What I'm loving most about having a car in Ireland is not just the freedom it provides but also the fact that I'm not restricted to taking routes predetermined by existing transport schedules. Being able to detour through towns and stop where I please is such a joy and while I've been extremely fortunate with the glorious weather I've had (for the most part), there have been a few afternoons where I've cherished being able to view the city sites out the car window instead of on foot in the pouring rain. That said, while my day in Kilkenny was one of those 'on foot in the pouring rain' days (that renders the use of an umbrella not only completely useless but somewhat of a public hazard) I found myself flourishing in the novelty of it.
I just realised that I should quickly step back a day or so as I've completely skipped Killarney, Cork and Waterford - firstly once I arrived in Killarney from Dingley it was late in the afternoon and the weather had truly set in, my quick drive around the town was pleasant although the traffic was starting to build so out of driving frustration more than anything I picked one of the MANY BnB's I'd passed and stopped in to enquire about a room for the night. The lady who greeted me was so sweet and bubbly that I don't think it would have mattered what price she quoted me for the room and breakfast I would have taken it. Once I'd settled in, so had the pouring rain and as the place was fairly quiet I ended up having the lounge room with a cracking fire, dim lighting, cup of tea, good book and cold dreary view of the river outside all to myself. Needless to say I was in utter (nanna) heaven. The following morning before I set off in, yes, more rain, I had my full Irish breakfast with possibly the nicest black and white pudding I'd had so far. To eat a full Irish breakfast everyday would without a doubt be possibly the worst thing you could do for your arteries, but my gosh, on the odd occasion it's damn yummy. Now because of the weather, which to be honest I didn't mind all that much, it's just that I was trying my hardest to not now get a cold after my horrible tummy bug and so avoiding being in the rain and wind for too long became a necessary priority. That being the case it limited my exploration of Muckross house and the national park surrounds to just the tour of the interior of the house (through which there were strictly no photos allowed) and a fortunate hour of power walking and photo taking around the grounds and lake nearest the house in a flukey break in the weather that somehow timed perfectly with my wait for the house tour to start.
Cork was the next destination on my list and as I had been quite keen to visit the city for a long time I ended up booking two nights in a hostel quite near the train station. As the saying goes, you get what you pay for and unfortunately this was no exception, don't get me wrong it wasn't a complete dive, but the push-button in the shower that only allowed the water to run for approximately 25 seconds at a time meant that my hair certainly didn't get a wash for two days. On my first day in the city the weather had taken a great turn for the better and in hindsight I probably should have ventured slightly out of town to see some of the main attractions of the area but instead I passed the local cinema and just couldn't resist, I'm on holidays after all, I should be relaxing and as interesting and exciting as they are, there are only just so many castles and manor houses that one can absorb in a week. 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' on the other hand was a truly magical way to get lost for the afternoon, I admit I haven't been a fan of all of Wes Anderson's cinematic ventures but this one was worth every penny, there are still shots of this film that I'd love to have framed and put on my walls at home - gorgeous!
Later that afternoon after a few pints at a pub near my hostel, I took a tip from the barman of where to go for dinner and crossed the road into a place called Greene's that you entered from a side alley but opened it up into a cosy little restaurant. The food was a little pricey for my budget but absolutely divine! The dessert was to die for, a lemon and mascarpone tart with a popping candy toffee crust on top served with fresh raspberry cream and all sorts of delightfully edible garnishes - I absolutely sent my compliments to the kitchen for that one. I popped back to the bar I'd been at to thank my friend for the tip and to collect my eighty-five euro winnings from the bar lotto I had entered (and would have been drawn by that stage), but as I walked in the bar, not two steps through the door my friend who was at that stage pouring a pint, spotted me and shouted across the noisy room "you didn't win!, it was number four"... haha I was glad he remembered. I peaked a little early that night in the end, I should have given up on trying to catch up on the sleep that my body was craving and instead gone down to the bar at the invitation of one of the lovely french guys that I was sharing my dorm with and listened to some live music. Instead I tried, with little success, to get to sleep before the three heavy breathing gentleman (who smelt like boys and booze) returned to the room... night two in Cork, very little sleep. The next morning I went for a walk to get coffee and breakfast while I waited for the flee market to open so I could buy a crocodile brooch for Sheridan, I hope that she likes it as much in real life, it is a very fun little piece. Once I was back on the road I headed for the town of Waterford, apparently Irelands oldest settlement and obviously the home of the famous crystal factory. I missed the factory tour by a few minutes but to be honest I wasn't so blown away by the town and after a quick lunch, walk and peek around the Waterford show room - where I obviously took a mental notes for when I'm furnishing my next house, I mean, a thirty thousand euro crystal bear is a must have on any entrance hall cabinet don't you think?... *insert sarcastic monotone expression here*
By late afternoon I had arrived in Kilkenny and it was the second time along my travels that I hadn't figured out where I was sleeping before I had actually arrived in the town, so a quick google search and a cold call into a centrally located pub with hostel rooms above and I had my own space for the night. The barman took pitty on me for not wanting to share a room (I must have made myself sound pretty hard done by) so he knocked ten euro off the price of a double for me - win! Barman forgetting to tell Liana that the heating, including hot water, doesn't turn on until 4:30 each day so Liana's freezing cold shower to wash her hair - for fear of wildlife deciding to move into the matted filth - not a win. However cold shower and s***ty weather aside I was determined to enjoy my afternoon and I went for as much of a walk around as I could until the wind chill forced me back indoors where I sat at the bar drinking a pint of local beer (which believe it or not was not actually a Kilkenny) and chatting to the barman who came from I guess what you'd describe as a fairly typical Irish family for that generation so his SEVEN brothers and one sister featured quite a lot in the conversation. I had a bit of a "did you turn it off and on again?" moment when I told my new friend that the code to my room wasn't working anymore and when he came up stairs and opened it first go perhaps thought I was a complete moron for not trying to twist the handle in each direction before deciding to conclude that it was broken. In my defence I was only heading upstairs at eight o'clock to kill thirty minutes before the live music started in the bar, and when I woke up fully dressed, quite uncomfortable and freezing cold at midnight I figured that the thirty minutes had well and truly passed... along with the live music. So despite the few minutes it took for me to get changed for bed and the twenty seconds it took for me to get back to sleep I managed a solid ten and a half hours and in the morning I had actually forgotten where I was.

