Good evening from Killarney, Ireland...

What a day!

We ate breakfast at the hotel...pancakes, yogurt, fruit, tea, and OJ.
...and bacon.  Bacon is pan fried ham, not like American bacon.  I like it;  Ron does not.

So we left The Granville Hotel in Waterford...just as two tour buses pulled in.

Our first stop toward Killarney was Dungarven, unplanned but we stopped because we could.  We weren't on the tour bus.  It is a quaint little town on the coast with a castle dating back to the 12th century.  We parked the car and decided we are a magnet for little old lonely men.  One stopped Ron as soon as he parked the car and asked him about it...said he was considering a car and has looked at this one.  They talked for a while about the car while I walked across the street and took pictures.  Surprised?

We left him and walked a block or two to the castle...and lo and behold,  another little old lonely man with a shihtzu stopped to talk to me...and I talked to the man about dogs and the castle.  The castle is a short stubby small castle with several round towers on the corners.  Well kept...

I was so thirsty by then, so we stopped in a pub for a drink.  I had a fizzy orange kind of like an Orangina which I fell love with on a train through France years ago.  Half OJ and half carbonated water....very refreshing..

Next stop was Kinsale because we could.  But riding through the tow of tiny narrow one lane street that doubled as a two way street, Ron panicked and freaked out.  We found a parking lot just outside the main shopping area and walked around...to a church...with an old cemetery of moss covered vaults, old old tombstones...and we learned that people a long time ago in the 12th century like the Norsemen sharpened their swords on the stone frames of the doors...deep grooves were cut in the right side stones, but not as many were on the left...which means there have always been more right handed people than left.

Then we found Fishy Fishy Cafe recommended by Rick Steves...and had fish and chips...we might be done with fish and chips.

Then the scary part started...we rode on the scariest roads I have ever been on...roads  that were basically a lane and a half, so,w with no markings, but the s arises thing was there were no shoulders and the 15-20 foot hedges grew right up to the road and sometimes on it.  Ron ran me into them on the left several times...and OK, I screamed.  Ancient stone rock walls also came up to the edge of the road with no shoulders...bushes bend...rock walls don't.  I might have screamed more.

After a long way, we finally came to what we thought was a freeway....nope, a two lane road, but this time with lines and a shoulder about a foot wide and lines on the edges of the road as well as in the middle, something we didn't always have on the other roads during the day.

So when we checked in tonight at the Brehon in Killarney, the desk asked Ron how his day was and he said, Scary!

So good night...We are doing easy things tomorrow and The Ring of Kerry is Saturday...stay tuned.

I miss my little baby girl.

Good whatever, you are 5, 6 , or 8 hours ahead of me,

Ron and I made it to Waterford in one piece...raining...

But I need to digress to the SFO airport.  We were TSA pre check going through domestic security...but were not once we had to get our luggage and go to international when Delta changed our plane to aerLingus...and they said that airline didn't accept our TSA pre check.

So through the stand up/see me names scanner I went...and then she stopped me...said something showed up...and I looked at the picture...beautiful!  HA

I immediately knew what it was even though it had never shown up before...my chemo port.  She seemed embarrassed, but it didn't bother me.  Every single day I count my lucky stars.

WEDNESDAY

1.  Do not trust Google directions.

When we rented the car at the Dublin Airport, me declined the insurance...but after emailing our agent and experiencing Ron's driving, we decided to buy it.

We  found a Hertz at the Waterford Airport...tiny little airport.  Ron googled the directions and off we went...and apparently got lost.  We wandered up in the hills and found a nice old gentleman with a friendly dog.  He tried to tell us in a million words how to get there, but finally gave us a map.

A few minutes later we were fully insured....expensive but gives us peace of mind.  State Farm would not have covered it...

2.  Waterford Crystal tour...fascinating.  So many steps to produce one piece of crystal.  We bought Kristen a Christmas present and chose some wine glasses for us.  We will up purchase them from Macy's when we return...

