Have I mentioned why I originally wanted to go to Ireland? Well, let me tell you. I was looking at a map one day (this is after I had already decided to go to Great Britain because I wanted to go back to London and I wanted to see more of the UK than I had four years before - and they speak English), and I thought, "Wow, Ireland is so close to Great Britain - bet that would be easy to get to." And the decision was made. Also, in movies, girls are always safe when they go there alone - so there you have it. I had two perfectly logical reasons to go.
I woke up at the crack of dawn for my day tour - giving myself plenty of time to get to the bus on time. It was leaving at 8:10am for Kilkenny. I may have ended up leaving my hostel late - me? Weird, I know. So unlike me. I HAD to go to Starbucks though and get a coffee and some food - wouldn't be able to survive the hour and a half bus ride without it. True story though. After leaving Starbucks I had ten minutes to find where the bus left from - I had never been there before, of course. The tourist info guy had said it was at Gresham Hotel down the road. So I walked down the road. After four minutes - a little bit of panic started to build up inside of me... but then I saw it! Buses parked in front of... Gresham Hotel across the street! I headed that way and went to board my bus, thinking I had made it early woohoo, yay me! The tour guide said, "Mary?" Woooo how'd she know my name? Oh. I'm the last one. Oops. And just like that we were on our way to Kilkenny! Me and all the retirees on their Valentine's vacation!
One thing that I forgot to mention. The night before, I couldn't find my camera charger and my camera was on low battery. And somehow, my stupid self forgot to charge my phone - so that was the situation as I headed into the Irish countryside. The first stop was Dunmore cave, where we learned of a major Viking battle that took place there. My favorite part of cave tours is always when they turn off all of the lights because no matter how much your eyes attempt to adjust - they can't because there is absolutely no light. It's just so cool!
The next stop was the town of Kilkenny. While in the caves, my camera had died, so when we got to the town I headed to the camera store that my guide had recommended. They did not have the charger that I needed, but they did have a universal charger that the owner promised would work with my battery. I wandered through the town and soaked in the beauty of the quaint town - I have no pictures of the town, but I did manage to snap one of the castle.
The last picture that I took with my phone before it died.
Shortly after we got back onto the bus, I asked the tour guide if I could plug in my (very expensive) universal charger that I had just bought to charge my camera. She had a spot for a car charger (which was of course a part of the package). I was finally able to settle in, knowing that when we got to where P.S. I Love You and Braveheart were filmed, that my camera battery would be charged and ready to go.
After five minutes of peace, the tour guide screamed into the microphone as she was describing the scenery. I looked toward the front of the bus, and saw smoke pouring from the front of the bus. And then I saw the smoke coming towards me. The charger that I had just bought was smoking, and the guide, seeing no other option, unplugged it and raced it back to me and placed it in my hands. So, there I was, holding my smoking charger. Not exactly how I expected my day going. I definitely got some looks.
We then stopped where Braveheart was filmed, and I did not have a camera of any kind. So I soaked in as much as I could to hold onto as a memory. I then had the brilliant idea of asking my guide to take a picture of me, which she graciously did.
This picture doesn't do it justice - but so thankful I got A picture!
The next stop was just as beautiful. And my guide let me take her phone, so that I could at least get a few pictures - and then she sent them all to me later! Although right when I really wanted to get a picture of something - her phone died too. I was so mad, but I couldn't help but laugh. I guess God really wanted me to learn to not lean on technology and just live in the moment and really appreciate His beautiful creation that I was observing.
Never before have I thought that a graveyard was so Beautiful.
I tried to charge my camera again when we were in the hotel at this stop, but it didn't work. My guide then offered to front me the money for the charger and then take it back to the store the next time she was there, which was amazing!
When we arrived back in Dublin, I was feeling a bit defeated. After finally buying a camera charger, I booked a reservation at a show for the evening. I took a shower and got all dressed up and then went to a three course meal and two hour show featuring authentic Irish music and dancing. Because that is what you do when you're traveling alone. No one is there to say, "It's OK that the bus almost caught on fire because of you." So you buy yourself a fancy night out and then all is well with the world again.
The final course - it was divine.
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