The Last Leg of our Irish Journey

Monday, September 19, 2022

A Travel day. On the road from Castlegregory to Cashel. We stopped at Mukross house, abbey and garden along the way and enjoyed a tour in a jaunting cart. Our driver had the thickest Irish accent I’d yet come across and his horse, Roxie had to huff and puff her way over some of the steeper hills but she handled it like a champ!

Mukross house was beautiful, and the gardens tidy with some gorgeous trees! The coolest part was the Abbey though. The largest ruin we’ve been able to climb around in. We could even go up to the upper floors! This is my favorite of the churches we visited all trip.

Once we arrived at our B&B in Cashel we were inspired. The Rock of Cashel overlooks the town. Everywhere we walked the castle/church could be seen on the hill top. It felt like being a villager in a fantasy game. The view absolutely stirs the imagination!

Tuesday, September 20, 2022

This day was all about visiting the Rock of Cashel, including a guided tour of Cormac’s Chapel by a woman who has been working there for over 30 years! Her name was Mary and she was amazing! She has a great sense of humor, and a vast wealth of information about the place, but most importantly, her passion for this particular site and it’s history is infectious! We could not have asked for a better guide!

Not all was fun and games, though. Booking.com had double booked us so the B&B owner was expecting 4 people instead of 2. We were charged that amount and booking refused to own up to the mistake or refund anything.

Wednesday, September 21, 2022

On the road once more! We arrived in Kilkenny early enough to check into our hotel, this time with pool, jacuzzi and spa, and still have time to go check out Kilkenny castle! Castle indeed, the place was enormous, with incredible architecture and furnishings. We were snapping photos of paintings, ceilings, draperies, fireplaces, decorative masks, just about anything you could think of. Definitely a feast for the eyes!

Thursday, September 22, 2022

A day of rest. Mom spoiled us both with a visit to KO spa for massages. Once we’d both been sufficiently pampered we stayed in our room for the rest of the day, relaxing, watching tv and eating tasty treats.

Friday, September 23, 2022

We began with the Kilkenny Road train tour. It was a fun, low energy way to take in the city’s history. After our tour we walked over to St. Canice’s Cathedral. This church boasts one of only 2 round towers in the country that you can still climb, so naturally I had to. Oh boy, that was a workout, but the view of the city from that height was incredible! The only major worry I had was that they didn’t seem to put any limit on how many people could climb the tower at once. At one point there must have been 12 of us crammed onto that rooftop! Not very comforting. It was worth it though.

The inside of the cathedral features some gorgeous stained glass windows, but the feature that made the largest impression on me was the church gift shop. Merchandise shelves were crammed around the tombs of dead lords and ladies. In some cases merchandise was even on display ON TOP of someone’s tomb! I’m not the religious type but this felt like it MUST be sacrilege to someone! It amused me greatly, so much that I’m using it as the image for this week’s post.

We went to Kyteler’s Inn for lunch. The whole thing was delightfully witchy themed but the food was average pub menu. By this point we were sick of seeing the same dishes on virtually every menu.

After lunch we strode down Medieval Mile before settling in for the evening.

Saturday, September 24, 2022

From KilKenny back to Dublin. Along the way we stopped by the Irish National Stud farm and Gardens. The farm property was beautiful! There were ponds with swans, a 40 piece band had come in to put on a performance, so there was live music. We visited the Japanese garden and went to see the horses, as well as some beautiful old stone huts and driftwood sculptures in St. Fiachra’s garden! This was meant to be a minor pit stop but we both enjoyed it more than we were expecting to!

Sunday, September 25, 2022

At last, it was time to return the rental car (thank goodness) to the airport. With our luggage in tow we couldn’t exactly parade about town, and it was early enough in the day that we couldn’t check in to our last hotel yet, so we stayed in the airport and ate lunch. After, we caught a cab to the final hotel and unpacked, and did some much needed scrapbooking. Then it was time to poke about town for dinner.

Monday, September 26, 2022

Making up for the day we lost at the beginning of our trip, we paid a visit to the National Gallery. Their collection was interesting, and vast. I was taken by the variety of artists represented. I think my favorite was William Leech. The building that housed the gallery was equally impressive!

Once we’d had our fill of art, it was time to pop back over to the Archaeology museum that we’d enjoyed so much before to raid their gift shop! I specifically had some items I wanted when we were there the first time that I didn’t want to drag all over the country with us so it seemed sensible to wait til the last day. I’m glad we did. We didn’t buy much but what we DID buy barely fit in our cases!

After our shopping trip it was time to document the last of our journey in the scrap book and then pack to travel. As much fun as we had, we were both very ready to go home.

Tuesday, September 27, 2022

A 26 hour day. We arrived at the airport 2 and a half hours before our flight, and still only barely made it on the plane in time. Between the check in line, and the 2 different security lines we had to go through, all our time was eaten up and emotions were running high. The people at the airport were not terribly helpful or informative either. All in all, the travel part of this experience has been miserable start to finish.

Our 11 hour flight was no joy either although we did watch Victor Victoria and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle on the plane. That did lift our spirits somewhat. We had a 3 hour layover in San Francisco. Naturally no one was open for food so we ended up having frozen yogurt for lunch/dinner. Comparatively speaking our flight to Seattle was a breeze. Although the taxi ride from the airport to the ferry terminal did nearly make me sick.

I am susceptible to just about every form of motion sickness EXCEPT sea sickness, and riding in cars is the worst for me at the best of times but this driver weaved in and out of lanes so much I’m shocked that I didn’t make a mess.

Of course, we made it to the ferry terminal with only moments to spare before the boat was to load up so we had to hurry, further fueling anxiety. On the plus side we MADE it to the boat on time and didn’t have to wait at all. A blessing, truly. We both napped on the ferry, and when we landed at the dock my father was there to pick us up and drive us home. Bed at last.

It’s wonderful to be back in my parents home, in a familiar environment. As much fun as I had on this trip, and while I’m grateful to have had the experience, seen a country I’ve always dreamed of one day seeing, the terrible airline experiences we had on either end, combined with the hotel issues along the way, certainly dampened my enjoyment. I daresay it colored both my, and my mother’s perceptions of the entire adventure. Unfortunate really.

Now I wait one more week before finally, blissfully, being able to return to my own bed in my own home. It’s time, I’m ready for it. I love being in my family home. I love seeing my childhood friends, smelling the clean air, eating delicious food, and experiencing mild temperatures and wonderful greenery. But I’ve been away from my own bed for almost 7 weeks now. I long to have my life back.