Allison's Wonderland

So after the mishap with the car we were on our way to discover the Emerald Isle with just our suitcases, a good sense of direction, Micah's Dad's GPS, and lots and lots of excitement! We started out at the Guinness Storehouse. Found out some interesting information in regards to the Made in Ireland ONLY stout. Arthur Guinness, founder of Guinness Brewery, signed a 9,000 year lease for the property in Dublin, Ireland in order to produce his beer. Longest lease ever signed in history. The Place was pretty cool and was decked out in all glass. On the 7th floor was the Gravity bar. It had 360 degree views of Dublin, Ireland which were pretty amazing. Guinness on the other hand…not so amazing. It was really kind of gross. We each got a pint while we were in the Gravity bar at the end of our tour and we just couldn’t drink it!

Just plain terrible. After the Storehouse we headed to the Powerscourt Estate where the movie “The Count of Monte Cristo” was filmed. The house was gorgeous although they screwed it up, by having shops inside instead of having it decorated period style. We took pictures and walked around the beautiful gardens. Just breathtaking. They had these Japanese gardens with palm trees in Ireland. I never knew a palm tree could grow there. After taking a bazillion pictures we headed to Glendalough pronounced Gleann Da’ Loch. I was saying it wrong the whole time. Whoopsy! This place was cool. Glendalough is originally a Christian settlement of which me and Micah argued about its origins for awhile. Side note, I’m right she’s wrong…moving on, this place was founded in the 6th century by St. Kevin who was a hermit priest. He just wanted to get away, but then a bunch of people showed up to his hermit settlement. Worst. Anyway, Micah was freezing because she did not bring warm enough clothes and Shaun, well he slipped and almost fell in the creek, and almost busted his camera. Thankfully all he got was a scratched arm, and his camera came out clean.

We were on our way to Kilkenny after our visit to Glendalough. Not knowing what to expect, since tonight meant our first stay in our first Irish Bed and Breakfast. Actually, this was my first stay in a Bed & Breakfast in all my life. The name of the B&B was Castlefield just in case you ever find your way to Kilkenny. I highly recommend! We found the place and on the outside it didn’t not look like anything special. Just a regular little Irish home. We were late getting there and I have never done this before so I was nervous we wouldn’t be able to get in. We ring the doorbell, knock and no one answers. We stand there for a little and still no one comes. Finally after ringing the doorbell several more times and knocking, a little lady cuter than life, answers this door.
This is where the title of my blog comes in. This woman was the cutest little Mrs. Doubtfire you ever did see. She had the cutest Irish accent and was wearing an apron. After she got us settled in our three twin bed room I went to hand her our B&B vouchers and asked her if it was okay if I ripped it using spit. She was like, “Oh Petal. Doesn’t bother me one bit.” She called me Petal! See what I’m saying?!? Cutest little hostess ever. She gave us a recommendation on where to eat because the three little travelers were famished. We head into the town center and Kilkenny is just the cutest little Irish town ever just like Joan. Seriously if you ever get to Ireland you MUST go here. We were there during a comedy festival called the Cat Laughs Comedy Festival and these were the best dressed people I’ve seen in Ireland. We looked way underdressed. We found this restaurant that Joan recommended called Edward Langton’s. It’s locally owned (LOCAL yeah!) and had these beautiful stained glass skylights in the middle. It had the most wonderful atmosphere and it was just lovely. We ended up getting a bottle of wine that was so good…(I forget what it’s called but I’m sure I will remember later). Joan told us we were only allowed one drink, so obeyed. Especially since I was the driving gill. I cannot stress how wonderful this restaurant was. Also, our waitress didn’t charge us for our 23 Euro bottle of wine, but we told the steward and he was so thankful cause we paid for it and were honest! Trying to make a good American impression on the Irish. Anyway, we still wanted to drink some more wine so we stopped at gas station and picked up another bottle to take back to the B&B. This was so funny. We get back and pull out our little chalkboard that we’ve been using and write “Don’t Tell Joan” because we drank more than one drink. We were being so silly! After a most wonderful day, we finally got ourselves into bed after taking the hottest, best pressure, shower ever. More to come on the Irish trip!