Day 3, AKA, the countryside is beautiful!

I am writing this from our out of this world beautiful hotel room in Kilkenny. We are staying at a B&B in what was some old manor house. Tim and I's room is in one of the turrets, and has big windows that overlook the gardens, and a gigantic bathtub - even bigger than my mom's. I had a bubble bath before dinner and am quite the happy camper.

We had kind of a rough morning this morning - I woke up at 4am last night with the pukes, and from the violence of it, and the fact that I wasn't very tipsy when we went to bed at 12, and I certainly wasn't drunk at 4, I am leaning more towards food poisoning. But basically, I was slow on my feet and it took us awhile to get out of Dublin. We also ended up taking sort of the long way to Glendalough, because Harriet the British Garmon took us through some pretty narrow countryside roads. Up and down the only mountain nearby! The countryside was really gorgeous. I joked that it looked like something out of Lord of the Rings.

Glendalough is located near two lakes, and was a medieval monastery. It was occupied for over a century, and some of the buildings remain. The cathedral on site is what I consider tiny, but for many years was the largest cathedral in all of Ireland. It was a really beautiful place - all sorts of ancient headstones and old buildings. We also walked down to the two lakes and did a little nature hike.

We left there around 3, and got to Kilkenny around 5. Unfortunately, it didn't give us a lot of time to see the city, but the castle is visible from our bedrooms. Jake went for a run (sicko) and he said the grounds are really pretty. We had a really nice dinner tonight, and will be on the road tomorrow to see where Grandpa Smith was born all those many years ago. From here on out, it's a lot of traveling and staying in different little towns. The driving seems to be going okay - Don is accident free, but today I tried to sleep when possible, since I hardly slept at night, and so that I wouldn't have to see the moment when my life was in danger. Tim is responsible for running the Garmon, and Eileen double checks the map constantly. It's all directions, all the time!

The entry gates

Most of the headstones were from the 1800s, and there were a surprising number of people who lived into their 80s and 90s!

The window you see is actually the door to the tower.

Tim and I down by the second lake.

The beautiful countryside