Glendalough and Kilkenny: Grand Beauty and Serenity, then a lot of Beer,

So yesterday was a fantastic day for a lot of reasons;
1- I got 9 hours of sleep, Which was beautiful.

 But I went to sleep at 8 pm Ireland time, so I was bright eyed and bushytailed at 5 a.m. Nicole was snoring in the bed next to me, so I broke out the Ipod and waited until about 7:30 to get in the shower, then I tormented her mercilessly with my chipperness.

2, We ate Full Irish Breakfast-  Bacon, Ham, Eggs, Sausages, and Black and white pudding. delicious.


When we walked in the dining room we saw a counter with a lot of ceral, fruit, juices, and breads. Being used to "conitinental Breakfast" in the U.S.  I started loading up a plate.
I drank 3 glasses of apple juice, and had a chocolate croissant shoved in my cheeks like a squirrel hoarding nuts when she asked us what we wanted COOKED for breakfast, so I just pointed to the Full Irish and gave her a thumbs up haha. Good move  ;)

3.  Driving was GREAT.

We got all of our stuff ready, Thanked Fiona and looked at the car like it was a death trap.  Then we smiled, looked at each other, and said a little prayer haha. Suprisingly enough, we did 100% better on the roads today, Im actually worried that after 2 weeks of this we will come home and want to drive on the left. Yikes! to all who told me"  Don't do it!" Yes, the roads are narrow, but the cars are alot smaller. Driving on the left takes a couple of days but we are really ( well Nicole is driving) getting the hang of it, and its wonderful to see the scenery this way  :)

4.) GPS WORKS!!
We found Glendalough very easily thanks to our BFF, the GPS. We were having a strained relationship with it the first day, but it shaped up and worked beautifully yesterday.

5. Glendalough was GORGEOUS.
Peaceful and serene, the scenery was simply indescribable. We saw St Kevin's Church and Cell, The Round Tower, The Monastery and of course the waterfall. We stood by the lake and just breathed Ireland in. Most of the sites are uphill. WAY uphill, so we were getting quite a workout! We decided it was time to head to Killkenny for a pint  ;)

6. Nicole vs, the "roundabout"

Simply hilarious.

For being such a small city, Killkenny is BUSY. There are so many roundabouts that it is unreal, We got to our B and B, eventually, haha and got checked in around 3:30 pm. We then headed for food since we hadnt eaten since breakfast. Nicole learned that a hungry Randi is a cranky Randi, and after a 5 minute spat we credited our loss of patieence to the fact that our stomachs were eating themselves.

7. Steak and Champ. Mmmmm....

Champ is mashed potatoes with green onions and tons of butter. Mom, it's amazing. We ate at the Marble City Bar, a beautiful Pub and Restaurant that was the oldest Pub in Killkenny before the current owner apparently bought it and, much to the dismay of residents, fixed it up all fabcy-like haha, Delicious and great atmosphere.

8. Nightlife in Killkenny.

So.            Much.             FUN.

We met some wonderful people. I haven't laughed that hard,    Ever.  Everyone was very respectful when I explained that I had a boyfriend and was just here to make friends, which was great,  We sat and talked to a couple of different groups, loving the way they are 100% brutally honest, The pub seemed more like a comedy club.  I was drinking cider by the pint, Nicole was loving her Guinness, and we were laughing so hard I thought we were going to fall off our bar stools. At one point a man walked in with 2 huge guys who he claimed were his "bodyguards". So I sad "Oh really, then you must think you are important. Who are you?"  he said  he was Daniel Craig (007's) stunt double, that he was from Ireand and I should go home with him. Well that didn't go over well with me, this was the first guy that had been what I deemed as rude since I explained I had a boyfriend and just wanted to make friends. Seeing me get angry made the group we were with angry so one of the guys satnds up and says "Eh, you! (pointing to supposed 007)  Fuck off ya bastard! She's eere to have fun and you are being an ass! You arent even Irish! Your Polish! Ya goddamn LIAR!!"   Bahahahaha, That shut him up. Then my new friend said "There ya go love! watch out for 'em, you ladies are gorgeous and gonna get alot of that. Get her anothr cider on me bartender! Cheers."

Band was amazing, it was traditional Irish night ( I have video) a friend we made sang with the band a bit and was very good, He was a sweetheart. Besides Mr "007" we loved everyone we met, they were hilarious, good spirited and very understanding of the fact that I had a boyfriend. It was amazing.

Finished up the night at a bar/nightclub down the street for a bit, grabbed some take-a-way fish and chips, and then took a taxi home and climbed the stairs to our room to flat out crash.  Wonderful. 

Sorry the blog was a little behind, we didnt have internet last night, but we are staying in Killkenny again tonight because it is a music festival weekend. Yay!