I wish that the nice weather of the previous day had stuck around or made its way to Kilkenny because as I mentioned at the start of this post, the wind and pouring rain may be a fun novelty for me right now but it does make sightseeing on foot quite tricky. I managed a tour of the Kilkenny castle, which was the second place that said strictly NO photos inside the building, a bit disapointing considering that the restoration of the rooms that you were able to view are really wonderful and I would have like to take that memory away with me - but alas I am forced to rely on my already deteriorating brain cells to keep the mental images alive. I really did see as much as I could before the rain and wind made it quite impossible to continue on foot so I absolutely had to duck into a super cute little cafe to get away from it, and as they don't like it when you just come in to get out of the rain it was only polite that I order a pot of tea and a piece of chocolate cookie cheesecake (obviously just to make sure they didn't think I was just being polite). When I did finally make it back to the car I plugged the address of one of my sisters friends parents into google maps and surprisingly enough it managed to navigate me right to the door of their quite rural (and beautifully situated) house. I had absolutely no idea, when I sort of invited myself over to their house, that the day I arrived was actually Paddy's birthday! Lucky I bought a "thanks for letting me stay" gift which we could pretend was a birthday gift instead. John's mum and sister had made a seriously yummy dinner which I think was traditional (mostly) Irish themed for my benefit, the pavalova for dessert was actually one part that wasn't in my honour... it's just their favourite. I'm not quite sure how I managed to sleep so solidly after the mean Irish coffee that John's mum made for me, must have been that the significant dose of Irish whiskey counteracted the usual effects of the caffeine - either way I slept like a dosed up crack addict.

I realise that I'm somewhat behind on my blog posting of late, you see I'm actually finishing off this post about Ireland while on the train from Berlin to Leipzig so I have a whole five days in Berlin to catch you up on yet. The trouble is that by this stage of my travels it's not always the lack of time for blog writing that's the issue, I have all the time I need to do whatever I please so when you're in a beautiful new city surrounded by nothing but options of things to do it just seems that the last one on your list is to sit down and write about your adventures, I mean, you have to actually go and have some at some point!

So, where was I - Oh right, The next morning Paddy cooked me a traditional Irish breakfast with no egg so it was basically bread, meat and meat product (black pudding), a combination that is dangerously delicious - well, for us meat eaters anyway. I don't actually want to know what a daily dose of Irish breakfast would do to one's body but I certainly needed to walk it off before I got back in the car for my drive to Dublin. Paddy directed me to a walking track that passes by some old ruins and around a few small lakes etc not far from their house and it was the perfect setting for my "not in a main city of Ireland" photos. I absolutely loved being in a part of the world where everything is so green and the only sounds to interrupt your thoughts are the birds, the breeze and the gentle splashes of a couple of swans diving for their breakfast nearby... if there is such a thing as heaven then this is what mine would look like. I eventually, quite reluctantly, got back to the car and drove the final long distance (for Ireland long distance which was like, just over an hour) to Dublin but my Irish adventure would not quite have been complete without a quick stop (ok about a three hour stop) at the Guinness brewery to see how the black gold is made and learn how to pour my own pint. I sort of neglected to take into consideration the fact that when you haven't eaten anything since your meaty Irish breakfast, smashing a full pint of Guinness at 4pm doesn't quite leave you feeling as though getting behind the wheel of a car is a great idea, if you know what I mean. So I stayed a bit longer at the brewery and had my last proper meal in Ireland, Guinness and beef stew of course! Haha and I have to give them credit, it was actually the best one I'd had so far. I guess by now it's a given that I managed to return my car and get my flight to Berlin without any dramas and I know you're desperate to hear more of my German adventures but I'm sorry my dears that will have to wait for the next instalment. Bye for now, I really must get back to my views of farmland and springtime in the German countryside xx