DAY FOUR

WRITERS BLOG - Friday, May 3rd, 2019 - Got up early, had breakfast, went to the airport to pick-up rental car. Don’t ask! A bit of a kerfuffle, there was, but managed to get a free upgrade.

I’m not sure if the Irish have a problem with judging distance or they say it’s a short walk because they know it’s a long walk and don’t want their customers to freak out. But the “just go out the doors and cross over to car park and go left, it’s just down the way, #B124” is actually about a half a mile.

Once we had our stuff safely in the car, we walked back to the terminal to find the Aer Linguis agent, Ger, to ask her about about our baggage. Did I mention it was freezing outside? Not only did we not find her, the man on the courtesy phone was zero help and one of us was not happy with his customer service.

In the car and off to Cork.

Okay, along with driving on the left side of the road, which took a couple of heart stoppers and frequent requests for “which lane should I be in,” Ireland has an unhealthy need for round abouts! And, they like to group them in series of two or three, making our navigators directions sound like a square dance. “At the round about, take the third exit. Then at the round about, take the second exit. Then at the round about, go straight.” What? Wouldn’t that be the second exit? If we never see another round about, that will be a big hallelujah!

Kilkenny, or Cill Chainnigh, meaning church of Chainnigh, includes many historic sites, including Kilkenny Castle. Kill or Cill means it’s the church town. Kilkenny Castle, built in 1195, to control a fording point of the River Nore and the many roadways that spilled into the city, was a wee bit disappointing. Too many modern touches to an ancient structure - except for the giant commode in the master wing. And we mean giant! We won’t surmise why it was so large, suffice to say they must have had a large flushes!!! It belonged to the Butler family for 600 years. But, the highlight of Kilkenny has to be Sherman, the Bassett. He was making good use of the grass, strolling without a care in the world.

Next stop, Rock of Cashel, an archeologist wonder and labeled as one of the most remarkable display of Celtic art and medieval architecture found in Europe. It is also known for being the site of the conversion of the King of Munster, by St Patrick in the 5th Century. It was the traditional seat of the Kings of Munster prior to the Norman invasion. This is also the place where the “taloits” (toilets) are “just down the way there, on the right, under it.”

We left the Rock and finished our drive to the River Lee Hotel in Cork. Did I mention it stays light until 9pm? There is an endless amount of day to fill, and so far, we have! Bags or no bags!

By the time we got settled, we three were weary. No one could make a decision to save love or money, on where to eat. We should all have T-shirts that say, “Where do you want to eat?” “I don’t care, what sounds good?” “I don’t know, but something light.” And so on. We finally settled on the Cornstore on Corn Market Street which ended up to be a French restaurant, where a crab brûlée salad looks shrimpy and the price hangs in the air like a cheesy fart! Not our best choice, but even a bad choice is part of the journey.

Nite nite....