London to Kilkenny

The first thing I saw in Dublin.

Friday was a travel day, from London, England to Kilkenny, Ireland. Actually, I am in Callan, about fifteen minutes past Kilkenny. The day started at 4:00am, which is earlier than anyone should have to get up. I had a taxi ride to London Heathrow airport, multiple security checks, an hour-long flight to Dublin, a 2 hour wait, then a 3.5 hour bus ride. I was really hoping to get some rest on the bus ride, but it was very warm, and because I was not exactly what I was looking for as far as the stop was concerned, I was unable to really rest at all. Luckily I found myself an older local woman, who made the sign of the cross at every church we passed, and after a short conversation she took on the duty of informing me when we were getting to my stop. For this, I was grateful. The bus was 45 minutes late getting to my destination, but as I made my exit, I was glad to see someone whom, although we had never met, our email exchanges had built a familiarity that put me at ease as soon as we made eye contact. A very nice French woman, she was welcoming and helped roll my bag as we walked the 3 blocks to the house I am staying in. After a tour of the house, and a review of the projected schedule for the week, I settled into my room briefly, before being picked up for dinner with a gentleman from the states, and his lovely wife.

I hate making people wait, and since I had already done that once on this day, I was going to head outside a few minutes early to meet my host for the evening. I think he was as shocked as I when as I was reaching for the door, and he was opening it with a key. We both kind of took a step back in shock, then progressed with our introductions. We walked outside and I kind of chuckled to myself when I saw his car, and imagined what it was going to take to get me into it. A cute little two-seater MG, that had no idea what it was in for. I gave serious consideration to heading back inside to grab some butter to grease up my sides. For those of you familiar with my Pier-1 'rockasan' story, imagine that, but with a car. After a few attempts to pull the door shut, I was finally successful, and we were on our way. The house that he shares with his wife and family was extraordinarilly cute. It was like something out of a magazine, an updated Irish farm house. I was in awe, and envy. His wife had prepared a pork roast with peas, carrotts, and...potatoes. It was all delicious I thoroughly enjoyed it. Then for dessert we had fresh strawberries topped with real whipped cream. (happy happy) Following dinner we shared stories, learned a little about each other's backgrounds, discovered iPad apps, and discussed Hurling, the national sport of Ireland. (imagine a mix between lacrosse, field hockey and rugby) After this very nice evening he drove me back to where I am staying, in a different car, and I quickly proceeded to fall asleep.

Below is a picture of a cemetery I was able to snap from the bus:

Also, my mom is known to one of her favorite families as Tayto, and here she has her own chip line:

Today was wonderful. I slept until 8:00, which was a welcome treat, the got ready for the day. My plan was to meet with some of the folks from the Moorfield House for a picnic, but by lunch time it was not really picnic weather. They re-evaluated, and decided that they would pick me up and we would go bowling; two core members, myself, and team Germany. Here, unlike in Lambeth, the houses are not all within walking distance. They drove 15 minutes to pick me up on our way back into Kilkenny. Bowling was great. BIG CLAP!! Following bowling we headed into the mall/shopping center that it was attached to and had lunch in a very nice food court atrium. We then did a little shopping, and loaded up to head to Moorfield. This house was quite large, and in a very rural area. They have a large lush back yard with views of mountains, cattle, and flowers. There is also a nice prayer room with a beautiful carved log that grabbed my attention. After a tour and some pictures I went back to my domicile to do some laundry and get caught up on some other stuff. All in all, it was a very good day.

If you want to see more about where I am, and who I am with, visit http://www.larche.ie/Kilkenny.aspx or Google L'Arche Kilkenny.

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