We landed in Dublin at 4:30 a.m. It's a very pretty Airport, all modern chrome and glass, not a leprechaun to be found. We had our first Irish breakfast; it was sausage, eggs, black pudding, white pudding, grilled tomato and toast. The pudding is actually sausage and guess what the black pudding is, blood sausage, still it was pretty good.
Our rental car is a grey Skoda and it's a pretty tight fit it in the backseat for 3 women, so of course who gets the middle, little butt Christina.
Mark got to be the first driver and it is certainly an experience driving on the left side of the road. Jerry was the navigator and Marian was and continues to be, the "helpful" back seat driver and protector of the left side.
Our first stop was the small town of Kildare, and at 8 o'clock in the morning nothing was open. The guys at the market sent us to a cafe where we drank coffee and tea until The Irish National Stud and Japanese Gardens opened. We did the tour of the thoroughbred breeding facility and saw new foals that had been born in the last 2 days as well as all the stallions, the stud fee for Invincible Spirit is 70,000euros. It was a beautiful and serene place with amazing pastures and gardens, so lush and green.
Then back in the car to the next stop, the medieval town of Kilkenny and its famous castle. A beautiful castle but the tour made us realize how tired we were. We decided on a late lunch at The Left Bank, a huge old bank that now housed 14 bars and a major trek up numerous stairs to find the bathroom.
Back in the car to our final destination, Claddagh Bed and Breakfast; address Newrath, Mullinbro, Waterford, Ireland. Waterford is rather large and we stopped twice for directions, not that easy to find and we were all very tired. A word about road signs; very good for the various towns but actual street signs are much harder to find. Instead of 4 way stops or traffic lights, the Irish use roundabouts, very scary the first 10 times (we in the backseat were grabbing anything we could to hang on) but they are actually quite a clever way to get around. We could go round and round until we figured out which road to take.
Our B&B was nice, the owner was a little scary but a nice lady, captain of the adjacent golf club for many years. We are made of strong stuff, we all took a quick nap and then into town to the Granville hotel for a light dinner and on to Goeff's (our first true Irish pub) for whiskey and beer, we made it until 11.
A word about the weather; high 50s and it would shower for 15 minutes and then the sun would come out or it would stay cloudy, was not an issue for us although my hair took quite a beating.
Miriam made us a nice breakfast the next morning and she had a good chuckle when she talked about how Mark went and got her because he couldn't figure out how to turn off the shower water. She was also impressed that Christina was out running that morning.
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