Westward bound along the coast of Ireland....

Good morning to Kinsale. I will say that Jo's is on quite a busy noisy street. However, honestly I was too tired and my eyes closed just fine. Another early rise by both of us....we were around by 8:30am and we packed our bags downstairs. Halfway down Jo met us and carried mom's bag down for her. We lined our bags in her hallway and stepped around to the entrance of her cafe. Mom and I shared a delicious flaky raspberry scone with raspberry preserves and 2 big cups of expresso...YUMMY!

View inside the cafe.

See those yummy pastries on the counter.

It was a good way to start our morning. We then made our way to the car to stow away the bags, do a little shopping and stop in at the TI for some info. The lady in the TI was very helpful and was quite surprised we had run into offices that were closed.

Off we went up tight almost one way looking roads to Charles Fort. It was a very cool historical site with great views and must see pics. The last soldiers to leave the Charles Fort were in 1921, so it stayed running for quite some time. Definitely a great stronghold to defend against the sea bearers looking to start trouble. 

Me outside Charles Fort & a view back into Kinsale.

Here are several views from Charles Fort...

Peek-a-boo...I finally got Mom in a shot.

Just love all the GREEN!

Our travels then took us west to Mizen Head. Along that route were inlets to beaches where we saw surfers waiting to catch waves. The water was just crystal blue in color...so beautiful.

This would be the itty bitty tiny road to Mizen Head. EEK!

Once we reached the final turn to Mizen Head the road was sooo narrow that meeting any car you had to pull off into a curved out section or driveway. That has to be the tiniest road we've encountered yet! YEESH!

We finally made it up the way to the visitor center. It was also the access point to go and tour the light house. We opted out of that and took pics from around the center. Very cool and picturesque to be at the southern most tip of Ireland. We could see a storm brewing on the ocean and decided it was best to be on our way.

Gorgeous! Look how big the cattle is...crazy!

See there's that storm!

Back to the tiny twisty road away from Mizen Head and onward to our final destination of Kenmare. It was a nice relaxing drive and great views of the countryside.

Here are a few pics along our drive to Kenmare...

Tree covered roads.

Pools of water and just lush greenery.

We arrived at Willow Lodge around 5pm. Finally we would get ourselves acquainted with Gretta. Ever since our first emails back forth making reservations we've been in awe of her sweetness. As we walked in the door we were greeted by Gretta...she was quite pretty, tall and a quick wit about her. She promptly started with banter and laughing back and forth with us. She gave us a quick run down of the current to do's...she would show us our room, turn down our bed, we'd get our luggage to put in our room and then meet her back downstairs for tea and tart.

Our Room

Sitting area downstairs.

Mom enjoying some hot tea.

Wow...what a great spread of hot tea and Rhubarb Tart.

Oh what a wonderful welcoming treat and tea to warm my insides. Gretta came out to visit for a while then back in to cook dinner for Paul. She was able to give us several recommendations for dinner 4 bars and 2 restaurants. We opted for The Coachmans, after stopping at a couple shops before. It was a great dinner. 

Starters....

I selected the melted goat cheese and tomato bruschetta.

Mom selected the seafood chowder.

And of course we had the delightful brown soda bread and Irish butter!!!!

We even ordered our first Guinness!

Entrees....

I selected the pan seared sea bass with white cream sauce, potatoes and mixed veggies.

Mom selected the Guinness beef stew...

We were accompanied by some music but nothing to lively. A couple sat next to us....they were both in the US Military (he was in the Airforce and she was in the Army), stationed in Germany and on holiday in Ireland. They were a great group to chat with and share traveling experiences. We wrapped up dinner and headed back to the B&B.

I tried to stay up late to Skype with Dad but only wound up emailing him. I posted one pic of the cliffs at Mizen Head to peak some of my friends interest back home and then crawled into bed for the night.

Wow...our trip was really coming together. That was the end of Day 4, August 24th!

~Curls~

Crystal, whiskey and port towns...Oh my!

