From Dingle to Tullemore

XIII BLOG Toto Travels
23 May,  Monday


Post office day, we got a box and then packed our souvenirs to mail. It was ridiculously expensive, but we didn't want to lug another bag around, so we mailed the box. Goodbye to Kathleen at Harbour Nights and off toward the Dublin area. 
The weather is still unsettled, Mike took a coastal road and we watched the waves crash. At one beach that was not protected and faced the ocean directly, the wind was blowing and swirling and so badly that the sand obscured visibility. Ugh.
We diverted ourselves to the wrong road at some point around Killarney, but Mike kept going in the right direction and we eventually ended up on the correct road to Adare, County Limerick. His sense of direction is almost always dead on, unlike mine.
Adare was a great stop for lunch. I told Mike I wanted him to see the thatched roof houses and the Visitor's Center.  We ate lunch at The Blue Door Restaurant, loved it.

We had planned to go on N7 to Dublin from Limerick, but we turned at Nenagh on N52 which eventually took us all the way up to the M6 and to Dublin on Tuesday. We arrived in County Offaly on our re- route due to Obama's visit and were about 12 to 15 km from the town of Moneygall when Obama landed there to have his Guinness with distant cousins. That was about as close as you could get due to security.  We listened to the radio commentary and excitement about Obama's visit and it was pretty funny.  Mike got tired of the radio yakking and insisted I turn it off. 

 There was a wee unplanned detour, someone had switched the signs shortly before the town of Birr, and had the N52 sign pointed to the right. After less than 1/2 mile, on a narrowing road we knew something was NOT right and went back to the main road.  Several places I would have liked to seen in Birr, but not this trip.
After a stop at the TI in Tullemore, just south of the M6 between Galway and Dublin, we had a room booked at the Central Hotel. We checked in and had a chat with the desk clerk, Sinead, about the French tourists. It seems as a group on a tour, we are not the only ones that find them aggressive and offensive.
The room is lovely with a little balcony and view of the town park. 
We ate Italian tonight at a place recommended by the TI ladies, called Mezzo. No Guinness, but the hotel has a pub. The chicken ceasar salad was really good, a welcome salad oasis in the salad desert of Ireland. The term "salad" in the British Isles usually means something quite different than my concept of salad.

In Tullemore several people asked us about our President's visit and were rather surprised we had not stopped everything to watch the festivities. The Irish, without exception, were very excited about President Obama's visit, unlike the mixed reaction to the visit of Queen Elizabeth II. Of course history certainly explains the difference in outlook.

Back to the hotel where I went to the lobby to check email and have a glass of milk which Sinead got for me without charge.
To top it off I got a glass (yep, just a ha'pint) of Guinness for our last night in Ireland. Took it up to the room, got my jammies on, and had my Guinness in bed. Mike thought that was hilarious and took a photo. Slainte!