"A Day for Ducks"

That's how our host here at The Olde Bakery B&B described the weather, and it was indeed. It was misting when we left Cashel, which turned to pouring on and off until about 4 pm. At one point here in Kinsale, we were so soaked despite our rain coats and umbrellas that we had to admit defeat and walk back to our room to change clothes and try again later. Here I am at the door, about to set off the second time:


But let's go back in time for a minute. (Not too far, just to this morning). As we finished our breakfast in Cashel, trying to hurry to make it to a walking tour in Kinsale that started at 11:15, our B&B host Joy asked us where we were headed and what we were doing that day. Too polite to say we were in a rush to get to the tour (and too afraid that would sound oh-so-American, rushing around even on vacation), we let her take us into her kitchen and show us a planned route on her own map. She even wrote out directions for "her" route to us, and said "t'would be a pity to come all this way and not really see Ireland" - so we scrapped the tour and set out on her scenic route instead. First lovely discovery was a little woods where we went for a small hike.


Then, feet and lower pants legs soaked, we hopped back in the car to drive through the delightfully-named Knockmealdown Mountains, (not as high as these, surely, but put me in mind of them) with views like this misty one:


We drove on, mostly on smaller roads rather than main highways, through dark avenues of tall trees arching over the road, past horse farms, and groups of sheep, pulling over often to let the faster and more experienced Irish drivers go ahead. We were glad to arrive here in Kinsale at last, and happy for the slower (and prettier) road taken.

But boy was it raining. On our first foray into town, we managed a few shops and the grocery store. One shop in particular was chock full of handmade souvenirs such as this auspiciously-named line of goods. I haven't purchased yet, but I may...


And we ducked into a little chocolate and ice cream shop on the way back home, eschewing ice cream, of course, in favor of the best hot chocolate I've ever, ever had:


Mine had a splash of hazelnut in it, and both came with a side of milk, dark, and white chocolate chips. We spent a lot of time saying things like Yum!, Wow!, and congratulating ourselves for this particular choice of activity.

By the time we went back out for dinner, the rain had cleared and it wasn't too cold. We finally made it down to the harbour:


Historical tidbit of the day: Kinsale is known for it's natural harbour - the best one in Ireland. And it was just off the coast here, in May of 1915, that a German U-boat torpedoed the ocean liner RMS Lusitania, precipitating the U.S. entry into WWI. (Did you know that controversy still surrounds the incident?)

Tomorrow we head to the Dingle peninsula after breakfast, where we'll stop and relax for a few days. One more photo - smiling because we're so happy it's not raining at the moment!