We awoke this morning feeling somewhat achy from a lumpy bed. However, we were both so tired the night before that it didn't matter. Plan for the day....get around, rearrange clothes in our luggage and be on our way. Once bags were downstairs, mom went to check out and then she came back to say that there was a continental breakfast included. So we packed the bags to the car and came back in for a light bit of breakfast. We were served in the Conservatory.

The Conservatory

Me

Momma

 



We chose from a selection of cereals, pastries, fruit, fresh baked ham and Irish cheeses. I had hot tea, small croissant, ham and a couple slices of cheese. Mom had a variety of fresh fruits and a bite of a muffin with her coffee. It was a tasty little breakfast and a good way to get the day started started.
Now into the town of Waterford to tour the Waterford Crystal Factory. We were greeted by our tour guide Shawn, a very nice and soft spoken man. He lead us through the various stages of the crystal. Amazing....such skill and talent. We were even able to pose with the upcoming 2012 London Olympic trophy.

Us with the London 2012 Trophy.

 

Pretty cool to see all this action. The men skillfully working would hand over pieces they had finished or were currently working on. They were nice to hold but I was ready to hand the pricey items right back. Here are some pics of our tour....

One of the pricey pieces.

Neat clock encased in crystal.

The Mould Room

Blowing Department

Quality Inspection

Marking

Engraving

Shawn our tour guide.

At the end of our tour Shawn showed us the logo marker we should look for...at the bottom of any piece should be marked "WATERFORD".

Mom and I mapped out our next location and then began our journey out of Waterford. We were in route to Ardmore to try the Irish Whiskey when mom started refreshing on Rick Steve's Guide Book...only to find out that it was not there but in Midleton. However, we were already turned and on our way in to Ardmore so we decided to go through town to see the view from the Cliff House.

View from the Cliff House

It was a quick jaunt through tight curvy roads, up steep hills but we made it. Great way to stop and stretch our legs, snap some pics and be back on our way.

Now that we had the correct town of Midleton plotted, we really were headed to experience some Irish Whiskey at its finest.

We came through Midleton only to drive all the way through and return to find the Jameson Distillery. It was awesome tour of their now closed facility. There was so much history in each old building and the process. We found out the difference between Irish, Scottish and American whiskeys. Irish is triple distilled in aged barrels. Scottish is double distilled and their malted grain is heated with burning peat which gives it a smokey flavor. American is once distilled and aged in new barrels.

Entrance into Jameson Experience

First building at Jameson

Distillery outside the building

Huge water wheel that was used for power.

YUMMY....Jameson Whiskey

Barrels of aged Jameson Whiskey

 

At the end of the tour our guide Sinead asked if anyone would like to be one of 8 volunteers to do a whiskey tasting. Mom jumped at the shot. It was really a neat experience. She enjoyed being able to taste the difference of the 3 and mentioned how smooth Jameson was compared to the other two. She even received a certificate for participating...she's an official taster now. WOOHOO!

Mom going through the tasting process.

We even chatted with Collin, another one of the tasters, and his wife. They are from just outside London, UK. He's actually pictured to Mom's right. He kept telling us that we needed to visit England they had better roads...hehe too funny! After the tasting we perused the shop and headed to the car with a few items.

Our next destination Cobh, this water town was the last port for the Titanic as well as the Lusitania that sank off the coast of Ireland.

Yes of course....we encountered another set of tight windy roads and steep hills. We are finding that at times it can be a bit stressful but I believe we are getting the hang of it. Once reaching Cobh we took a ferry across to go into town.

Waiting for the ferry.

Pretty flowers along the street.

Pretty Cascading Flowers

 

Can I just say parking can be a bit of an interesting situation....because no one wants to get a ticket! EEK!!!
While walking about Cobh we actually ran into a couple we saw at the Waterford Factory tour, they were from Canada. Kinda seems like a few others decided on a similar path. We visited the Cobh Heritage Centre, but only stopped in a few shops and decided against the tour. Back up the windy roads to the car, across the ferry and on our way to Kinsale.

Front of Cobh Heritage Centre

St. Colman's Cathedral

Ok so this journey was to say the least a bit stressful. Of course we've started to get a little accustomed to the fact that the lanes are small, you feel like you might scrape the side of your car on hedge or curb or knock off a mirror. Thankfully God has continued to bless us with a safe journey all along the way.

