Our last few days in Ireland… Greg was off to London and we were now heading for Dublin and Matt who is currently working there for a couple of weeks.
‘The leprechauns made me do it’. Well, we could blame the leprechauns or the GPS or the lack of signage, but we drove to Cork to have a look around and found ourselves driving down the equivalent of our Pitt Street Mall. Hmmm, if this happened in Sydney, you could imagine the looks & expletives that would be aimed our way, but this is Ireland. People just calmly moved out of our way and two people came to our assistance and were very kind about it. I’m really going to miss this place!
Next was the historical Rock of Cashel – another medieval fortress with a gruesome past perched dominantly overlooking the small town.
First impressions of Kilkenny were confusing, but then we found the charming side of town and booked a hotel that Bruce spotted as we drove past. It turned out to be the best hotel of the holiday! Of course, we quickly checked it out on Tripadvisor and it happened to be #1. If you’re ever in the vicinity, do yourself a favour and book the Pembroke Hotel – great value, fantastic service, tasty brekky & beautiful room overlooking the castle. Don’t be deceived by first impressions!
As well as the historic Kilkenny Castle and its extravagantly manicured landscaped gardens, the town also boasts skilled silver craftsman, quaint cafes and some lovely boutiques.
The next day and a short 1hr 20 mins later, we arrived in Dublin. After returning the rental car, we took a cab to our hotel in the Temple Bar area of the city. The location was ideal – we were right in the thick of it – opposite Dublin Castle and only a short walk to all the major sights. I had a lot of trouble booking accommodation for the night and settled for location over reviews that were underwhelming. Big mistake – the Arlington Hotel is not likely to receive a favourable review in Tripadvisor from this reviewer, however, we couldn’t fault the lovely Reception staff.
We discovered the reason why Dublin was heavily booked for this weekend was because One Direction were in town and this resulted in horrendous traffic and (ugh) large crowds.
(22-24 May)
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