We Are Enjoying Ireland Very Much

Yes we are tired. Yes we are still sight seeing, driving endlessly, booking accommodation for the following days and eating.  Everywhere we go seems to take ages. We get lost at every turn and continue to argue with Beverly. Beverly is the GPS lady. She is so polite when giving us directions but yells at us when we miss the turn. Who programs these women anyway?

Powers court House and Gardens

Yesterday we went to Powerscourt Gardens. That was gloriously beautiful. It even had a pet cemetery on the grounds. Ponies, a cow and many dogs. The dates on the stones went from 1901 to 1940's when it seemed to stop.

I get distracted by the animal goings on. If you wish to know more about the history and what else is there please google it.

The Gardens

Today we went to Glendalough Monastery ruins that St Kevin established in the 6th century. It was really interesting.

On the grounds of the Glendalough Monastery 

Tomorrow we go to Blarney and Cork areas. I don't know if I will kiss the Blarney stone or not. Evidently it is in a very awkward place and all I keep hearing is, "Don't worry, they will hold you."
They?  We have been talking about "They" lately.

Who is "they". 'They' say this remedy works. 'They' say this spot of the world is gorgeous. We have been wondering who "They" is and will we ever meet this invisible person(s)?

The things you talk about on long car journeys, especially when lost in remote areas of a country we have never visited.

As this is supposed to also be a book blog I can only say the only books we have really studied is the manual for the BMW (ah yes) we upgraded to it because the Toyota Yaris scared us a bit. Manual and no GPS plus enormous suitcases.  With two of us we could cut the cost down. We know all about the dash of the BMW now and I must say it is ridiculous. We had to look up how to turn the turn indicators off. It is a three step process and if you do it too hard, don't touch it gently enough, it does not turn off.

Our too fancy car.

We were wondering how far car manufacturers will go with the bells and whistles of operating a turn indicator, a speedometer (yes we had to look that up because we could not find it) and when we press a key button to unlock it the boot swings open. Ridiculous. Where is the 1950 Ford I grew up with that had no seat belts, a 3 position gear stick on the steering wheel column and a button on the floor to change the brights.

We have also been reading maps. Lots of maps. We have read brochures, plaques, signs. We have been reading menus and price tags. I have never read so much.

I am starting to wish for a rainy day at home, a hot cup of coffee, three cats around me and a dog pushing on my shoulders to get a better position on the top back of my chair so he can see out the window. The other dog will be pushing the cats away from me so she has a spot and Mr. Penguin will be asking me if I want more coffee or a glass of wine maybe?

Cork and Blarney

We are heading to the Cork area tomorrow for two nights then on to Kilkenny on the west coast to drive the Ring of Kerry. I am looking forward to that.

I miss my animals, my friends, my books, my routines, my structures but we continue to have fun even if we drag ourselves to bed each night exhausted. Thanks for reading our travel dribble.
Stay tuned,  no doubt there will be more. We have another 11 days.

The Penguin found his way to some very soft Aran jumpers. He's tired too.