Days 9 and 10

Saturday, September 5th
Sunday, September 6th

We started the day with another great Irish breakfast. We have been eating only two meals a day, breakfast and dinner. Of course no dinner is complete without a pint or two. Smithwicks is Rose's beer of choice. I have tried a few including Murphy's which is pretty "thick" but tasty.

Touring the city of Kilkenny took us to Kilkenny Castle, Rothe House and St. Canice's Cathedral where President Obama's great granduncle--Kearney.

We left Kilkenny about 11:30 and headed for Cashel. We managed to find the narrowest road ever on this trip, having to back up when we met another car. We back tracked off that road and found the right road, eventually. We got to Cashel about 1 and were overwhelmed with the sight of The Rock. We climbed the hill and spent an hour just walking around the grounds and through the ruins. The cemetery had some of the finest examples of celtic crosses as headstones.

From Cashel we headed south east to Carlow to a cute little B&B with our usual difficulties finding Barrow Lodge, on the Quay, pronounced "key". Fish and chips/boiled potatoes was dinner with another lovely pint.

Sunday morning, we had a great breakfast and lovely time talking with our hostess, Mary. We sort of lolled around, knowing we only had one night left in Ireland. It was a gray, rainy day as headed over to the east and the Wicklow Mountains. We stopped at an ocean overlook (Celtic Sea) and found a golf course situated on the side of a mini-mountain. We thought the climb up to the Cashel Castle was tough, but this walk seemed harder to me. Too many pints? :)

We headed back into Dublin, dropped the car off at Hertz and took a taxi back into the city. Our cab driver was chatty and we were happy to listen. We had a beer, went shopping (always good after a beer), had another beer and gave up any more sightseeing plans. Dublin Castle? Next trip for sure. We went back to the room and contemplated our evening...
We ate at a little pub, Fitzsimmons. No fish and chips, we both opted for pasta, and another pint. No late night for us tonight, packing and repacking, it seems dirty clothes take up much more room than clean ones. Rocks added some weight--talk to Rose. :)

1800+ kilometers and we are ready to return to driving on the "right" side of the road. Fabulous road trip.

And so we come to: Day 11