To Kilkenny We Will Go

We left Dublin yesterday for Kilkenny. Jon drove the rented car, mastering the left-hand driving exceptionally well. Beth was navigator. So I got to enjoy the scenery. For the first hour we zigged and zagged our way out of Dublin into the outskirts and then finally into the countryside. I enjoyed seeing the first private homes along the route, light or pastel in color, with neatly clipped hedges, small immaculate lawns and steeply sloped roofs.

We stopped at Powerscourt Gardens and took the walk through the park-like grounds scattered with statues, an old stone tower with cannon, a Japanese style pagoda set near a little creek and many rhododendron bushes in various bright colors. I remarked several times that at every turn there was a new delightful vista of lawn and flowers. The stone reception building had the look of an old manor house though I do not know its history; it had a restaurant and several shops. We bought a few snacks and continued on our way. We had a long drive.

I was not aware of our assent until the wayside flowers disappeared and we were crossing Wicklow Mountain. It was definitely NOT green there! The landscape was all browns and grays, with low growing scrubby bushes and clumps of long gray grasses, subsisting on thin rocky soil. There was no habitation for miles, except one pick-up truck parked on the side of the road and, barely visible, about a quarter mile away, a small shack or lean-to. Suddenly, we were surprised to meet a huge tour bus: Jon pulled over and stopped the car, so the bus could get by on the narrow, barely two-lane, road.

When the twisty, sometimes bumpy, road began to descend, the ubiquitous wild shrub that grows along the roadsides, hedgerows and hillsides reappeared, covered with masses of flowers the color of goldenrod. As we came to the valley floor, we saw sheep, not much past lambing time, with lots of little ones lying near their mothers. Now the landscape was green again, all shades of green.

At the Gardens we had sunshine but one thing was certain, the sky was always changing. It did not rain, however, until our next stop at Glendalough. Jon needed a rest after all the difficult mountain driving so Beth and I visited the local craft shop to let him take a short nap in the car. We brought back coffee and continued on. The rain was short, went from sprinkles, to drizzle to short downpour and subsided.

Now we saw dairy cows in pastures, small farms, rural homes, and all those green colors, so many that when I spied a bright yellow field, I speculated on what it must be. We decided it must be mustard though we have not checked that out with the local people yet. Not far from Kilkenny we turned onto a major highway so driving was much easier for Jon.

In Kilkenny Jon and Beth were surprised by a friend who was also traveling in Ireland, having been working here on an organic farm, and Marianne will join us as we continue to Killarnny next.