Dublin to Killarney
Flight landed in Dublin at 7 AM.
We drove off in our rental car at 9 AM, 1 hour later than expected.
The plan was to stop at Kilkenny for breakfast and visit the Kilkenny Castle.
Then stop at Cashel for lunch and a visit to the Rock of Cashel and Hore Abbey (interesting name for an Abbey !)
And reach our final destination of the day, Killarney, by 3 PM, after a 5 hour drive.
We got what seems like a tiny car ! An Opal Corsa. We stuffed our 4 carry on's and 3 backpacks into its tiny trunk. One backpack was in the back seat with the kids. It felt a bit cramped. But this car was perfect for the Irish roads, many of which are quite narrow !
While Alex took to driving on the left side fairly easily, the driving itself was slower. Speed limits of 80 and 100 km/h were posted on narrow and winding roads, which seemed impossible to us. The locals were zipping by and overtaking us with ease.
Alex probably got an hour's sleep last night on the flight, due to a talkative fellow passenger! He was driving on the left side for the first time in his life, climbed the left side curb several times, and brushed with many hedges on the left side. He tends to pull to the left. As you will see later on in the pictures, stone walls and hedges (hiding more stone walls !) are popular in Ireland !! The drive on the narrow roads were a wee bit scary :-)
Reached Kilkenny at 11 AM . Kilkenny used to be the capital of Ireland for a short time in the turbulent 1600s. Actor George Clooney traces his roots to Kilkenny. Kilkenny is a cute town to explore on foot.
We toured the Kilkenny Castle. Beautiful castle ! This was the only castle we toured the inside of. It was built in year 1213 and was a symbol of Norman occupation. It has a beautiful garden and an impressive family portrait gallery of the Butler family who ruled Kilkenny for around 500 years.
Stopped at city of Cashel only for a quick lunch close to 4 pm. The Rock of Cashel is a 12th century castle that sits high on the Plains of Tipperary and was the seat of the ancient kings of Munster (A.D. 300-1100), before the Norman invasion. We decided not to stop to see this historic medieval castle since by now, it started drizzling and we were really jet-lagged It was 5:30 pm by now and we were really tired!
We pulled over to the side of the road a couple of times, to catch a half hour nap and then continue on our way to Killarney.
The Irish are extremely friendly people and punctuate their sentences with "lovely" and "perfect" and "beautiful". They make you feel at home.
Reached Killarney at 7:30 PM - more than 12 hours after we landed. Absolutely tired. Had a quick dinner at the hotel kitchen. Going to bed!
We drove off in our rental car at 9 AM, 1 hour later than expected.
The plan was to stop at Kilkenny for breakfast and visit the Kilkenny Castle.
Then stop at Cashel for lunch and a visit to the Rock of Cashel and Hore Abbey (interesting name for an Abbey !)
And reach our final destination of the day, Killarney, by 3 PM, after a 5 hour drive.
We got what seems like a tiny car ! An Opal Corsa. We stuffed our 4 carry on's and 3 backpacks into its tiny trunk. One backpack was in the back seat with the kids. It felt a bit cramped. But this car was perfect for the Irish roads, many of which are quite narrow !
While Alex took to driving on the left side fairly easily, the driving itself was slower. Speed limits of 80 and 100 km/h were posted on narrow and winding roads, which seemed impossible to us. The locals were zipping by and overtaking us with ease.
Alex probably got an hour's sleep last night on the flight, due to a talkative fellow passenger! He was driving on the left side for the first time in his life, climbed the left side curb several times, and brushed with many hedges on the left side. He tends to pull to the left. As you will see later on in the pictures, stone walls and hedges (hiding more stone walls !) are popular in Ireland !! The drive on the narrow roads were a wee bit scary :-)
Reached Kilkenny at 11 AM . Kilkenny used to be the capital of Ireland for a short time in the turbulent 1600s. Actor George Clooney traces his roots to Kilkenny. Kilkenny is a cute town to explore on foot.
We toured the Kilkenny Castle. Beautiful castle ! This was the only castle we toured the inside of. It was built in year 1213 and was a symbol of Norman occupation. It has a beautiful garden and an impressive family portrait gallery of the Butler family who ruled Kilkenny for around 500 years.
Stopped at city of Cashel only for a quick lunch close to 4 pm. The Rock of Cashel is a 12th century castle that sits high on the Plains of Tipperary and was the seat of the ancient kings of Munster (A.D. 300-1100), before the Norman invasion. We decided not to stop to see this historic medieval castle since by now, it started drizzling and we were really jet-lagged It was 5:30 pm by now and we were really tired!
We pulled over to the side of the road a couple of times, to catch a half hour nap and then continue on our way to Killarney.
The Irish are extremely friendly people and punctuate their sentences with "lovely" and "perfect" and "beautiful". They make you feel at home.
Reached Killarney at 7:30 PM - more than 12 hours after we landed. Absolutely tired. Had a quick dinner at the hotel kitchen. Going to bed!
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