3.  Medieval Museum...ummm, perhaps not worth the admission price of €10 for seniors.  There is not enough there...I should have listened to Rick Steves.

4.  Reginald's Tower...free today which made up for the price of the museum.  It is a tower dating back to the 10th century with steep stone stairs spiraling up three floors.

5.  Dinner at McLeary's...OMG perhaps the best steak I have had for years...And I am not a big steak eater.  What was strange was the manager who came over to ask where n America we lived...as if he could tell we were Americans!  HAHA  there is no disguise for an American on Europe!

Anyway, we told him we were from San Francisco, and he said, Nope, Georgia.

We were astonished...but his brother had lived in Marietta, GA for 24 years...and recognized the accent that apparently neither of us has lost.

So we walked the 4 blocks to and from the restaurant...and all around everywhere today...and my feet are tired.  Ron has already konked out.

LEAVING DUBLIN! IRELAND

Good afternoon,
This hotel is called The Merrion...near Merrion Square in the Georgian section of old Dublin, close to many things.  The hotel itself is a series of 4 Georgian houses renovated to a most glorious state.  It is a fine 5 star hotel, perhaps the finest in all of Dublin...at least that is what the hop on hop off driver  said.  The people here have been incredibly friendly and helpful.  Sinaid O'Connor has been here for the past three nights, but we never saw her...just as well, never been a fan.

Around the corner is a very nice pub...Ron says...with a friendly bartender.  He had a beer there as I did a long blog.  He didn't get lost retuning this time...or get hit by a car.

There are convenience markets with yogurt...candy bars...fruit juice...Coke...and other necessary life sustaining foods.  Starbucks and local coffee shops which we prefer are near within a couple of blocks.

Matt the Thresher, that wonderful restaurant, is 3 short walking blocks away....the one with the crab arms and crab toes.

Hop on hop off is right outside the door about 200 feet.

The Irish Parliament is across the street.

So it was a great introduction to a wonderful county, and now, after a light breakfast at the local coffee shop, we are off to other parts...and this is where we veer off course a bit for part of the day...because we can.

The doorman told us to go to Killkenny...see the castle, walk around the town...instead of go down the coast to Waterford.

A taxi picked us up at the hotel...took us to the airport to get our car...a little tiny  Renault SUV, manual transmission that uses diesel.  Dd you read MANUAL?  All of them are manual, which should cause no problem except that driving is also on the wrong side.

Ron kept stalling the car and an attendant walked over to give him instructions.  A woman sitting on a bench and waiting for her husband made the sign of the cross.  (I am not kidding.)

Finally we are off...me scared to death.  He did ok once we got on the freeway...and we made it to Killkenny in the rain only 1 hour and 45 minutes away.

A quaint little medieval town with a lovely castle on a hill with very very very narrow streets with cars driving in both directions....OMG!  I admit I might have screamed a couple of times, and he said a very bad word.  He pulled off by a church and said he needed to potty.

The church was old old old and had a lovely cemetery with Celtic crosses, moss covered crosses, and some sections in ruins, but the gate was locked.  I love churches like this.  A well dressed old man, very old man, walked up to me, asked me where i was from and started telling me that the church was once Catholic, now Protestant, and to go around to the other side to see the rest of it.  Amazing...I wish I could have gotten on.

Ron returned...and we headed off to the castle that we could see on the hill, but we had to go through the colorful medieval town to get there.

After running up on two sidewalks and running over several orange construction cones, I decided the castle was not that important.

WATERFORD

AS WE LEAVE DUBLIN! IRELAND...

My observations...

So far, I am in love with Ireland.

But Europe is not in love with America.  We have been to many places all over Europe, and they think we are crass, stuck up, snobby, and think we are all that...in one package.

...and observing Americans traveling, we are...well, not WE in the sense of me and Ron.  We have traveled enough not to be those things.  We have noted that if you talk to waiters, store clerks, drivers of hop on hop off buses, people working in museums...that the world might get a better perspective of Americans.  America is a great country, but it is not THE ONLY GREAT country in the world...there are many...and every person is proud of his country.  Tourists need to realize that.  Ron and I consider up selves travelers...not tourists...there is a difference.

