Kilkenny to Rathangan to Dublin

Yesterday, we checked out the castle in Kilkenny and then lazed around the adorable town for a while before setting out to meet up with our friend Bernie's fabulous sister and husband in Rathangan. It was wonderful to meet Phil, Dom, and their daughters and have a wonderful dinner. Phil certainly made sure I was well fed!!

Today we made our last drive in the rental car as we headed toward Dublin and turned in the poor beat up ol' vehicle. We're now checked into the hotel in Dublin and are getting ready to head out for our last day in Ireland


The castle in Kilkenny:

My growing bump:

A yummy mocha in Kilkenny:

A Day of Castles

Ok, so I posted the pics of us kissing the Blarney Stone, here I will also post the actual pictures of the castle (I ran out of time yesterday). Yesterday, we first stopped at Blarney Castle before popping up to the Rock of Cashel to see the castle there. Here are some of the photos:

Blarney Castle (this is the castle we had to climb to the top to kiss the stone):

These narrow, circular stairs were the way up and down -- a little nerve wracking:

Here's the castle at Cashel:

A random castle in the distance:

After our castle experience, we made our way to our hotel in Kilkenny. Once we checked in, we popped into a pub where the kind bartender told us his bar pretty much sucked and to head down the street if we wanted to have a good time. We followed his sage advice and came apon a lovely old dive of an Irish pub with tons of locals and live Irish tunes. We spent some time there just enjoying ourselves before heading back to the hotel for night-night.

(BTW - this is what I mean by enjoying ourselves... lol!!!)

So today we're off to check out the castle here in Kilkenny (which I can see from our hotel window) before heading up to visit a dear friend's sister just north of Kildare for the night. It will be a relaxing day! I can't believe we only have a few days left!!!

Thank Goodness for Insurance

We're very happy that we took the full insurance coverage on our rental car. We've actually not done any damage to the car, but it seems that others have hit us a few times (never when we're in the car). We just keep noticing new little dings and holes in the car! LOL!!!

Kissing the Blarney Stone

After dragging ourselves several stories up a terrifying castle tower today, Chad and I both kissed the Blarney Stone!

Ireland Strawberries Rock

Ok, so I'm not sure what is different about strawberries grown in Ireland -- but they are soooooooooo good! They are smaller and sweeter than the strawberries I've had in the U.S. They sell 'em all over the place on roadside stands and I'm addicted.

Finally, An Open Laundry Facility

This morning we managed to find a laundry facility that was actually open and could do our laundry for us. It seems that there are not many "do it yourself" laundromats here in Ireland, so a nice older chap named James is washing, drying, and folding our clothes. I'm sure he'll appreciate my hot pink Victoria's Secret undies that say "Bite Me" on the back. Oy!

So it will take two hours for Sir James to wash and fold our laundry, then we can take off to check out the Blarney Stone, ending up in Kilkenny for the night. It looks like it will be a decent day with plenty of "sunny spells" -- so it should be a good drive!

Day Off in Killarney

After a week of solid touring, Chad and I decided to take a "day off" in Killarney. So, we slept in, had a fab breakfast, TRIED to do laundry (laundromats aren't open on Sundays -- one more day of being stinky I guess), and then took off for a lovely walk in the national park here. Of course that walk turned out to be a FOUR HOUR hike! Wow am I sore. However, that made it so I didn’t feel guilty eating ice cream later. There is something called"sea salt" ice cream at this cute little place down the street that is soooo good. They mix it with caramel ice cream – amazing!

Here are some pics from our hike (btw -- I sorta look like a homeless person because all of the rest of my clothes are dirty. LOL!!!)

Off to kiss the Blarney Stone tomorrow!!