an existential keekah

We had two days and two nights in Kinsale – and really enjoyed staying put and not having to rush through anything. Our first night in Kinsale, we settled into our B&B, which was by far the biggest room of the three B&B’s we’d been in since we got into Ireland. One side of the room had a sloped ceiling that J could just not remember was lower than the rest of the room. He kept walking into with various parts of his head, leaving him to talk about his concussion for most of our stay in Kinsale (much to my enjoyment, mind you).

We walked around the entire town our first night and then stopped at a beautiful restaurant on the harbor called the Fishy Fishy Cafe. We did not make reservations, so we were sat at the bar, which turned out to be great since our waiter was the bartender. I ate monk fish for the very first time – a very meaty, mild flavored fish – and it came with a vegetable risotto which was lovely, as the vegetables were still crunchy but the risotto was creamy and al dente – perfecto! J had a Fishy Fishy pie, which was also fantastico! and then we went to a lovely pub whose name I can’t pronounce for our very first night of traditional Irish music.

That’s right – we’d been in Ireland almost three days and not actually heard traditional Irish music in an actual Irish pub. We did go to an Irish “shindig” in Dublin at the distillery, but that was a tour type deal. I’d been hoping for pub music at a local place. We finally found it! We sat around drinking, listening to the singer, and talking with locals and other tourists as well. We met a couple from Ohio who were in town one last night and J made friends with an Irish lad and lassie – the lad was a wee bit strange but in all we had a grand night.

The next morning after breakfast we went back into town and walked the entire town again, stopping into shops at our leisure – shops that were closed the previous night. J took picture after picture and we shopped and just enjoyed ourselves. When lunch time came, we couldn’t make up our minds where to eat because of all the choices. A lot of places had a pub menu, which is really popular in every town in Ireland it seems, comprised mainly of fish and chips, chicken strips and chips, lasagna (I know, right?) and chips…. everything came with chips!

We went back to our room for a wee nap and then went back into town for more walking. We ended the evening at a unique pub that served American style food and had the sweetest bartenders, Alice and Caoimhe (pronouced Quee-vah). Then it was time to turn in, as we had an early morning since we were leaving for Cashel the next morning.

I’m still an Ireland – our last B&B did not have wireless, so I’m a bit behind in posting… the next two posts will be post-dated since I couldn’t post them until Thursday…

After our nap yesterday, we went back into the town of Kilkenny for dinner. We ate at a little pub and listened to, of all things, 80′s love songs. We sat and drank for about an hour but we were still exhausted… so we went back to our B&B and went to sleep. And that was the best sleep I had since we left! We woke up refreshed in the morning, packed our bags into the car, and headed back into Kilkenny to walk around since we were spending the day in Kilkenny.

We wanted to take the Kilkenny Castle tour, since the Castle ruins in Bushmills were closed when we were in town. The tour in Kilkenny was supposed to start at 10am… however, when we got there – the castle was closed until 1pm – which was too late for us to take the tour as we wanted to be on the road around then. Undaunted, we did a walking tour of the grounds and took as many pictures as we could and then did a walking tour of the town. It was a cute little town, busy and bustling with locals and tourists like us.

We stopped for coffee at a local cafe and chatted with some visitors from another town – and it was a lively discussion about the state of the economy, Bush, Obama and driving. They were a lovely couple and J got some good tips on how to drive through the roundabouts (something he and I had debated fiercely while driving ). We ate lunch at a pub right in the center of town before hitting the road to Kinsale.

The drives in between the towns we visited were filled with gorgeous, green-filled landscapes that took my breath away. The rain came while we were driving mostly, leaving the sun to break through at every stop we made (our hostess at each place greeted us by saying, “you’ve brought the sun with you) so we were pretty lucky on the rain front. Although, to be honest, I didn’t mind the rain or the chill at all.

We arrived in Kinsale, which is a tiny town sitting on the cusp of a harbor. Our B&B was beautiful – and the subject of tomorrow’s post.

Delayed Post:  J and I are off to Ireland for seven fun filled days!

We are super excited about the trip and I’m hoping to post a couple of days while traveling as I’m bringing my trusty laptop.

In fact, we have a four hour layover in Chicago and are in the VIP lounge for Aer Lingus – so that’s where this post is coming from to y’all.

We are preparing to be spoiled and pampered in First Class during the 7 hour flight from Chicago to Dublin.  Once a Princess, always a Princess. 

Aer Lingus colors are green!  I love it!