Day Seven...On the Road Again!

Today found us leaving my favorite town of Kenmare. After a couple days of days without a car, it was nice to get back in and head for some new sites! We had planned on ending our day in the town of Kinsale, so the plan was to hit some sites on the way. The weather was beautiful again, sunny and high 50's. As we were driving we saw a ruin by the side of the road, did a u-turn and came back to visit it. It's history was much like many of the castles around here...with the twist of a man had been thrown out of the top tower. British soldiers had killed the man's wife..so he avenged her by tossing a Sergeant out of the tower. Not a great way to be remembered..but interesting! We snapped a few pics, and got back on the road. Sybil seemed fine today with the exception of completely messing up our GPS. To understand how bad that could be..you'd have to try to drive over here. First..NONE..and I do mean NONE of the roads are marked. It's horrible. You are never really sure where you are or where you are going. There are NO road signs. Just signs..that occasionally get changed, pointing in the general direction of the next town. Those signs are not posted until you are at the road you are supposed to be turning on. Today I was traveling at 110 Kph, and suddenly saw a sign pointed to a very sharp right turn. There's no warning..no slow down..just down shift and hope for the best. GPS is essential. It will not get you where you are going, because no one has a real address. I am not exaggerating at all..there are no addresses. You might be able to find out what street something is on, but not an address..and the streets aren't marked. So good luck! When you do call somewhere and say I'm trying to find you..they say things like this..." Oh hello!! Lovely day isn't it? Where are we?? Oh sure...do you know where the market is? No? Really? Well..you can't miss it. When you get into Ballyspittle, there'll be a supermarket (mind you..there supermarket is a corner gas station for us). Ballyspittle? No, no..we aren't in Ballyspittle...dont worry about that. You'll see a supermarket...when you get to the V, drive along the supermarket. We are the fourth house on the right. We are in the country. Yes, the supermarket is in the town. Everybody knows where it is..you can't miss it. Lovely, just lovely. We'll see you in a few!" Ok. Not even sure where to begin on this. First...what in the world does Ballyspittle have to do with this??? Nothing. Which we realized after we drove for 45 minutes up and down the town looking for the grocery store that doesnt exist. It is in Kinsale. The owner of the store is Norman Bate's mother. We know because we went in and talked to her. Well..Shannon talked..I watched the door. Anyway..you need the GPS because you can use it to get you in the right direction. Not find what you are looking for..but get you to the general area. Then you can start driving around until you find it. One thing that is important to know when you have the GPS over here...unless you tell it differently...it will route you where you're going by the fastest way. Something else you should know..that is not always the best thing. See, sometimes the fastest way is not a real road. No one should ever ever drive that way. It is meant for say..walking. Single file. By little people. Skinny little people. We know this, because we have done it..repeatedly. Today was tops though. We are driving down a main road..heading for the coastal drive. The GPS says our turn is coming on us..so I am getting myself ready to turn..cars behind me..in front..etc., and say to Shannon.."Is this it???" Silence. "Shannon, is this it???" Silence. " SHANNON!!!!!" "YESSSS!!!" See the problem was..Shannon could see the..for want of better word, road. And she needed a second to be sure that was reeeeeaaaaalllly where we were supposed to go. Lori (our GPS voice) was certain that was the way. I turned...kind of. Took a little work as it was not a road. It was a path. Filled with bottomless pot holes. One way...on grass. Through a mountain pass. No coastal scenes for us.We got a good look at the foliage in Ireland. We were going through a shepherd's trail. We saw nothing but brush coming in our windows. We did see a baby lamb stuck..with his rear end to us and face into the bush like if he didnt look we wouldn't be there. If that weren't bad enough..some local came barreling around the curve. There is not room for two of us...so we both hit the brakes. I am on a hill. So guess who stalls? He angles his vehicle enough so that if I turn my wheel as hard as I can I will be able to squeak by. Did I mention I was stalled on a hill? In the middle of Ireland? On a shepherd's path? With sticks sticking in our windows??? Gps..important...but letting it get you to your destination by the shortest method..not so much. After the castle ruin, we went to the Bantry House and Gardens. The Bantry House is 16th century manor overlooking the Bantry Bay. I would have loved to see this home operated as a re-enactment. As we stood there..I could imagine what it might be like to see ladies and lords around. The horses and carriages pulling up to the carriage house. We had tea and lunch in what was the old kitchen. I did not like however the inside of the house. Apparently one of the generations of Bantry's were collectors..and they traveled the world collecting pieces from..well everywhere. There were urns from Tibet and a rug owned by a King of France. I'm glad I went..but it did not stir me as much as a thatched roof cottage. It did not hold my interest like the Ross Castle. The outside grounds..now that is another matter. Beautiful everywhere you look. Interesting to note...we were looking for the entrance to the Manor grounds and found a little...road that appeared to get in. So we took it. The first entrance. Similar to the 100 acre forest first entrance. It was a winding path..riddled with mountain size speed bumps. We bottomed out..probably 10 times before I figured out I needed to go slower. Lots slower. When we finally made it in..we asked the greeter if there were a better way out. Of course, no. But had we went into the public entrance like everyone else did..we could have had the normal road and normal parking lot. Never, never go in the first entrance. After the Manor we headed to the Timoleague Friary. Another abbey ruin. I had been very excited about it after the Muckross Abbey. I loved that place and could have stayed there longer. I did not care for this abbey though. I dont know why. Maybe it was the setting. It is in the town of Timoleague surrounded by flats and bridges and cars. It could be that there are lots and lots of people buried inside the abbey, not just the outer courts. It could be the attack pigeons that made Shannon scream. I dont know what it was. If a peaceful good feeling could surround an old place..then the Muckross Abbey would have that. If an unsettling feeling can be associated with a place..then it was this Abbey. It had the same beautiful structure..I just walked away not liking it. I am glad I went..but I was not wanting to stay! The big stop for the day was the Drombeg Circle. After our disappointing results at the circle in Kenmare, we were sure we'd have better results here. As we said yesterday, this circle was complete with portal stones, recumbent stones, male and female stones. That probably is important. Unfortunately when we got there..we were not alone. Grandma and Grandpa were there..walking in and out of the cirlce..touching everything. As we stood outside the circle...waiting for them to step out so we could begin our circle, dance, step in and walk to the recumbent stone and then time travel...we heard the unthinkable. Little old sweet grandma decided then and there to relieve herself of her digestive issues. Yep..she farted. In the circle. She farted loud and long enough for us to hear, gasp and stare in shock. What had she done??? She had disturbed the air in the circle, that's what. We just stood there...as she stepped past us and walked on..we just stood there.

