Day 1 in Ireland is over already!
I have managed somehow (and not without getting lost a number of times) to get where I wanted to go, and feed and house myself for the night. I have made no reservations anywhere except Dublin for the last two nights of this trip, so everything else is freestyle. It's 7:00 p.m. and I've showered and I'm ready for bed, so I finally have time to write!
Let's go back to yesterday and the start of my trip. I left town at about 2:15, and by the time I got to Chenoa my cellphone said "no service". That happens momentarily from time to time, so it wasn't until I got to Chicago that I realized what the problem was - I hadn't updated the software on my new phone! I felt really bad because I had told the kids I'd have the phone on until I got on the plane, but I couldn't. It's amazing how cut off you feel without it.
The flight left on time, and was uneventful, though the drive to the terminal from the off-site parking was....interesting. The shuttle driver kept muttering to himself (or maybe to his imaginary friend), saying, "Now I'm focusing on United, I'm focusing on it" (or whatever airline he was watching for at the time). And of course, I was the last to get off, since I was going to Terminal 5. It was funny at first, then it just got weird. I barely slept on the plane, I kept moving my feet. I think the vibration of the plane made me jittery. I would be fine for a few minutes, then I had to move. I didn't watch either of the movies. We didn't have one of the new planes, so they just had TV screens that came down out of the ceiling every few rows. I might have slept a total of two hours or so, but it was fitful.
I got the cutest little car, a Nissan Micra. It's not very nice inside, though. Anything on the front seat goes flying if you brake hard, because the seat is so flat. The car has a major crease on the driver's door and a slightly crumpled fender (not my fault, and duly noted at the car rental before I left), and - as of 3:00 this afternoon - a broken passenger side mirror. I was in Drogheda trying to begin my B&B search when I clipped the side of a parked van. There was no damage to them at all. It sort of wasn't my fault because the van took up part of my lane and there was a big truck coming toward me. Getting ahead of myself again....
Newgrange was unbelieveable! It was everything I had hoped to see and more. We weren't allowed to photograph inside but I took a lot of pictures outside. Inside, the guide showed a simulation of how it looks when the light comes in at the winter solstice. The site is 5000 years old, 1000 years older than Stonehenge, and 500 years older than the Giza pyramids. It's just mind-boggling to think that what we think of as primitive people were actually brilliant engineers. There is an opening above the main entrance where, on the morning of the solstice, the sun's rays come in and light the back of the burial chamber. It is then that they believed the souls of those who had been put here were carried into the hereafter. They had the skills to design this chamber in the exact way it needed to be to admit the first rays of the sun. Amazing!
I then went to Monasterboice to see a couple of high crosses and a round tower. They were way out on some winding roads, but it was actually marked quite well. The crosses were gorgeous, and I had the whole place to myself.
Then I began my B&B search in earnest. I couldn't count the number of times I got lost before I ended up back in Navan. Even then, I got past town and had to go back. I finally just pulled into a B&B and asked if they had a room. I'm afraid to know how much it costs. I didn't ask when I got here because I truly didn't care - I just wanted to be off of the road. The place, (Killyon House) is small and charming, furnished with antiques everywhere. I walked across the road to a hotel for dinner, and the whole time I was sitting I just vibrated. My shoulders hurt from hanging onto the wheel so tightly. It's a lot to have to instantly adjust to both driving a stick shift and driving on the other side of the road without having too many people honk at your errors, and without running afoul of other laws or signs that you don't understand, particularly on the day following an overnight flight.
It's 8:00 p.m. and I am so tired I can barely keep my eyes open. I had intended to map out my route for tomorrow, but I can't even focus, much less think. I'm so glad that I could do Newgrange today - it was even sunny, and they were mowing the grass! I think I will try to take it slower tomorrow. I want to get to Avoca, but I also want to stop more, stretch my legs, take pictures. It is tougher driving without a navigator because I just have to memorize the next step. I can't keep looking at maps.
There are already baby lambs! (And yes, I know that lambs are babies.) I guess it is only about five weeks earlier than the time of year we were here the first time, early April, so maybe I shouldn't be surprised.
Midnight:
I slept a good, solid three hours but can't get back to sleep because in "real life" it's only 6 p.m. I have decided, after poring over maps, that Trim is going to be too much trouble, though I would like to see it. But the castle grounds are closed at this time of year, and it's all small roads to get there. Instead, I am going to head on down to Glendalough and Avoca. Then the next day I can head back to Dublin by a different route and check into my place there in the afternoon as planned. There are bound to be plenty of B&Bs down that way.
I'm not feeling all that thrilled about driving all day tomorrow, but I'm sure I will have a different attitude in the morning. I just hope it doesn't rain, or driving in the mountains won't be so much fun.
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