Day 20

0700 GMT - Awake again. We shower and dress, bundling up for our walk to breakfast. We stroll to the alley where we ate dinner last night, to find the little breakfast place we had seen on the way. When we locate it, we are surprised to find, despite the sign with their listed hours saying that they open at 0800, the staff are having a meeting and will not be opening until 0830. We start walking looking for another option. We pass a few possibilities, but I am not feeling like just having coffee and pastries and Amy feels a little uncomfortable at the one sit down place we find, so we keep searching. After a while Amy becomes quite aggravated and we begin arguing about which place we should have stopped at. Finally we find somewhere that everyone seems to be happy with. Eamon had been asking for thin pancakes like Maraed had made for him in Bunratty, but when we sit down with the menu he decides on sausage and eggs. I order the French style pancake and a side of bacon, knowing he will probably end up eating what I order again. If he does not, I am sure Connor will. Amy orders oatmeal and toast. My French style pancake turns out to be a monstrosity. It is about 6 inches in diameter, and maybe 1.5 inches thick, and it is somewhat overcooked and black on one side. It is a very good thing that Eamon did not order it. While we eat, I look at our two maps....one of the Ireland roads to plan the route to Dublin, and one the great Dublin street map that Amy bought for me for Christmas. We plot out the drive to Dublin and I even find the little street near St. Stephen's Green where our Apartment is. With this map we won't be driving around aimlessly lost like we did last night. Finally Eamon and I get up and leave Amy and Connor to head back to the hotel and finish packing while we run some errands. We stop in a Pharmacy to pick up a few things and then I FINALLY get into a sporting goods store where I find a 50% off sale and the perfect set of running clothes for cold, misty weather. They are not waterproof, but they are better than layered sweat shirts! We head back to the hotel and I load up the car while Eamon watches a cartoon. Once the car is packed and we are checked out of the hotel, I suddenly realize that I have no idea where the two maps we looked at in the restaurant have gone. I unpack a number of bags, scour my pockets and search the car to no avail. We decide that we must have left them in the restaurant and decide to drive by and check. Unfortunately, we still don't have a map of Cork, and we can't seem to navigate anywhere near the restaurant on the one way streets and suddenly find ourselves trapped in rush hour grid lock. I leave Amy parked illegally, within eyesight of traffic police, and I run (literally) off through the streets to find the restaurant. It takes me a while and I am looping around a bit, but finally I find it. Alas, no maps, the staff didn't find anything. I find my way back to the car, running again, just as the traffic police are telling Amy to move along. She sees I have no maps, but says, "Well, at least you got your run in..." We head out of the city on my memory and following the signs.
1000 GMT - Actually, getting out of the city proves quite easy. We hit the road and make great time. Amy drives and I navigate off the map in the Frommer's Ireland book. It is not as detailed as the rental car map that I lost, but it does the job. I have some rudimentary maps of Dublin in both the Ireland book and the Dublin book that Amy bought for me for Christmas. The towns and scenery flies by, and we avoid stopping to ensure that we can make it to Dublin before dark and meet the apartment manager. Amy had called her from the hotel in Cork and let her know what time we were expecting to make it to Dublin. We stop for lunch in a little town whose name I can't remember and choose the little cafe over the pub inside the hotel. Lunch is quiet and curt, Amy and I are still fuming over yesterday, and I seem to have run out of patience with Eamon. After lunch I take Eamon to a little corner grocery to pick up water, snacks, and he chooses to spend his daily money (this is a new thing we are trying as of today) on a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle comic book. It is more than the 3 euro he is allowed each day, but I chip in the extra 50 cents. We load everyone up in the car, and I take over driving. One more stop for diesel before we hit the city, and the next thing you know we are in Dublin.
1800 GMT - Well, we promised the apartment manager that we would get there by 1800, and we are still navigating traffic when that time rolls around. Despite the map, we struggle to find the way we want to go due to the preponderance of one way streets, and a lack of clear signage. We finally cross the river, but are looping round and round as Amy struggles to read the map, and I struggle with traffic. Finally I pull over into a garage where we are not supposed to be, and switch places. I look at the map, and quickly see where we went wrong. Amy is a much better driver, and I am a much better navigator. This is something we need to remember in the future. Even though Amy argues with me I tell her where to turn and when and next thing you know we are pulled up to the gate in front of the apartment. Amy has the manager open the gate and we park, pledging not to go near the car again until it is time to go home. Amy checks us in and I start unloading the car. I take everything out for the first time in a week, it will all need to be repacked for the trip home. Amy pledges to do the garbage clean up. The apartment manager is very sweet, and shrugs off our apologies for being late when we know she has New Year's plans. She says she still has another tenant who has yet to check in and is several hours late. She gives us a quick tour of the apartment and shows us how to work the appliances. I get directions from her to the grocery and she loans me a sack. The stores charge extra if you don't bring your own sack. I run out to the grocery store to pick up some dinner, choosing some frozen pizzas and some beer. I get back to the apartment to cook the pizza only to find that there is no stove, only a microwave and some electric burners. We get creative and try to cook the pizza in a frying pan.
2000 GMT - Bath time was a big failure. There did not seem to be any hot water and we can't seem to get the heater working. Amy places a call to maintenance, but we realize with tomorrow being New Year's Day, we are unlikely to have much help before Monday, which is still two days away. I set up Eamon's bed by pulling out the couch, only to find that this was not the plan. We decide to leave it pulled out, at least for tonight. I read Eamon some Lemony Snickett, and we are all off to bed.

