County Tipperary & Kilkenny (Thursday)

I'll get the bad (and rapidly becoming ridiculous) news out of the way first: Air "Farce" as someone I know recently called it (I can think of another F-word I'd like to add to that re-naming) has continued to be very courteous and sympathetic on the phone while accomplishing absolutely nothing once they hang up. I have to start my story over from the beginning every time I talk to someone. The guy I spoke with this evening must have finally had his Gallic indifference pierced by the utter despair and distress that finally leaked through my voice when he cheerfully announced to me after looking up my reference number, "Oh, your bags were picked up and delivered on August 10th!" because he told me he would check into it and call me back within 15 minutes. And then about 15 minutes later, the person who actually called me was a worker at the actual baggage counter in Dublin who said that he thought my bag was probably still sitting at the Shannon Airport and that he would call them, but their counter closed at 3:00pm (of course!). He assured me he would leave a message for his colleague to get right on this tomorrow morning so I could have my bag delivered before I go home again. When I told him I've heard that all week long from Air France with no result, he basically said, "Air France doesn't know what they're doing," which made me feel a teeny tiny bit better. At this point, I'll believe I'm getting my bag back when I actually see it before me. Meanwhile, I've already started making a mental list of all the things I'll have to try to replace once I get home. Hopefully Air France will handle reimbursing me better than they've handled this situation. I can't believe I'm still being optimistic about them, but apparently I am.


Turning to the good part of this visit, yesterday Diana and I drove out to the famous Rock of Cashel in County Tipperary. We lucked out on some gorgeous, sunny weather, and below are some pictures of the typical sceneray we'd see driving to and from all of our various destinations, as well as a small cemetary we happened upon.

I am too brain-dead and full of Guinness right now to remember the details of its exact history, but the Rock of Cashel was primarily a cathedral/monastary/fortress dating all the way back to the 1200s. It truly was an awesome sight, towering overhead as we walked towards it, and the views all around it were equally beautiful. One of my favorite moments, though, was seeing an old pick-up truck drive onto one of the fields below and start rounding up the cows by driving behind them and honking at them while they trotted reluctantly forward and mooed in protest. I guess the horse has been replaced by a Datsun. It was a bit too small and far away to capture on camera. So, Rock of Cashel and its surroundings below:

After exploring the ruins, we had a relaxing lunch in this lovely garden, an experience only slightly tarnished by the fact that I had to wipe about six tablespoons of mayonnaise off of my sandwich.

After lunch, we headed to Kilkenny and spent some time walking up and down the streets. Diana went off to explore some of the historic sites while I then hit some shops trying to find a few more clothes to wear since, nice as it is, I was getting really tired of that grey jacket. We had an early dinner at this bistro/cafe that had, and I am not exaggerating, the best ice-cream ever. That bit of delightfulness was capped by the amazing experience of seeing and hearing Dennis O'Driscoll and Seamus Heaney read their poetry in St. Canice's Cathedral at the end of town. I had never heard of Dennis O'Driscoll before, but I'm so glad I got to hear him read and speak because he was so witty and his poems were both moving and hilarious (there's one about a sneeze that I must find at some point). His poetry is very clear and accessible--definitely a narrative poet, and a fun one at that. Seamus Heaney started his reading with some of his poetry from the 1970s that, honestly, is not my favorite. He read in a bit of a quiet mumble and I was so tired and warm and soothed that I found myself starting to doze just the tiniest bit after the first few minutes. Of course, I caught myself immediately and was horrified. I'm hearing a Nobel Prize winner read his poetry! I can't doze off! Two of the poems he read later are particular favorites of mine (his sonnets about his mother), so I was definitely alert and enraptured during that part. Definitely a historic event as he has not read in Kilkenny since the 1970s and is pretty much a living legend in Ireland. The event, needless to say, was sold out.

Today was the long Ring of Kerry tour. More on that and pictures tomorrow. It's time to put my few clothes in the dryer and get ready for bed.