Ireland: Part Nine

In Waterford, we were eager to tour the Waterford Crystal factory and get out of town. What a great tour!!! Too bad I couldn't afford anything there.

We researched other small towns along the way that would be our speed and settled on Kilkenny. Finally things were looking up! We found a cheap, little bed and breakfast and headed out to see the town. We stopped at the first food place we saw the Playwright. We weren't seated five minutes before some guy was asking if we'd been to Watergrasshill recently. Turns out we'd stopped for directions at the pub he works at; small world. So we sat with five young Irish guys. Listening to them talk was like watching a TV show in another language; you understand a word here and there, but it's still entertaining. :) Here's what we pieced together; they had a wild night the night before. One guy fell or something and scratched up his face, hands, and side. According to him, he was now ruined. I think he was exaggerating a bit. They all had funny nicknames. I, of course, developed an afternoon crush on the tall, blue-eyed hottie of the bunch. I'm friends now with one of the guys on Twitter. Now, I have friends in Ireland!

When you travel internationally, do you enjoy small towns or big cities better? I enjoy small towns, because they help me feel more immersed in that country's culture. All big cities seem kind of the same to me; they're kind of generic.

Ireland: Part Eight

From Kenmare the plan was to head to Kinsale. From Kenmare we stopped at the Torc Waterfall.

From there, we toured Ross Castle and I got this shot:

One of my very favorite photos!
The trip got rough from here. First, we had to go through Cork to get to Kinsale. Cork is a massive city and we got lost a lot. Once we got to Kinsale, we spent an hour looking for a hotel room to no avail. Also, we hadn't eaten. We decided to head back to Cork and stay there. Well, Cork was overwhelming, so we just kept driving through Cork. So we decided to drive to our next sight, Cashel. Unfortunately, we were on the wrong road. I tried to get us back on track, but that required us taking a lot of no-name, one-lane roads. We ended up in Watergrasshill. We planned to find lodging there and eat. Well, there was NO lodging in Watergrasshill, so we got directions to Glanmire. We ended up at Fitzgerald's Vienna Woods Hotel. Dinner was amazing there and the rooms were comfy and affordable. We definitely got the rest we needed.
From here, we had a great breakfast and headed out to Cashel. We were off to see the Rock of Cashel. Rock of Cashel:

This is where the day took a downward spiral. Someone put unleaded in the diesel-only car. We had to call a mechanic. The repair took 2+ hours and cost two arms and a leg. This was a downer, but I got some shopping in. From there we headed to Waterford. There we saw the sun for one of the first times of the trip.

We stayed at the Travel Lodge (lame) and ate noodles. Not our night.

Any rough travel experiences you'd like to share? They definitely make the trip memorable, right?! :)