We said goodbye to Kinsale this morning. We should put in a plug for the Trident Hotel, recommended to us by Pat Preston. The rates were reasonable (and our upgrade made it even better!), and the rate included a full Irish breakfast, including a full cold buffet, plus several hot meal choices made to order. The restaurant was mostly windows overlooking the harbor, yachts, hills in the background. You get the idea! It was a great way to start the day!
We headed West along the coast out of Kinsale, doing a drive-by of the famous golf course, Old Head, which juts out into the Atlantic. Beautiful, as shown on the photo. But I can't imagine that course not always being windy! I would think a good South Dakota golfer would get along well there!
We proceeded along the coast to the West, seeing one beautiful vista after another, with views of the Atlantic on one side and the serenely green and rolling hills on the other. We had heard that the drive from Kenmare to Killarney was beautiful, with its views of the lakes of Killarney, so that was our way point. We'd planned to get to Cashel tonight, then on to Dublin tomorrow. We drove to Bantry Bay, which was gorgeous; then on to a charming little coastal town of Glengarriff. We were ready for lunch, and so, of course, we HAD to stop at Casey's Hotel and Restaurant. Knowing we couldn't go wrong with seafood chowder and soda bread, we each ordered that, and it didn't disappoint. I was going to ask to speak to one of the Caseys there to see if they were related to me, but we were a little pressed for time, and since Casey is like a Johnson where we come from, I didn't pursue geneology there. Instead, we proceeded to Kenmare, then on to Killarney through the Killarney National Forest, making many short stops along the way to take photos of the breathtaking beauty.
It was the longest day of driving we've had in Ireland, but it was beautiful, and whetted our appetite to come back to the area on our next trip to Ireland. We're thinking that it would be good to base out of Killarney next time and spend a week. This is a popular area of Ireland for tourists, and for good reason!
We arrived in Cashel, as planned, and found a room in our first B&B of the trip, the Cashel House, located on a tiny side street off of Main Street. Our purpose in being here is to see the Rock of Cashel, recommended by our friend Sean Breen, and Yvonne, the owner of our hotel in Kilkenny. Cashel House is modest, and our room was, at our request, on the top floor of a three-story old home. The accommodations were clean and comfortable; nothing to write home about but certainly fine for our need for an overnight bed, bath and Irish breakfast. We walked around Cashel tonight, walked up to the Rock of Cashel and took some photos of the site, as well as the ancient abbey below, which was beautiful in the evening sun. We then went back downtown, looking for a place to eat that looked good. We were in the mood for pizza, not having had it since leaving the states. We checked menus along main street, and found the Oasis. As we were perusing the menu on the street, some people were going in, so I asked them if the Oasis was a good place to eat. The said they'd not been there before, but that it was recommended to them. Good enough! Up the stairs we went, to find a very nice Italian ambiance. Though all we ordered was pizza and a salad, they were both wonderful. The salad was very fresh, and the pizza crust was thin and flaky. Though we haven't yet been to Italy, this has to be how the Italians make pizza. After all, the chef is from Romania! Go figure.
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