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Published: March 20th 2008
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Singapore to Ireland
Fri 14 - Sat 15th March 2008 It’s 10am Saturday morning, 15th March. I am starting today’s diary on the train from Dublin to Kilkenny.
It’s been a long journey getting here, 21 hours ago since we set out for Changi Airport in Singapore. We spent our last day in Singapore at the zoo - do not miss the zoo if you’re in Singapore, it’s fantastic. We had breakfast with the orang-utans (as in literally right next to them, no cages, just sitting there next to us) and you can touch many of the animals. Our favourite section was the Fragile Forest enclosure, where the animals literally roam around you and you can pat them. Again, no cages. We met the sweetest stripey black and white lemur who sat there quite demurely while we stroked him and gave him a scratch behind the ears. His fur was soft and I so wanted to pick him up for a cuddle.
We checked out of our hotel at 6pm then came a long wait at the airport (4 hours). This is the first “big” city I have been to, Melbourne being probably the biggest so far, and
we were pretty amazed at the size of the airport (we hadn’t hit Heathrow yet...). Reagan had fun going from terminal to terminal in the sky train. We flew from Singapore into Heathrow London , changed planes to Dublin then headed to Dublin Heuston station to catch the train down to Kilkenny. We have about an hour and a half on the train now to get down to Kilkenny. Pretty exhausted, especially Reagan, as she didn’t sleep well on the plane last night and was a little airsick when we arrived Heathrow. Still, she has come through like a little trouper and perked up nicely - I’m so proud of her. She was quite excited when we flew into Dublin. Her funny comment as we came in for landing and she spotted a bunch of fallow fields was “I can see the desert Mum!!” Um, not quite Reaggie :o). At a chilly 6oC outside, with miles of brilliant green farmland shrouded in mist and a light rain trickling down, the desert couldn’t be further away. Still, I had to smile at her enthusiasm!
The cheerful and friendly nature of the Irish that we hear so much about was evident
as soon as we got to the airport. Everyone was so friendly and their accents are just charming. Our tiredness made us indulge in a taxi to the train station instead of jumping on the bus, but it was a good move - our taxi driver was surely a tour guide in a previous life and he gave us a running commentary on the various attractions and areas as we passed through the city and told us a few good places to go. It’s so very different from Australia. The history and age of the place is everywhere you look.
The train trip down to Kilkenny so far has been fine, and we managed to swing an earlier one so we didn’t have to wait around the station for 2 hours. As we pass through the countryside Reagan is yelling at me to look at the newborn black faced lambs (they are sooo cute!!) as well as the usual lot of cows and horses. The sheep have orange & green blotches of paint on their wool and look quite pretty - we thought was a hilarious way for the Irish farmers to welcome St Pats day (which is 2
days away) by painting the sheep the same colour as the Irish flag. However, we have since been told by a highly amused bus driver that it is just a branding so the farmers can tell who owns which sheep and has nothing to do with St Pat’s Day. One red face here...lol. We have arrived here at the start of spring so many of the trees are still bare from winter but the roadsides are liberally dotted with clumps of glorious yellow daffodils. We haven’t seen any crops, although Reaggie did ask me if the dark green weeds in the paddocks were broccoli...
We have passed through about 5 or 6 villages and small towns along the way and the housing is VERY different from what we would see in Australia. They are mostly either two storey country type homes, or blocks of row houses all the same, like the ones you see in the English movies. Many of these houses have quite startling front doors - bright reds, yellow, blue or green or else they are very ornate. Our Dublin taxi driver reckons that the doors are coloured differently so the owners can tell which place
is theirs after they’ve come home from having one too many pints! Lol. It might sound like a funny thing to catch someone’s interest, but the doors really are quite fascinating. Our hostess at the B&B we stayed in explained that because the houses are all built in rows upon rows, all exactly alike, that the front door is really one of the only ways that people can express their individuality. And they certainly do that.
It was two very tired girls who arrived in Kilkenny at about lunchtime, and we grabbed a taxi out to the B&B we are staying at. Taxis are a lot cheaper here than in Australia. Both of us woke right up when we saw the main street - there is a huge medieval castle in it! - and I definitely got my second wind. This is the Ireland I came to see. What a gorgeous little town. The main street is simply bursting with character....tiny little shops and pubs.... it’s quite amazing. For a pair of Australians whose exposure to “historical” is one of the old buildings in Fremantle, this is for sure a sight to see. Poor old Reagan is going to
get immersed in a lot more history than I’m sure she wants to be, but she seems keen to visit the castle at least - I cannot wait to visit tomorrow.
We arrived at Newlands Country House in Danesfort a few hours earlier than planned, but we were very warmly welcomed by Nicola, one of the owners. The B&B is a little out of town, about 10 mins drive, set in the countryside. Our second storey blue & white bedroom was newly renovated and nothing had been overlooked - it was homey, comfortable and welcoming. Nicole has decorated it beautifully, with big puffy white quilts and cushions and overlooking a paddock with a couple of dogs. Everything looks so nice and clean. On my god...and there is a spa bath!! Yippee, that’s me gone. There is also cosy lounge for us to use downstairs, acres for Reagan to run around in and a glass conservatory for breakfast. A full Irish breakfast is included, made to order anytime from 9am so we can sleep in... how good is that!
Anyway, more tomorrow.... even though we are dying for some sleep we’ve decided to get our body clocks into local
time as quickly as we can, so we’re going to rest and read for an hour or two then we are going back into town to have a walk around and some dinner then back to the B&B, where I’m sure we will sleep like babies.
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