Family Visit - Day One: Dublin to Cork

On Friday morning my family arrived in Dublin airport. "My family" meaning my mom (Kim), sister (Kelsey), brother-in-law (Dan), grandpa (Ron), grandma (Gloria), and my mom's friend (Rita). The original plan was that we would rent two cars, with my mom and me driving, and head down to Cork. When we got to the rental car counter, we found out that even with two cars there was no way we were going to fit all 7 of us and the luggage into the two small cars they had reserved. The solution? A big red van! Yep, we all piled into a big, red passenger van, with me behind the wheel.

Along the way to Cork we stopped in a town called Cashel. We had some really tasty soup and sandwich at a little place named Ladyswell Restaurant and then headed to the main attraction of the town - The Rock of Cashel. It was an amazing place to visit and look out over the countryside. And there was actually someone buried there just a year ago. Here are some photos from our stop there:


When we arrived in Cork, we ended up going around almost the entire city before finding our B&B - The Garnish House. It's not that the B&B was really that hard to find, it's just that we got diverted onto the wrong street and then there were a ton of one-ways, etc. But it was well worth it to get to The Garnish House because it was absolutely a brilliant place to stay. The owner, "Hansi", generously welcomed us with tea, coffee, raspberry jam, fresh baked scones, and various other baked goods. It was like an afternoon feast.

After settling into our rooms, some of the family took a brief nap. Then it was off into downtown Cork for dinner - which ended up being much more of an adventure than originally anticipated. Now remember, I'm driving around a huge van and the streets were made much more for compact cars. So after not finding any street parking, we finally decided to enter a parking garage. Then we noticed the vehicle height clearance bars. Slowly, I creeped the van under the first bar - success! As I got about half way under the second bar we heard it hit the top of the van and saw the bar start swinging. But at that point we were already basically in, so why turn around - right? Plus we had managed enough foresight to get the insurance coverage with no deductible ha.

We ate at Clancy's Bar Restaurant on Princes Street. I guess there wasn't really anything special about the place, but the food, drinks, and prices were decent. People were still pretty jet-lagged so we made it an early night.