The Grass is Also Green in Ireland

Chris almost got squished by a Guinness truck while taking this photo, which made the experience particularly authentic

It was an adventure getting out of Dublin. On our way to Cork, we had plans to meet with my cousin Rachel, who married and moved to Ireland a few years ago.We started our morning with the Guinness Storehouse. It’s a beautiful building, and seems like it would be a great spot for lunch. We went early in the morning, and I recommend this as there were no lines and we had just a few other people there with us. It’s also less expensive if you purchase the tickets in advance on their website. #Protip

I do prefer personally guided tours – It’s nice to have the opportunity to ask questions and make dumb jokes. But the Guinness  tour WAS beautifully done, and the top of the “pint” is the perfect location for your free beer as it offers a lovely view of Dublin.

We had decided to walk to the rental car company, since it was only about 20 minutes from the Storehouse. We arrived easily (thanks, google maps!) but didn’t anticipate the huge wait. A further disappointment was that our vacation agency had not included a GPS guided car in our rental. We ended up forking over an additional $300 for our car on top of what we had already paid in the package. Seems misguided on their part – to offer a driving tour of Ireland and not give you a GPS! But we bit the bullet, as we figured getting lost would not help us relax…

Unfortunately we had no cell service or wifi, and no way to let Rachel and Patrick know where we were. Figuring out how to imput the address into the car was an adventure, but we made it to Tallaght -about an hour and a half behind schedule. Rachel is her mother’s daughter and had made us the nicest lunch. Too bad we had to leave so quickly, but we got to meet the family’s newest baby, and I got to see one of my favorite cousins!

Rachel and Patrick gave us a list of things to check out on the rest of our trip, so on our way to our next hotel we stopped at a castle and poked around. It was unfortunately closed by the time we arrived, but hey, we didn’t have to pay, and I got to see some of the green countryside that I had pictured. AND – cow friends, who literally could not have cared less that we were there, but I loved them all the same. I cannot for the life of me remember the name of this castle  – any hints?

This castle also had a wall speckled with yellow moss, and I forced Chris to pose in front of it while I took dozens of photos. He says he looks like an idiot.

If you’re wondering why there are very few photos of me in existence, it’s because when certain people take them, they come out like this :

We made it to our hotel in Cork and got some rest before heading to the Blarney Stone the next day….to be continued….