Still in Ireland

Another week on the road again!  I will freely admit that I have learned to really like the roundabouts. I wish we had more in the US – there is definitely something to be said for not sitting at traffic lights for two minutes every so many blocks, or coming to a full stop at every stop sign.  Not sitting and idling has to be better for anti pollution efforts.  Of course, I’m also one of those people who wishes that the cities would require every new parking lot to have one shade tree planted for every 10 parking spaces.  It would do wonders to keep cars cool, cement cool, and cities cool. Not to mention adding all that oxygen to the air. I might add that having trees also means having roots to help absorb excess water. But – why should I expect any government to be that practical. 

​But, back to my travels. So I’ve adapted to the roundabouts, but still prefer driving on the correct side of the road as well as a designated lane for each car on the road. This craziness of streets only wide enough for a car and a half on a two way street so folks are pulling into driveways or onto embankments to let the other guy drive buy is frankly – nuts! I will be happy to not drive again until I’m back stateside. If you want a good laugh though, my husband was a great sport as I plugged along, occasionally taking out a curb or two along the way!  Even the car rental place agreed that front left tire was going to need to be replaced! Thankfully, unlike the USA where I always decline the insurance, we paid for the daily insurance so the tire won’t cost me anything more.
 
Things I don’t understand – my beloved croc sandals.  As you know, I bought these before leaving for the first time ever because I fell in love with how cushy and comfy the soles are. I knew that the strong rubber tread meant that I could slog through the wet grass and muddy and rocky terrain in Ireland without any issue. On that front, I was absolutely correct. Yesterday as I climbed over rocky beachfront on the Isle of Man, I was very thankful for my rubber crocs!  On top of all that, not once, despite the amount of walking on hard concrete we did, not a single day did I have sore feet. It has been marvelous! That said, a few days ago – actually, at the Blarney castle—after almost three walks of walking around in my crocs, I got a blister. It makes no sense to me at all – how the heck did that happen? Though I am glad to report that it’s much better now and I suspect I will be able to run around again shortly without a bandaid or bandage.
 
Where did we go you ask?  First here’s the castle hotel we stayed in for two nights – I loved it.  We did an afternoon in Kilarney.  Anyone who enjoys Pat O’Briens in New Orleans, if you have a chance to go to Ireland, you have to put Paddy Sheehans pub in Kilarney on your list – it was everything you think of when you think of an Irish pub! Music, and families, and kids, and all! 

​Next:  Hubby grudgingly carried on with me the next day to Dingle – he loved it! We took a little boat ride and saw local dolphins (the famous bottle nose dolphin passed years ago).  My favorite sighting wasn’t the dolphins, it was a ruin house. All over Ireland you see ruins of old stone structures from hundreds of years ago.  Most of them have no roof – apparently you were taxed for the roof so people who couldn’t afford the upkeep and taxes on these old structures, merely took the roof off. Well – this one road, in front of us was a small grouping of these structure remnants, but behind us, the land owner (no one is required to restore ruins on their land, but they are not allowed to remove them) opted to restore and modernize – I loved how they combined new and old and all that glass is great for a phenomenal view of Dingle bay!

Next we moved on to Cork. Our hotel was another pleasant surprise. The attention was amazing – but the most fun thing – a golf putter in our room! Anyhow, moving on, Cork was particularly important to my husband because his brother who passed almost two years ago had written a song about where the river forks in county Cork. Well, there’s only one place the river forks and that’s in Cork city. So we walked the length of the split.

​Last stop for today’s post – Blarney Castle.  (Next week I’ll pick up on Isle of Man!)  I can’t see coming all the way to Ireland and not taking the time to go to Blarney Castle. And for the record – no I did not kiss the stone. Anyone who knows me would agree I need more gift of gab like I need a hole in my head.  My husband did bend over backward and kiss this little itty bitty stone on the wall – it was hard to determine which was the blarney stone! I had always thought it was a big rock- nope – just part of the wall- like the cornerstone of a house – and how it wound up in the middle of the castle up high and not in the cornerstone, I have no idea! The thing that I really got a kick out of was the Blarney House. We were there too late to go inside, but from the outside it reminded me of one of my favorite movies growing up  - Where Angles Go Trouble Follows.  The house looks so much like the building they used for the girls school. 

​Anyhow, that’s more than enough for one day!  We’re moving on to France soon to visit my friend author Olivia Sands, and hopefully then I’ll be able to get back to Sweet Obsession!