Monday, July 5th
Today we left Dublin and drove through the Wicklow Mountains. This IS where P.S. I love you was filmed, I was wrong the last time I said this. It was a beautiful drive, however, the roads were so narrow and we almost hit a few sheep as we wound up and down the mountains. We went to Glendalough, which is basically in the middle of nowhere. It is described as a secluded, mystical place and I couldn’t agree more. We hiked up a path to see the two lakes in Glendalough, lower and upper lake. The lakes are surrounded by mountains, streams, and waterfalls. It was a beautiful sunny day out and we spend 4 hours exploring! Glendalough is where the ruins of St. Kevin’s monastery are, so we walked around these grounds for a while as well. Next we drove to Kilkenny, and the roads got even narrower and bumpy. Along the way we stopped at a roadside stand to buy county Wexford strawberries. I had some of these berries a few weeks ago and they were the best berries I have ever had. We bought a container of strawberries and also some raspberries, and both Anne and Dad would agree that they were the best berries. We stopped in Kilkenny, another small town for dinner. We wandered around the town and stopped at the Kilkenny Castle for some pictures. We went to a pub on a side street for dinner, called rafter dempsey’s. Anne had salmon and Gerry had the chef whip up a special gluten free sauce for the fish. Dad and I split the “mixed Irish grill” and also had onion soup with brown bread. The mixed grill contained lamb liver, steak, a fried egg, mushrooms and onions, rashers (amazing bacon) and black and white pudding. We asked the pub owner (who was also our server) what the pudding was. He said “do you want to know before or after you eat it?” Well, black and white pudding are a meaty sausage made with pigs blood. Hello traditional Irish food…. After having this discussion with the pub owner Gerry, he came and talked to us more. Dad and Gerry talked about deer hunting and different kinds of meat (of course). Then we asked Gerry about Irish hurling and he brought out a hurling stick and ball. He let us each try to catch the ball on the stick and offered dad a free pint of beer if he could gain control of the beer. He got himself a free pint of Smithwicks, which is brewed in Kilkenny. We had so much fun with Gerry and another man in the pub. We talked to this other man, Rorey for a while after dinner. I had a great conversation with him about different types of Irish whiskey and then we started talking about the Irish troubles. He explained to us how much the Irish people love Bill Clinton, due to his work in bringing peace to Ireland. Rorey is from Derry which is up north, but still in the Republic of Ireland (it is about two miles from Northern Ireland). He told us all about his childhood and the violence in the country. He went to a catholic school and there was a protestant school right across the road. He said he wouldn’t have dared to cross the road or shop in any of the shops run by the protestants. It was the best conversation I have had with a local yet. We then started to talk about his life, he is a counselor. He told me two things. One was “it is good to talk,” and by this he meant that the best was to form relationships or to mend them is simply to talk. He also said the best thing I can do when I become a psychologist is not to judge anyone because everyone has their own struggles. He said you have to teach each individual you work with to love themselves. We had to end our lovely conversation because we had to get on the road to get to Cashel where our B&B was. We went to the parking garage to get the car only to find the entire place closed and the gates down. There was no way to get to our car to get it out. Panic stricken, Dad and Anne went back to the pub to ask Rorey for help. I went in a restaurant and also asked a taxi driver for help, both of them said we would have to wait until morning to get into the garage. Rorey ended up getting a phone number to a man who could open the big gate and let us out. For about 40 dollars we were able to get our car. We drove back to the pub to thank Rorey for his help and to buy him a pint. He wouldn’t let us buy him anything and he said that he really enjoyed talking to us. He said from the moment we walked into the pub he could tell we were a great family by the smiles on our faces. He said he would give anything to have a family like ours, and a dad who would take him on vacation. He said it was extremely special the relationship we had with each other. Come to find out, Gerry (the pub owner) is Rorey’s Dad. Gerry was never married to Rorey’s mom and Rorey only comes to visit his dad once or twice a year. Wow, what a night. I will never forget the special people we met, who extended such warm welcomes and provided help when we needed it most. We drove to our B&B (we didn’t get there til 10pm). It is a 300 year old farm house. Shelia is our host and she makes award winning cheese and jam here! There are old ruins from the 1600’s right outside our window. Shelia was so happy to see us when we arrived. We have a great room filled with antiques. The farm house is beautiful filled with family pictures, old dishes, and paintings. We can hear the cows mooing across the road! I am almost in disbelief that we are here. We are having a full Irish breakfast tomorrow in Shelia’s beautiful dining room with the other four guests who are staying here tonight. I’m going to make myself some tea and head to bed! What a wonderful day in Ireland…
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