Kilkea, Ireland

Powerscourt Castle

In Pet Cemetery-Powerscourt

Kilkea Castle

August 26, 2007-Lost

Our 5-year old granddaughter, Talia, starts kindergarten tomorrow. What a milestone! Our 16-year old, Alex, will be a junior in high school and little Rylee is still little, thank goodness. We’ll have to touch base with them to see how it went.

We’re not buying a Toyota Avensis. That’s the comparable, in size anyway, to the Camry. It’s our Avis rental in Ireland & it’s a far cry from what we’ve come to expect from Toyota. The trunk is even smaller than the VW Jetta we had in Wales. That’s not a good thing as Karen collects treasures from the shops here. I’ve found little to buy. A lot of what Karen gets is for holidays and birthdays.

We’re not the only ones who are lost on the Irish highways and byways. The Irish can’t find their way around either. When we ask how to get somewhere they say, “Hmm, that will be a problem.” Today we were lost in the charming suburbs of Dublin due to a “diversion” (detour) on the road we should have stayed on. We pulled over where we saw people gathered in a front yard. The homeowner was tearfully saying good-bye to her grandchildren. When they left she pulled herself together, confessed that the Irish can’t make sense out of the signage either, and proceeded to give us detailed directions using landmarks instead of street names or highway numbers. It worked.

Found

We arrived at Powerscourt House and Gardens in time to enjoy the grounds at leisure. The interior of the house burned in the 1970’s and the renovation leaves much to be desired. We skipped the house and strolled the gardens. Karen, an avid and knowledgeable gardener was in heaven. It was beautifully and artistically laid out with Japanese, Italian, & English walled gardens, ponds, fountains, and plenty of green vistas. In the distance was Sugarloaf Mountain a part of the Wicklow chain. I took lots of pictures of individual roses they were so gorgeous. Then David took a picture of me in a tree and was sure to include my knee brace. It was a nice touch.

Fodor’s mentioned a restaurant in the neighboring town of Enniskerry. Poppies Country Cooking had a small-town coziness and offered homemade shepherd’s pie, beef and Guinness pie, and yummy looking quiche. I had potato leek soup and the most dense dark scone. The scone could have been used as a paperweight or a weapon. It did best floating in the soup. While we were there a woman walked in wearing shorts. Karen remembered that they were called sun drawers here.

We passed a sign for Victoria’s Magic Garden and no one was too interested in turning around to see what it was about. How narrow were the roads? Glad you want to know. They were so narrow that when a car came towards us David pulled as far as he could to the left and stopped. He felt like a wimp until other cars approaching us pulled over first. But when we sailed by a naked woman posing for a photographer on a haystack in a field David became quite skilled at making a 3-point turn on the narrow country lane. We slowed to a crawl and got a dirty look from the photographer. When we turned around again to resume our journey we once again slowed but she’d gotten dressed.

Castledermot

We were on the wrong side of the Wicklow Mountains from Castledermot, the town nearest our next castle-stay. We had to get through the Wicklow Pass, which sounds more ominous than it was. Compared to the Rockies the mountains here are foothills. The pass was pretty and we stopped at an overlook to gaze at the ruins of a monastery, watch children frolic in a mountain pool, and watch two dogs hump as their owner franticly tried to separate them. I climbed over the rocks and got a picture of the monastery, the kids, and the dogs, but couldn’t get positioned fast enough for the humping part.

We arrived in Kilkea and are staying at Kilkea Castle built in 1180. It’s really cool to approach down a long tree-lined alley and cross a bridge over what was a moat before entering the reception area through a medieval door. The rooms are nicer than Ruthin but they sold off most of the grounds for a golf course. The castle is in a pretty setting and we enjoyed drinks overlooking the garden before dinner. Karen introduced me to Jamieson and Diet Coke. I don’t think the Irish approve but it’s drinkable. It has the taste of Coke and the kick of whiskey.

That brings me to dinner. I’m sure you’re familiar with Abbot and Costello’s “Who’s on First” routine. Karen asked the porter for a recommendation for dinner since the menu at the castle runs around $70/person. What I heard when I asked her where we were going was “ a Thai.” I started salivating for all those exotic Thai flavors and was debating between pad Thai and Massaman beef when we got in the car and turned towards the next town down the road called Athy. Guess how they pronounce it? Yup, “ah tie.” We had Italian.

I bet you missed my obsessing about laundry; well here it is. David is approaching an underwear crisis. No, he’s there. If we don’t find a laundry in the next town he’s going to buy some. You know how we hate those hand-washed stiff undies.

I hope it’s quieter here than our hotel in Dublin. That town never slept and it all happened under our windows. They were partying for the Irish football match, which they lost, by the way. We heard shouting and singing until our alarm this morning. I travel with earplugs so I was able to turn over and go back to sleep but the others didn’t fare as well

Tomorrow we head to the southern coast and Waterford. There’s more than crystal to see. I’ll let you know.

Toby