Who wanted to go in there now??? We finally decided to walk around anyway. We went opposite directions this time..just in case...we had to go twice because someone was standing by the portal stones when we got there the first time. We did a little dance..held hands..and stepped in and walked to the recumbent stone. We waited..and as we feared..nothing. Grandma had disturbed the air beyond repair. No dancing, twirling, vortexting and solemn approach into the circle was going to fix what grandma had done. So. A very disappointing ending for us inside the circles.

Kinsale is considered the gourmet capital of Ireland. The food everywhere is supposed to be all that. We went into the town not sure what we wanted until we saw the Thai restaurant. Mmmmmm...we've have had so much seafood..and good steak and pastas..that this sounded perfect. Perfect it was! I have no idea of the names of the foods we ate..but I had the hot and sour thai soup..and Shannon had the coconut and lemongrass soup. Her's had chicken and mine prawns. For our entree Shannon had a green curry with chicken and I had pad thai with prawns. It was wonderful and the soups were right up there with the mussels we had a few nights ago. Although today's stops were not as great as some of the others..it was a very good day. All of it together was just another day filled with wonderful memories and beautiful Ireland. How we are going to miss this place. I feel that I will be looking over my shoulder as we leave in a few days. Our hearts are with our families, but this little island will call us back, of that I am sure. Again, not an hour goes by that we are not thinking about those we love. Every site we see,place we visit, or food we try reminds us of you. The only shadow over us is that you are not here. We will be home soon!xoxoxoxoxxo P.S. We were completely reminded of our Isaac and Jacob today. The servers in the Bantry tea house were young men. I had ordered a salad which they gave me right away and Shannon had ordered a panini that came with a side salad. The panini was going to take a few, so they told us to have a seat and they'd bring it. So we did..I ate my salad..and Shannon was still waiting. I figured she could at least eat the salad while waiting for the panini..so I went up to the counter and asked if she could start on her salad while waiting. He looked down at the plate, which he had placed the salad off to the side leaving room for the panini, looked at me..kind of confused (as if to say.."Can we do that?!?!?") and said..."Of course" and handed me the plate, less panini. Seemed simple to us. Of course we are women. And we have come to learn that what seems simple and obvious to US..is not always simple and obvious to THEM. As Shannon was eating her salad..we saw one of young men hop and skipping over to us..saying over and over "ha, ha, ha, hottttt". He landed at our table and practically threw her panini, that he had carried in his bare hands on to her plate. Shannon and I could only stare at each other. Apparently it never occured to him that he could use another plate to carry the hot panini to the table with. We started laughing and both said that is so Isaac and so Jacob. Shannon reminded me that they would have chucked them at her half way! Some things....are universal.