DAY-24: Dublin to Kilkenny
Day – 24: Friday, September 15, 2017
Starting Location: Dublin, Ireland
Ending Location: Kilkenny, Ireland
Following breakfast we were ready to move on with the official start of the "2017 Ireland SMART". Our scheduled meeting time was 9:30 AM when we would meet our driver/guide.
We had help from the hotel staff in moving the luggage from the 2nd & 3rd floors to the lobby. As mentioned yesterday there were many steps to be covered with about 18 pieces of luggage amongst the seven of us. Diane & Greg can be seen here with their luggage.
Chris wants her tag to to stand out amongst the pile.
At just about 9:30 a van pulled up and we met Mike our tour guide and driver for most of the upcoming two weeks. Work rules require a limit to the number of days driving so during the period we'll see another guide for a couple of days.
Our baggage now at the curb was loaded onto Mike's van. The van has more than enough room for our group as its maximum capacity is 17 passengers plus the driver.
After the loading Mike lead us through the streets of Dublin, describing the sites before us and the lore that goes with a country of such rich history.
We passed the Bank of Scotland, the mayor's home, the Guinness brewery, the statue of Daniel O'Connell (what we didn't know yesterday was that the statue has bullet holes from one of the violent periods of local history).
We continued out of town with our first planned stop at the small village of Enniskerry. We made this a rest and snack stop. Perhaps one of the most fascinating things to several of our travelers was the automated loo. Apparently for a mere 50 Euro Cents you get a cleaned loo. After use the unit apparently flushes not only the toilet fixtures but it also sprays down the floor before the next guest can be accommodated.
Once back on the road we were just a few minutes from PowersCourt, a land baron's estate and gardens near Enniskerry. Several of us headed for the gardens for a brief walk-through. One of the most interesting areas of the garden was the area of world trees including a California type redwood. Apparently the estate owners enjoyed bringing exotic plants home to Ireland when traveling the world.
A little bit of California, a redwood tree in the garden of "world trees".
Though the next picture has nothing to do with our travels, how can you pass up an image of these shoes; and no this is not a picture of Jack's feet.
After the house we visited the Powerscourt Water Falls, the highest falls in Ireland. This was a short stop to give us the chance to walk over to the falls. During this 30-minute stop we had all types of weather, wind, rain and sunshine.
Our drive took us through the Wicklow mountains ultimately passing through the Wicklow Gap. The scenery was magnificent and GREEN. The hillsides have a variety shades of green especially noticeable when the sun shone brightly. As with Scotland the farmland in this area was primarily dedicated to sheep ranching and dairy production.
Our last "tour" stop was at Glendalough the site of a medieval monastic settlement. We walked along the park's trail and saw the two lakes of the area and then walked through the ruins of the 800+ year old settlement with it's variety of buildings and rock enclosures.
From Glendalough we continued our journey winding up in Kilkenny.
We took Mike's recommendation and headed over to the Kyteler Inn a local pub for drinks, dinner and our first dose of Irish entertainment. As it was Friday several had fish & chips while others had a chicken-pot-pie dish. The beer consumed tonight was Smithwicks.
By nine we were back in the hotel, checking in with our Internet and other social circles.
Following breakfast we were ready to move on with the official start of the "2017 Ireland SMART". Our scheduled meeting time was 9:30 AM when we would meet our driver/guide.
We had help from the hotel staff in moving the luggage from the 2nd & 3rd floors to the lobby. As mentioned yesterday there were many steps to be covered with about 18 pieces of luggage amongst the seven of us. Diane & Greg can be seen here with their luggage.
Our baggage now at the curb was loaded onto Mike's van. The van has more than enough room for our group as its maximum capacity is 17 passengers plus the driver.
After the loading Mike lead us through the streets of Dublin, describing the sites before us and the lore that goes with a country of such rich history.
We passed the Bank of Scotland, the mayor's home, the Guinness brewery, the statue of Daniel O'Connell (what we didn't know yesterday was that the statue has bullet holes from one of the violent periods of local history).
 |
| Daniel O'Connell |
We continued out of town with our first planned stop at the small village of Enniskerry. We made this a rest and snack stop. Perhaps one of the most fascinating things to several of our travelers was the automated loo. Apparently for a mere 50 Euro Cents you get a cleaned loo. After use the unit apparently flushes not only the toilet fixtures but it also sprays down the floor before the next guest can be accommodated.
After the house we visited the Powerscourt Water Falls, the highest falls in Ireland. This was a short stop to give us the chance to walk over to the falls. During this 30-minute stop we had all types of weather, wind, rain and sunshine.
Our drive took us through the Wicklow mountains ultimately passing through the Wicklow Gap. The scenery was magnificent and GREEN. The hillsides have a variety shades of green especially noticeable when the sun shone brightly. As with Scotland the farmland in this area was primarily dedicated to sheep ranching and dairy production.
Who would have guessed?
From Glendalough we continued our journey winding up in Kilkenny.
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| National Sport - Hurling |
In Kilkenny we will stay for two nights at the Butler House.
The next photo does need explanation; this would be Diane & Greg in the "Cone of Silence".
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| Cone of Silence |
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