We began winding our hamstermobile through the many curves and exchanges to meet other routes we were about to turn when this huge semi passed in front of us going in the direction we were about to head. NEWS FLASH!!!  Remember these roads aren't very wide and passing by oncoming cars about our size is sometimes uncomfortable. Now try to imagine meeting this monster at a tight curve. Mom and I were very happy to be riding behind him and not facing him as an oncoming vehicle.

View of small roads.

Another funny and unusual thing to see are soo many tractors driving along the road. Not just in country towns but even right in the city like earlier in Waterford. Well the reason I bring this up is because following this monster semi we came to a tight curve where he met a tractor pulling a big trailer of hay. The semi stopped, the big blue tractor came around the bend and then we were all on our way again. Just part of the workings of the Irish roads.

With excitement of getting closer to Jo's Cafe and Rooms for the night we began to arrive in Kinsale. However the street that brought us in town was quite backed up and we weren't sure what was happening other than the fact that we had been sitting in traffic waiting to move. Down at the end of the street were hoards of people lining each side of the street, girls in ballgowns and guys in tuxes. It was obvious a big event was happening, but it was also blocking ours and everyone else's path through town. We later found out that it was a debutant affair where they all start in Kinsale and end in Cork.

So by the time we worked our way to the end of this street I was having to ask mom how the clearance was on the left side while trying not to hit someone with my mirror. Well after that it felt like a fast paced whirlwind of streets just everywhere and not knowing the right path to take and a both of us nervous wrecks. We made it up a hill turned into a car park by a fish place and went to ask directions from the Garda (Irish Police). He was very nice and gave us directions.

One of the funny things we learned about the Irish people..when you ask for directions they take you outside and go over your route. It's just funny to think that just being outside would help us to see our path. Even though funny it was always a wonderful experience to be helped by such kind people.

Since Jo's seemed to be just down the road, we decided to take a walk down that way just to make sure and put our eyes on the place. As we came down the street we were excited to finally see Jo's sign. We were greeted by a couple of her employees that work the cafe below her rooms. They gave us a key for Room 7 as we initially reserved a room for double occupancy. We met Jo on our walk to our 3rd floor room. She decided to switch us to the 2nd floor and give us separate rooms. Which worked out quite nicely.

Jo's Cafe & Rooms

My Room - View 1

My Room - View 2

Mom's Room - View 1

Mom's Room - View 1

We asked about parking and Jo mentioned parking was free along the road between 6pm-10:30am. Of course all the spaces seemed to be full and we asked if giving time to eat dinner might allow for something to open up and she said it should. She also recommended a couple places down the way for dinner. We followed her instruction and headed to Max's Wine Bar for an early bird selection.

Mom and I both chose the 5 oysters cooked 3 ways (1 raw, 2 poached in jelly over sour cream and chives, and 2 cooked with bacon around them). 

Mom's Entree Choice:

Parmesan Crusted Cod

My Entree Choice:

Meat Casserole

It's sort of a deconstructed pie - in the center a pile of mashed potatoes, and surrounding it beef pieces, carrots and pearl onions in a red wine sauce.

Our main dishes were accompanied with Irish Soda Bread and that glorious Irish Butter...quite delightful! Veggies of cooked potatoes, red cabbage and broccoli were also served. It was definitely a delicious meal.

We made our way back up to our car praying there would be a spot open up...and hallelujah there was a spot just down from Jo's!!!  We were up to our room and had a quick visit with Jo and her little girl Molly. Such a little cutie! But after a long day it wasn't hard for us to quickly be ready for bed. We had hoped to connect to the internet but were unsuccessful. So showers, pjs, journaling and off to bed we went.

Hoping that I'm keeping some of you still entertained after this 3rd day in Ireland. Such an exciting trip for us! It's taking longer than expected for me to get a new post up but when you've got furry babies walking on your laptop and chewing on cords it can be a bit interesting. So....stay tuned! 

Lachlann's view while I blog...such a little cutie!

~Curls~