Day 45: Kilkenny Loving

Thursday - July 1, 2010:

Happy July!!

This morning we woke up at 9:15, went straight down to breakfast (again in our pajamas) and tried to find Patti to tell her we were ready to eat. Well she wasn't anywhere to be found so we ended up waiting till 9:45 when Patti came out for us. While waiting we entertained ourselves by reading her 1990s Cottage Living magazines in the painting room.

Delicious breakfast again -- eggs, bacon and corn flakes with peaches. Patti can throw it down for breakfast! I had heard that Irish breakfasts were good and that is no lie!

After breakfast we laid around the house a little bit longer. Then we got ready and went on a hike in the area behind her house. We were supposed to hike up to an ancient burial ground but we couldn't find it by looking at the map Patti had drawn us, so we just walked around on the path until we found this pretty bridge to take pictures on!

{Trying to interpret the map Patti drew for us...}

{Becca doing what she does best}

{Any opportunity for a photo and we are there -- for example, this abandoned tractor}

{Irish countryside!}

{The bridge we found along the path}

{The view from the bridge}

{Just exploring Patti's backyard...}

{And we broke out the umbrellas again. They just make the pictures look so cute -- can't help it!}

{But with a good gust of wind and Caitlyn and Shellie were almost goners}

{The path back to the house}

{The greenhouse on Patti's lot of land -- it's really cool at night!}

{The spiral staircase leading to Oswald's (her cat) room}

{Inside the greenhouse}

When we got back to the house we had an hour before we needed to start walking to the bus, so I sat in the painting room and blogged (it's stressing me out how far behind I am!). Patti told us there was a bus that'd take us to Kilkenny (the biggest town near by) at 2:00, so at 1:45 we left to walk to the bus stop. A few of the girls ran to make sure we were there by 1:55 and we all made it there by 2:00. Ok well 2:10 rolls around and we are really hoping we didn't miss it... Or we really hope Patti wasn't lying... We don't know how reliable her information is... Oh the woes of public transportation. So we make a decision to call some taxis and see how long it'd be for them to come get us, but with a party of 11 (Katelyn's brother met up with us and is going to be with us here and in Dublin), you aren't exactly a taxi drivers favorite ride. The last driver we called suggested that we wait a bit before we start walking (or hitch hiking) because the buses are typically late, so we did. Well darn it if the bus didn't show up 5 minutes after we got off the phone with him! We were so excited -- picture 11 people jumping up and down, trying to flag down a bus. The driver was laughing at us but we didn't care, were just glad we didn't have to walk! So we paid our 4 Euros and rode to Kilkenny.

The driver let us off and we were in the cutest town I've ever seen! It is exactly what I pictured an Irish town to look like. We couldn't believe it, but we were getting a bit hungry and since dinner isn't until 9:00ish, we decided to find a pub and get some lunch.

{Where we waited for about thirty solid minutes}

{We finally made it to Kilkenny (pronounced Kill-Kenny)}

We found this cute pub called Rafters and sat down, promptly ordered us each a pint of cider (eek!) and placed lunch orders. The place had free WiFi so I was loving that!

{Cider for everyone!}

{You know you want some}

After out first Irish pub experience, we walked around Kilkenny to see the town. As we were walking (and I was falling more and more in love with this town) we stumbled upon a bakery advertising cupcakes and Pavlovah (that delicious dessert Kasi had yesterday), so we stopped and all got a treat!

{Trying to decide what treat to order! Tough choice...}

{Walking in Kilkenny}

We were going to get a later taxi back to the house, but we opted for the earlier bus option instead. It picked us up around 6:00 (never runs exactly on time) and it was about a 30 minute (windy, car-sickening ride) back to the Cullintra House drop-off.

{Waiting for the bus back to the house (or better said, the drop off .1 km away from the house)}

{Oh public transportation! Never on time in Ireland, but it gets us where we need to go}

Dinner was again prepared by Patti! But we had to wait until 9:30 to eat -- I am thinking Patti doesn't have a concept of time... Surprise surprise! So when she finally gongs us (yes she beats a gong to tell us dinner is ready) for dinner, we all bolt downstairs as if we haven't eaten all day!

Dinner was scrumptous, again! Tonight she served chicken that had been marinated with bacon and 25 other spices, pork, potatoes and the most delicious salad I've ever tasted! She was so funny trying to come by and refill our plates -- we all had to practically put our hands over our plates and say "enough" or else she would have emptied her whole refrigerator on us!

I didn't think I could fit more food in my stomach.. Until she started taking dessert orders! Tonight she had rubarb pie or ice cream and strawberries. Well I tried the rubarb but it just didn't do it for me, so I stuck with ice cream and strawberries! Still delicious.

After dinner we had to pack up (which is getting easier and quicker as the summer goes on) and shower. Our last night in Patti's... how will I ever get along without her in my life?!