All(th)ebest Moments: June 23: Drive from Dublin to Killarney

This was the right length of time in Dublin - we have loved it but we're ready to see more of the country! Erik and I left early for a short run, leaving the kids to exercise and get ready on their own. I had hoped for a quick pack-up and check-out time, and it only took two hours. :/ Even with the kids this much older, it just always takes longer to pack and clean than I expect.

Erik and Stone had picked up the giant rental van the night before while we were at Riverdance, so it was ready and waiting outside our apartment. Erik seated himself behind the wrong-side steering wheel and we all held our breath as we plunged into the disorienting and terrifying mirror-image traffic. He did great and we eventually (kind of) got used to it, telling him "you're doing great, Dad!!" and laughing nervously as cars constantly looked like they were going to smash into us head-on.

We love family road trips – we sing our hearts out together, Erik usually tells stories and asks the kids questions about their goals and futures, and we have really wonderful, often hilarious discussions. Screen-time is only allowed for short rests in between lots of family talking and singing.

First stop: Kilkenny, which I remembered from my choir trip to the British Isles when I was 18. We had lunch in an upstairs café in the cute little tourist-overrun town, then walked to the castle for a mildly interesting tour. Luckily we were all on the same page interest-wise, and we walked quickly, laughing our heads off at awkward old portraits and improperly set-up chess boards.

Next stop: Jerpoint Abbey, a 12^th Century monastery where Cistercian monks lived lives of austerity until the anti-Catholic King Henry VIII sent a demolition crew to knock down the walls and ceilings, rendering it uninhabitable. We wandered around the evocative ruins in wonder, taking photos in the summer sunlight.

Next stop: The Rock of Cashel, site where St. Patrick baptized Celtic pagan King Aengus in 450 C.E. (and a subsequent Normal castle was built later). Erik hadn’t slept well yet on the trip (he and Sophie suffered the most from jet lag for some reason), and his brain battery was draining hard from navigating the narrow left-side streets, so he stayed in the car and slept while the other five of us hiked up the hill to the fortress. The kids' moods were buoyant and the green hills and golden sun were spectacular - we could have stayed on that hill for hours.

Next, dinner at an Indian restaurant! It was... Indian-ish. We ordered a few curries, and they came out so brightly colored that we wondered if they had melted crayons into the cream. They were tasty but extremely sweet, an almondy-coconutty curry tasted like melted marzipan. Still yummy but just kind of weird.

More driving.... thankfully the car has a USB port so I turned on an awesome dance party playlist from my phone in the car as we made our way to Killarney National Park. We crashed at a hotel and slept like rocks (except poor Erik and Sophie again).

Kilkenny Castle

Monastery ruins of Jerpoint Abbey

The view of the Rock of Cashel from the car

The Celtic Christian stone crosses in the Rock of Cashel graveyard

Inside the Rock of Cashel

Unbelievably green, gorgeous landscape from the castle hill, and the photos below are just some of the many many photos we took up there

These are out of order and it will take me too long to figure out how to fix it. :) This is Kilkenny again, from the beginning of the day

Kilkenny

Lucy has been so happy and so inclusive and lovely to Sophie, especially lately

These three mannequins in Kilkenny castle demonstrated how medieval knights would protect the castle. We walked in and Erik immediately said, "Ok Lindsay and Lucy, kiss, marry, kill." I could not stop laughing, and to my great embarrassment we all debated about the three while other tourists no doubt listened to our fine representation of American culture.