Chapter 2-DAY 16 -Waterford to Dublin

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WATERFORD TO DUBLIN

Today we travelled up from Waterford to Dublin – Ireland biggest city. It was mainly a travel day – even more so because our visit to Dublin Castle had its time changed to 4.30pm – making it very tight as we leave at 6.30pm from the hotel for Dinner and Irish Cabaret. We decided to give the castle a miss (we’ve seen a few already!) and have a quiet afternoon to catch up on some rest.

ON THE ROAD
As we travelled across country we saw a number of war memorials in town centres – these were memorials to IRA ‘soldiers’ who had lost their lives in the struggle against the protestants – many had the names of the fallen listed. It’s hard to believe as you pass through one idyllic village after another that such a beautiful country has had to endure so much trouble.

Periodically on the road side we saw concrete slabs (they looked a bit like headstones), they marked spots where the IRA had ambushed British vehicles. You get a real sense of how that could unfold as you drive along, the British slowly and carefully making their way along the road with the IRA hidden in the roadside brush, waiting to pounce. As already stated its hard to reconcile that with the beautiful scenery and normalness of the places we passed through.

There was another uniquely Irish thing we came across (and this is a true story) as we travelled on some new motorways today. Now because they are fairly long and straight the Irish transport people have placed roadside sculptures/artwork etc – this has been done to distract drivers and relieve the boredom by giving them something to look at. It’s no surprise our bus driver George, who drives all over Europe is adamant the Irish are by far the worst drivers on the continent!

KILKENNY
On the way to Dublin we stopped at Kilkenny for a lunch break, Kilkenny boast Ireland’s top hurling team (they are a bit like the Crusaders back home – always the team to beat)! The big final is on next week and the town is awash with yellow and black. It’s great to see the counties flying their colours all over the place; it also gives you a good idea when you are entering a new county when you travel. The green and yellow of Kerry gave way to the red of Cork, then the blue of Waterford before the yellow and black of Kilkenny - which reminded us of home the mighty Wellington Phoenix, looking forward to the new season.
While we were in the town centre we came across something pretty weird – Fish Pedicures! You put your foot in a fish tank full of small fish (hopefully no Piranha!) and they nibble all the nasty little bits and pieces you have accumulated off your feet leaving them spotlessly clean! Didn’t have time to try one but if we come across something similar in UK will give it a go.

DUBLIN
When we checked into our hotel in Dublin the Connacht rugby team (Irish club side) where doing the same. I recognised Henry Fa’afili former Warrior and Kiwi League rep (not sure if there are any other Kiwis in the team).
After a relaxing day we headed out to Dinner and an Irish Cabaret – it was a night of comedy, dance, song and music – and it was a great night. The comedian Noel V Ginnty was hilarious and had us in stitches. There was an enthusiastic dance troupe of six who performed a variety of traditional Irish Dances plus a Tenor (who was very good) and a Soprano (who was Ok). The Tenor was the splitting image of one of my cousins – Murray Hill (see pic at very bottom of Blog - this may be below the advert at the base). There was much hilarity and plenty of fun was had by all.

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Photos

Star of the Show
Top Irish Comedian - Noel v Ginnty

Kilkenny
Irelands home of hurling, gearing up for the big final!

Fish Pedicure
Now thats something different!

Irish Cabaret
A great night out