Ireland trip - first two days

We are here in Ireland now, enjoying our trip to the southwest. We rented a car and drove about an hour outside of Dublin, spending Friday night in Port Laoise, in a hotel that was sort of like the Irish version of Comfort Inn. We were so tired it seemed wonderful to us.

 Luckily Brian is driving. But don't tell Enterprise rent-a-car because, in our flurry to get out the door as and deal with the movers on Friday, I didn't pack Brian's wallet. I had the cash and credit card, so the only useful thing in it was his drivers license. So the car is rented under my name, even though I can't drive stick shift and am terrified of driving on the left.

Yesterday we checked out the Rock of Dunamaise on our way toward County Kerry. We got lost a few times but made it there. It's an old ruined castle from the 1100s. The cool thing about being here in the off-season was that we were the only ones up there. You could see all the countryside below and the wind just about blew us down the hill. I will post some pictures next week for you to see.

Then we drove on to Dingle. It's a cool town on the coast - right on Dingle Bay. Yesterday was our 6th wedding anniversary, so we had a really nice dinner to celebrate and went out to a couple of pubs afterward. We are still recovering from the night out and it's pouring rain, so we are laying low in preparation for some live music tonight and a sightseeing bike ride tomorrow. We splurged a little on the hotel here, and it's really worth it.

Being in Ireland is a great English-speaking break for us. I am really excited to ask directions when we get lost driving (only twice so far) because they understand me, and we can watch so many channels on TV! It's a little like home too - people are friendly and you get free water at restaurants. And of course it's really pretty, they pour good Guinness, and people have cooler accents.