A tourist is one who sees the sights; a traveler is one who gets immersed in the culture, finds out what the people are like, experience the country.  Now i can no longer be the backpacking traveler that I wish I had been on my youth..but we love traveling...well, sometimes I have to tell Ron he does.  A friend said she will never regret any money spent on travel...she will never say, Oh, gee, I should have bought that couch instead of traveling to Italy.

We were hooked at age 27 when the government sent Ron to Italy for several weeks and I tagged along.  OK, off my soapbox...

Fuzzy brain...

...and another thing...

ST PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL...

How many European cathedrals have we visited?  And they never get old...well, they are old, but you get the point.

Highly intricate floors, this one with irish symbols all over them...Tiled floors...massive granite...columns...Jonathan Swift is buried here..and his wife...stained glass everywhere of course...

E

Jonathan who wrote Gulliver's Travels but not for children...apparently did not like children.  He said, We could solve Ireland's problems of the poor if the children would be boiled alive.

Well, not exactly his words, but similar point.  I have felt like that myself sometimes...

Pictures....my camera does not have the correct fitting for my little cord that connects to the I Pad.  I have tons of pictures, but for now, you will need to use your imagination until I return home....or find a camera shop.

Pray for us...today Ron drives on Irish roads...the wrong side...he has done it twice before...but we worry.  He can't even cross a street properly.

One more thing...

At the restaurant on the menu, there were crab arms and toes...a new way to say claws and legs, huh? I had fried shrimp and they were delicious.

SUNDAY AND MONDAY...

The last two days have been fantastic...

First of all we are glad Ron is still alive.  He almost got hit, not once, but twice by cars etc...everything is backwards here.
There are signs on the pavement that say LOOK TO YOUR RIGHT etc. and he stepped out into oncoming cars...first a minivan and then a truck!  Because he looked the other way!

1.  No Starbucks...a local coffee shop

2.  Killmainham Gaol...jail...mid 1770s
Amazingly eerie...there were many prisoners housed and executed from the 1916-1919 uprising to make Ireland free from Britain.  Also men, women, and children were housed in the same cell.  I can't even imagine the abuse of all kinds.
During the potato famine people were trying to get themselves arrested because prisoners got two meals a day.

3.  Guinness beer tour...first of all Guinness is a black yucky beer.  After the self guided tour, we wandered in the "learn to pour your own Guinness" class.  Ron poured his perfectly, and received a certificate.  Then time for the group picture.  Everyone is holding beer and certificate and looking straight ahead...except Ron who is looking right to the wall.
I asked him why he wasn't looking straight...he said, "I thought she said the camera was to the right."

Oscar Wilde said, "If we could teach the English to talk and the Irish to listen...

Did you know Ron is part Irish?

4..  Trinity college...and the Book of Kells...toured the college with a student...and then went into the Book of Kells.  They are illuminated/illustrated pages that the monks painted...amazingly intricate!  Stunning!  But what else do they have to do?
We also went into the old library...wooden craftsmanship all around...beautiful old library.

I might have also bought Kristen something in the library book shop that she will love.

5.  We went to a restaurant recommended by the hotel called Matt the Thresher...excellent choice.  Ron had a fish called turbot...and I mad fried shrimp, chips, and a salad.

6.  We have made 4 trips around the city on the hop on hop off bus...using it for transportation.  Good guides, good history.

Tomorrow we leave for two nights in Waterford...Ron wants wine glasses.

It rained today...and the tour guide said, "It only rains twice a week in Ireland...once for three days, and the other for four.  (But this is the first time it rained and only for maybe 20 minutes.  I had not seen rain in a long time and I didn't care.)

Oh, we told the waiter that Mary Flynn had red hair...and he said, She doesn't even need a passport...she is one of us.