Welcome to THE ROCK

Ireland really is green.. everywhere. I thought it was only partially true.. but no.. it is greentastic.

We arrived yesterday on time and got off the plane without a hitch. Then we stood in a massive line waiting to get through customs. As you can imagine, my patience ran thin after a disneyland-esque queue, which curved around corners, led us through narrow hallways with low ceilings and cloud wallpaper, and finally into a tiny hot room with lines that didn't make sense. After waiting and waiting, with load of people behind us to start, I ended up being the last person to get through. I'll spare you the details of my lack of patience and general crabbiness. But if you know me, you can now start feeling sorry for Lala. Public apology to her!!!

We flipped a coin and Lauryn ended up driving. She did really well. In our imaginations, Kilkenny was a small town. We were armed with two maps, a beer proof one (thanks, Kate!) and a large Lauryn sized map that I didn't even begin to mess with but figured we'd be able to find our accommodations easily. Wrong! Long story short: Kilkenny is a big place and we had no idea where our Bed and Breakfast was. We drove through town a few times before stopping at a gas station and getting directions. The man told us to turn left at the pub, and left at the roundabout. We asked which pub and he stared blankly while nibbling on his lip. Lauryn said, 'you drive..' and I did. Left at the pub, left at the roundy, and there was our B&B. I like Irish people.

After settling in, our 'brisk 15 minute walk to town' turned out to be more like an epic journey, but we needed it to stay awake. It was raining pretty hard, but most locals don't carry an umbrella and more than you could imagine didn't even have a rain coat on.. just walking through the rain like it was nothing. The kids cuss like sailors, and a lot of the shops displays are haphazard and nothing seems to have any kind of order. Kilkenny Castle is beautiful inside and out, yet the inside is so tiny because the castle walls are about 10ft thick! I am thoroughly charmed. And the food is fine! Can't complain.

Earlier today we drove out to Rock of Cashel- a rock on a hill that has been called home by royalty and later Archbishops of Munster. Highlights were: driving narrow roads in the rain, hitting a cone and hearing Lauryn say, 'oh, cone!', seeing the Lepers' squint (window into church where the Lepers of town were hidden from the audience), repeating 'welcome to THE ROCK' all day (thanks, Brad!), hearing the story of Cashel's largest Celtic cross commissioned by a man named Scully who wanted it placed atop his mausoleum- 101 years later it exploded in a lightening storm because the artist used an iron rod to support the massive cross!!, chatting with the Cashel cafe owner and telling her that a ham salad sandwich sounds really disgusting to most Americans, getting schooled that a sandwich with 'salad' in the title simply means it has lettuce and tomato... the list goes on. It was a great day!

Tomorrow we're off to Cork and Kinsale.. where most McCarthy's are from. p.s. Hortence, McCarty's do not exist here :( We were cheated of our H at Ellis Island.

Thanks for reading! I hope it has cooled down over on the Peninsula.. I was happy to leave that hotness. :)