Day 19

0700 GMT - We awake and decide to have breakfast. Having better prepared ourselves for both the lack of a high chair, and Eamon's volume, we make it through this morning much more efficiently. We finish packing and load up the car. We once more need to pay with cash, so we decide to hike into town, and stop at the stone circle along the way so that Eamon can have a chance to see it and Amy can take some photographs. We make it to the circle with very little complaint from Eamon, and he asks many questions as we look around. There are a couple of other men there as well, and we allow each other respectful quiet. As we start to leave, however, they ask me if I know what this place is. I explain what little I know, and they thank me. As we reach the road, they approach again and ask some additional questions. We strike up a conversation and learn that they are several friends from Barcelona traveling around Ireland for their holiday, all in one van. They are surprised to learn that we are Americans, assuming that we are Irish. Obviously our accents sound the same to those who speak English as a second language. They are fascinated in the fact that we are traveling with the boys, and one of the men is quite interested in Eamon, commenting on how aware he is of everything. Amy asks them if they are a band, since they seem an eclectic group of friends, but they say no, that they are just friends. Two of the men are Rugby players in Barcelona, and Eamon asks what Rugby is. They run to their van to show him a rugby ball. They talk for a little about how important Rugby is to them, saying that very few Spaniards play the sport. They say that it reminds them of the days when their were knights and men lived lives of honor. With great emotion, one of the man offers his Rugby ball to Eamon. Eamon is a bit overwhelmed and at first says no thank you, but when the man explains how important it is to him, and that he wishes for Eamon to have it, because he feels Eamon would appreciate the importance, Eamon accepts the gift and thanks them. They head on their way once goodbyes are shared all around. We pick up cash from the bank and some snacks for the road from the local bakery. Once we pay our hosts, we head out on the road, with Amy at the wheel.
1100 GMT - We take the scenic route to Cork, with our first stop north of the city at Blarney Castle. We are inundated with the smell sheep manure from the moment we enter the park. We hike round the castle grounds, exploring the Witch's Kitchen, Druid's Cave, stone circle, fairy glen and sacrificial, stone altar




Finally we hike to the castle itself. Amy picks up a promised piece of the Blarney Castle for Bob's mother, and we head inside. It is quite small, and in rather good shape, though the main hall has large wooden stairs built to provide access to the upper levels. Once we enter the small tower stairs which wind to the top of the castle, Eamon has a panic attack. We handle it quite poorly, Amy is responding to her own claustrophobia and to Eamon's panicked crying, but finally we manage to get out of the tower and back down. Amy returns to the top on her own so that she can have the opportunity to kiss the Blarney Stone itself.

I stay with the kids, and my frustration is so high, that I decide not to bother going to the top myself. We return to the car and head into the city.
1630 GMT- We are unable to find the address for the hotel on the map of Cork that we have. We spend quite a bit of time driving around, and finally get some directions from a lady who doesn't quite seem to know how to get there, and then from one who does, but they are too confusing to follow. At one point we are stuck in traffic and I hop out of the car to run ahead through the main shopping district and look at the end of the road. I can't see the hotel in either direction. We take a guess and head left along the river until we finally see an officer directing traffic. Amy asks him directions and he tells her to pull over. He leans in Amy's window, but will only look at me while he gives directions. He then stops traffic and allows us to do a U-Turn...had we gone right earlier, we would have passed the hotel. There is no place to park and we end up driving around quite a bit before we finally are able to pull up the gate of the parking lot. They tell us however that the lot is full and we need to drive around front, check in, and pay for parking across the river. Amy is quite cranky, since she selected this hotel for its free parking, and was not told that there were only 15 spots available. I wait in the car while she checks in, and argues with them until they agree to let her in the lot to unload. We unload the car and while I bring the kids and the luggage up to the room, Amy manages to get a spot in the lot as someone else pulls out.
1730 GMT - We decide to walk into the shopping district and try to find some food. We pass a breakfast spot along the way, and decide to go there tomorrow. Next we find a Thai restaurant and decide that it would make a lovely break from pub food. Eamon decides that he likes nothing on the menu, but we talk him into Phad Thai, and he asks for no vegetables. I order a satay appetizer to share with Connor, but as I figured, Eamon decides that this is very yummy, too. The food is good, though not great, with the exception of Eamon's noodles. They had to improvise, and they made him a delicious dish that he loves. We split a dessert, and decide to head out for a little walk. Finally we head back to the hotel, where we all crash for a good night's sleep.