Intrepid Friends' Ireland Trip Part 2

It's Friday evening and I am writing this just before we head out to dinner. It has been an interesting 2 days. Managed to get out to the Dublin airport yesterday am with no difficulty to go pick up our car.

Did I say no difficulty?

Well, getting to the airport anyway...

And then problems...

 

After standing in a long lineup Hugh is told, even though we reserved the car months ago, that he can't rent the car unless he pays the extra money for Hertz insurance even though we are covered by our credit card with Royal Bank. That we need a letter of insurance coverage from them before they will let us have the car. Just call them she said.

Yes, well it's 4 am there he said- they aren't open!

Tried on my phone, on which we had put the SIM card- it won't let us call out of the UK. Crap. His phone isn't set up for less expensive calling, but we use it anyway. Hate to think what that is going to cost!

Finally get through the automated bullshit and finally get to a real person who puts him on hold for another 10 minutes. He never did get through.

Just got back in the queue and agrees to pay the insurance but I suggested we could rewrite the agreement at another hertz? There is one near where we are going. They were not happy about that but can't stop us.

It is just money gouging, as we have rented a car in several places and never been told we have to have this letter.

Oh well, what's another 44Euro's a day times 21 days? Approximately another $1500! Not chump change! Well by this time we're both mad, and just wanted to get out of the city.

Luckily the car had a sat nav, because the SIM card we put in my phone isn't working and we can't get any data for navigating. Of course it takes a bit of fiddling to figure out how it works, and we can't get her to speak, because somebody has turned the sound off somewhere!

Anyway, I punch in what I think is our destination- Glendalough, part of the Wicklow Mountains National Park. Glendalough is the remains of an ancient monastery dating from the 800's. It is in a valley between 2 lakes and looked like a great place for a hike and explore. Unfortunately I have put something else in and  although we are heading south, by the time I can find us on the map, we are also too far west to find the park.

We are headed for some wee tiny place no where near the park. By this time it is 1 pm, Hugh is HANGRY, we both have to pee, we never did have any coffee this morning, and I still can't get the data to work on my phone, so we just pull into a little village called Tullow, and pull into the grocery store parking lot. We picked up a sandwich from their deli, and met a delightful lady at the checkout. She was so cute! We get asked the standard question- are you here on holiday from America? No! We are here on holiday from Canada! We really should carry the a flag around with us!

She was so excited- she is leaving on Sunday to go to New York for a week with her daughter and friend. They have tickets to Jersey Boys, planning a carriage ride around Central Park, she had a long list of fun things to do and was so excited. Her cheerfulness, and some food and water restored us, and we sat in the parking lot for 20 minutes playing with the sat nav and finally got it talking and working. Punched in our destination, Kilkenny, and this time it took us to the right place!

Our B and B is so lovely, nice comfortable room in a sweet little house, and Rhoda let us use the land line to call Toronto to arrange for this letter of insurance. This time it's 20 minutes on hold (thank god it was a collect call!) but at least there is a useful person at the end who takes our email address and says he will send the letter about the insurance. And sure enough it arrives a few minutes later. Technology can be useful.

Rhoda points out the way to walk into town along a lovely river path and getting out for a walk is a calming influence. Headed to the vodafone store, where the girl tried really hard to help us figure out why the phone wouldn't work, but even with 2 chats with their support staff (both of which we could barely understand because their English was heavily accented and we were trying to listen on speaker phone), the data is still not working. Never buying a SIM card again!

Food at pub. ( Gee we seem to do that a lot!) Had a drink then found dinner at a burger joint down the road called The Hungry Moose" They sold Moosehead beer! With all the good beers they have here, I am surprised they would sell Canadian beer. The burger was ho hum but at least we were full. Short walk back to the B and B and bed.

This morning, after a fantastic breakfast, with lots of good coffee, we drove to Waterford to fix the issues with the car insurance. The fellow in Waterford was lovely, and very helpful, fixing everything up and apologizing for the shitty behaviour and manners of the Dublin people. Wandered around the city of Waterford for awhile, visited the Waterford Chrystal show room (such lovely things) had a bowl of seafood chowder at a pub for lunch, and then got back in the car to drive around on the back roads, back to Kilkenny.

Wow! Saw some lovely countryside- rolling green hills.(40 different shades of green for sure!) Narrow, twisty roads through villages, meadows, fields of sheep and cattle. Hedgerows at the side of the road so tall you can't tell what's around the corner, barely wide enough for 2 cars, and the speed limit is 80! And that's what they are driving, too. Good thing for the pullouts to let them all go by.

It was so lovely. Stopped in Thomastown to look at a great old church and graveyard, had a pint and a chat with the proprietors of a wee pub (this is turning into a pattern is it not?) wandered up their High Street,  and then went on our way to another sweet wee village called Inistioge. (pronounced Inish-teeg).

Another old church, part of it dating back to 1250. The new part was built in 1860. The graveyard was amazing, so many stones so worn by time and the elements there is nothing you can read on them. A lady who was watering plants laid at some newer graves told us some of the ones who were just stones, all broken and bent, were from the time of the famine.

It sounds like we are spending a lot of time in pubs, but honestly that is where the people are! And the people are so friendly, and all have the gift of the gab, so Hugh is getting some competition telling stories!

Wound our way back to Kilkenny via the back roads instead of the motor way and it is all so lovely. This is the Ireland I came to see! Tomorrow- our first castle.