Ireland: Dublin, Dublin to Killarney, and Killarney (Saturday, February 23)

Written Saturday, February 23 at 7:44 pm, Killarney (upstairs in a cottage at Old Killarney Village)

We took the City Tour in the late morning, on one of a fleet of “hop on, hop off” double-decker busses.   We got on at Parliament House/Trinity College, then off at Merrion Square, St. Stephen’s Green (big park), and St. Patrick’s Cathedral, but then rode the rest of the way back to O’Connell Street.   I’ll probably come back to the Guinness Storehouse tour next weekend.   Had luck at the Cafe Royale at a Best Western on O’Connell Street, sitting under the TV showing the Birmingham v. Arsenal soccer match.   Every pub around was getting packed full for the Six Nations rugby match of Ireland v. Scotland, held there in Dublin that afternoon.   So many Scots boys in kilts, everywhere!   (Looking forward to Utilikilt weather in Seattle again!)

We bussed back to the B&B to pick up the car, then drove from Dublin, through Limerick (rather, just to the south of Limerick), and then to Killarney.   Nothing special about the drive itself, although large portions were just one lane in each direction.   Mom’s driving was better, probably because she got used to the car.

It got dark about 20 minutes before we got to Killarney.   The place we’re staying at — Old Killarney Village, a small development of time-share cottages — is outside Killarney, so we missed the turn off and went all the way to the town center, then backtracked and asked directions.   Then almost missed the turnoff going the other way, then just missed the side road from there, and then missed the check-in office.   No big deal on any of that, just one little whoops after another.

We’re heading into town in a few minutes to get dinner and visit the grocery to get all the necessities for the next week.  Maybe find an Internet café, too.