Friday, August 17, 2012

Waterford, IRE 2012



Waterford 5/8/12
So there we were, checking out of the Trinity Capital Hotel and grabbing a cab for a short yet confusing ride to the rental car place. See ya Dublin, now it starts…. Hey, whats bigger than a Smart Car and smaller than a Mini? The very nice people behind the desk of the car rental place explained just how to get out of town… an easy way that didn’t require GPS. The truth however is that it took about 25 minutes of left hand turns, asking strangers for directions, and completely stressful roundabout driving… and I wasn’t the driver. Somehow by the grace of God we made it out of the city and continued a somewhat “white knuckled” trip on very small tight roads to Glendalough. This place was now the oldest I had ever seen (11th Century) Medieval and absolutely brilliant! This is the ancient Irish place one envisions with its Celtic crosses, weathered graves, monastic ruins, and fantastical landscapes. The Wicklow mountains contained fields of the sweetest vanilla smelling yellow flowered thorn bushes. It was misting and a bit wet but absolutely incredible and intense experience.
 After several trips down the left side of the same roads (one was an area where ‘Braveheart’ was filmed) we found our direction. We continued on to Waterford fully frazzled from the drive. I personally, not being the driver, could have used a few pints… We stopped into a kind little pub along the road for a chicken and dressing sandwich then continued into the unknown. A few passes by our hotel in Waterford and we finally found it. The Atheneum House was a stately ‘Downton Abbey’ looking place and a breath of relief after a stressful driving but amazing day. We were told that walking into town would take about 15 minutes. Driving at this point was out of the question, yet I believe we walked at least 2 miles into town. I was beginning to notice a theme in the  “Irish directions”…I’ve heard that part of my family comes from the Cork/Waterford area so this was a great opportunity to sort out the vibe of this town. We walked passed several pubs, Inns, and colorful buildings all in a row on our way to Reginald’s Tower.The ancient Viking tower was absolutely brilliant and now the oldest thing I had seen (900 A.D.) It was a fantastic museum in a tower of vibes and history that I did not expect to encounter. Off a tip from the locals, we headed to T & H Doolan’s pub which is the oldest pub in the area. We stepped in for some traditional Irish stew & local ales and ended up staying for live traditional music several hours later. This place is a must see for the blown glass windows, a wall inside from the ancient city of Waterford, and the place that Sinead O’Connor regularly sang at before becoming famous. It was  a great time despite the old drunken homeless guy outside talking to himself and everyone else in very expressive language…oh, and the smelly Austrians at the pub who must tend not to be fond of deodorant. Oh, “Stinky Rick Steves” looking guy and the sometimes rude “Euro”crowd could not keep us away from the local cool Irish folks. Now out of concern for safety, the darkened un-researched streets, and unfamiliarity with the town I was all over hiring a cab for the way back. No, we were not going to walk back in a dark strange sea port… Liza and I found a cab after visiting a now vacant cab stand on George St. Thank God he was looking out for us. It’s been a long amazingly interesting, and intense day. A wee bit of Jameson & Coke and it’s off to bed as the RTE plays on the tele….
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