June 12 - Dublin to Blarney

June 12, Wednesday Dublin to Blarney

I did get that elusive early start, gravitating to the internet equipped laptop in the breakfast room while I waited for my Irish breakfast.  Yay!  Why I keep tasting the blood pudding is beyond me though….  I’ll leave that to the Irish, Scots, Brits, etc.   The bus took only an hour this time, I met Lorraine, got her signed up as a driver on my car, and headed out.  It rained on and off as we made our way down various motorways M1, M50, M7, M9, N7, N10, with an R road thrown in there while we went way off course, on purpose, but pretty, to get some diesel. 

We aimed to stop in Kilkenny, a medieval town.  After I parked and was about to pay for a parking chit, someone gave us one for 50 minutes (This amount of time was perfect).  The Irish ARE helpful!   We walked around Kilkenny, a town with a castle, a cathedral and some nice old walls, narrow streets, and grabbed some soup al fresco (since it stopped raining for a while).  I noticed that the British Isles version of minestrone or vegetable soup is not tomato-based, but root vegetable based, and is yellow/mustard colored, not red.  Carrots, potatoes, onion, turnips and parsnips are big.  I realize that has to do with climate… the cooler, cloudier climate isn’t best for above ground crops like leafy veg, tomato, corn, etc. 

From there we proceeded to Waterton (where the crystal is made), and on to Cork.  We’d seen a sign for a craft shop, and went looking for it… over 10 km later, had found nothing.  That turned out to be a costly mistake in terms of time, what with stores and attractions closing so early.  We got to Cork just before rush hour, and got stuck in the city for about an hour, our second costly mistake of the day.  I’d never seen a city time lights for 5 seconds!  The City is laid out with lots of coastal inlets, shorelines, one way streets, bridges and such, so that increased traffic levels and made it harder to get around.  The quick lights would allow maybe 3 cars get through and then we stop again.  On a sunny day with time available, Cork might have been a bit nicer.  I realized that stricter time planning would have probably kept us on better track, and we did that much better for the rest of the trip.

It took us some extra time to find the Pine Forest B&B just outside Blarney, since Google maps mislocated it.  It was the only one I’d not been able to find using Street View before leaving home.   We were looking for it from a different road maybe a mile away, and driving a little slowly, I pulled off into the entrance of a housing development, and the car behind me also pulled in.  We noticed she was waving at us, and then we realized she wanted to help us find our way.   She gave us extremely accurate directions, amazed she knew our B&B.  I’d heard the Irish were friendly, and this underscores that.  I’m sure we would have been searching for a long time.  We were starving by this time.  The B&B was one of the nice ones in a large private home on extensive grounds with lovely gardens.  Our hostess was very nice and welcoming.  All these mistakes cost us the opportunity to see Blarney Castle grounds that evening.  I’d thought for sure we could walk around the outside castle grounds late (since sun doesn’t set till 10), but noooo. 

She sent us a few miles away to an absolutely wonderful pub (Blair House) for some great food.  I had a special – pork with apple crisp on top, assorted veg (which I’m lately finding is carrot, broccoli and turnip), and for the two of us to share, a plate of three gigantic new potatoes!  There was another plate with lots of root vegetables!   Got back to the B&B, had a nice time talking with a few of the other guests, one of whom, was a young woman from Georgia who had just arrived in Ireland that morning.  It was her first flight anywhere, and she had been delayed, majorly, jet lagged, etc. but was holding up really well.  So we talked some more about routes for the next couple of days, our hostess giving us suggestions about routes for upcoming days headed towards Kerry and Dingle peninsulas, and Killarney National Park, and even Cliffs of Moher, with tips on how to plan including the weather (i.e. if you get to this place and can’t see the far shore, abort this part of the route and go this other way, and do this other thing).  This proved to be invaluable advice, and we didn’t have the kinds of costly mistakes as before.  We ordered our specific breakfast for the morning (this B&B offers more than the usual Irish, with salmon and waffles as two other options).  We’re still not sure what we are going to do in the morning, but weather will dictate to some extent.