried in the floors and walls, but most of the writing has eroded so much, you can't read the engraving.

Well preserved, or restored? From 1574.

Our first view of sheep...

Cashel, the town, as seen from the Rock of Cashel.

Many doorways in old buildings are built low.

  
Lovely dinner place in Cork, Perrotts Garden Bistro.

A note about floor numbering in Ireland and the UK...all buildings start at the ground floor, or floor 0. That means that a first floor room requires you to walk up 1 flight of stars. A second floor room theoretically means you walk up 2 flights of stairs. Sometimes, a "flight" is actually 2 sets separated by a landing. Such was the case at our guest house in Cork..."second floor" was more like 4 flights of stairs at my house--If I had 4 flights of stairs.

Ireland, UK 2017: 5/4 Day 2-Dublin

 When I die, Dublin will be written in my heart.
~James Joyce

We walked over 9 miles today! In addition to some standard tourist attractions, we also took the opportunity to indulge in a little "fan-girling" and "fan-boying." We visited Trinity College and the Book of Kells, toured Kilmainham Gaol, and became Guinness connoisseurs. I'll let the pictures and their captions tell the story.

Trinity College Library

The "Long Room" at Trinity College Library

Jeff's fan-boy indulgence: O'Donoghue's Bar--home of The Dubliners, credited with a resurgence of traditional Irish music, and influencing Bono of U2. (Personally, I think without groups like The Dubliners, there would be no Drop Kick Murphys.)

Oscar Wilde

Molly Malone

One does not hit all the sites without a little planning.

Just 2 of my fan-girl moments.

The inspiration for Barron's Books & Baubles in the Fever book series by Karen Marie Moning.

The Gaiety School of Acting--alma mater of Aidan Turner. (Oh yeah, and Colin Farrell, Olivia Wilde, Eva Birthistle and Colin O’Donoghue.) 

Kilmainham Gaol, in operation from  1796-1924. A large percentage of inmates were victims of poverty--men, women, and children incarcerated for crimes as petty as stealing bread. It also housed political prisoners, the most famous of which were the leaders during the 1916 Irish Rebellion that ultimately led to Ireland's independence. Today marked the 101st anniversary of the execution of some of those leaders.

At the Guinness Storehouse, we learned of the history, brewing, and innovations of Guinness and how to properly pour Guinness Draft. And yes, I drank Guinness. I'm generally not a beer drinker, but Guinness tastes better to me. Of the 4 brews we sampled, the Extra Stout was my favorite.

Ireland, UK 2017: 5/3 Day 1-Dublin

“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” 
~Eleanor Roosevelt

We hit a snag in our travel right off the bat when something delayed our flight out of Chicago to New York. Fortunately, the delay was acknowledged before we even checked in for our flight and Delta re-booked us on a direct flight with Aer Lingus. Aside from the usual problems with sleeping on a plane, the flight was only 7 hours and included beverage service, dinner, morning coffee/tea, and a ham and cheese croissant. With all that excitement, who can sleep? I used Sominex and did get 3 hours. Jeff dozed on and off.

We landed at 9:30 a.m. Dublin time, picked up our "DoDublin" passes, and caught a bus into the city. A short walk got us to the hotel by 11:00 a.m., too early to go to our room. After storing our luggage, we joined the DoDublin Hop on Hop off city bus tour.  After the tour, we purchased a local SIM card, ate fish and chips, and returned to the hotel to get into our room. After a short nap, we got ready for the evening--a musical session with the Balaclavas in the Back Room of the Cobblestone Pub. We called it an early night in favor of a restful sleep for the next day.

Riding outside, on top of the bus under sunny skies!

Commemorating the 1916 Rising

St. Patrick's Cathedral with the statue of  Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness

Irish Museum of Modern Art

Áras an Uachtaráin (House of the President).--used as a model by Irish architect James Hoban, who designed the White House in Washington, D.C. 

Cracks me up that the doorknobs are not always functional. In this case it's just a handle to pull the door closed. And there is none inside the room!

Ceremony dedicating a plaque at the family home of Sean MacCloughin, a forgotten hero of the 1916 Easter Rising known as the "boy commandant." 

That's not how most of us learned to play music!

Jeff giving it a try