Unexpected Zebras and my Obsession with Sticky Toffee Pudding...
Day 2: Dublin to Kilkenny
The downside of fearing driving would be the 7 plus miles I walked the second day in Ireland.
Also, did you know that in Ireland, you may not want to select "the fastest route" on your map because there is a lot that Google maps assumes about your abilities that simply may not be true. It assumes that you know how to drive - meaning that you can drive 80-100 kph (50-60 miles per hour) on a country lane that is clearly meant for one car. Daran is a fabulous driver put careening down tiny roads at that speed was not happening. So I would always choose the fastest route not realizing that for us it was probably the slowest and more dangerous route.
You may wonder if we saw any accidents while we were there and the answer is yes, but only one. It was a car attached to a bus obviously being driven by a tourist not far from the airport. That didn't give us a boost of confidence. I also spied a car whose passenger side (remember the opposite side) was scratched from hood to trunk. Maybe it was the whole one lane road disguised as two lane road thing.
Also, Daran only drove on the wrong side of the road twice both in non-life threatening situations like parking lots and the such. You can applaud him now because we returned the car unscathed. I was almost a bit shocked after the Hertz guy walked around it and said "All good" or some Irish equivalent of that.
Note: Although I did not drive, I almost drove on the left side of the road yesterday in a parking lot, but I stopped myself. Daran, the one who drove, has driven on the right side of the road with no problem since arriving back. He is clearly the better driver if you didn't know.
The highlight of the day, I think would be seeing the Book of Kells at Trinity College in Dublin. So it's basically the gospels written by monks about 800AD. But the coolest thing is that it is illustrated kind of like a Bible graphic novel. Often when "He said..." occurs there is an illustration. One of the illustrations is of two lions covering their mouths in awe. This struck me as so apropos.
Also, Sticky toffee pudding is legit ya'll. I could eat it every day. It is like God made a dessert and the Irish and English are the only ones that figured out it is the food that will be served at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
Side notes if you care:
Every breakfast offers you a full Irish breakfast: Eggs, Sausage links (but tasted different than breakfast sausage), black pudding (pork or beef fat, oats, and blood), white pudding (same as black pudding sans blood), grilled tomato, mushrooms, bacon (thin slices of ham). If you are wondering, I tasted all of it and I concluded that the eggs, grilled tomato, bacon and mushrooms were my favorite. I decided that we should all have veggies with our breakfast.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Long Room at Liberty University reading about the board deciding if they would accept female students. The biggest problem they encountered was the temptation and scandal that would be caused by having females present. It was quite an interesting read.
There were two signs we encountered on our walks around Kilkenny. One being "No Dog Fouling," which being interpreted would mean "No Dog Pooping and if they do clean it up." Anywho, I happened upon some dog fouling and enjoyed calling it by its new name.
The second sign was "Zebra Crossing closed." I found that very unfortunate for all zebras that would have to walk a long way to find another one, but apparently it simply means crosswalk.
Daran would see a bridge and I would run over to the bridge so he could take a cool photo. Note: I am short. The bride railings are tall. You cannot see my face. Cool photo fail.