Another sleepless/restless night. Car day - hopefully. Up at eight in hopes of an email from Enterprise - nothing. Ask Anne (Ashcroft B&B) to use the phone and call them. "So & so" that we dealt with yesterday isn't in until 9:30 - well can't you help me !? Reluctantly, he does (first unfriendly met) He puts me on hold for about 5min and then disconnects me (will go with - it was an accident). I call back and the windshield hasn't arrived at the glass repair shop yet and the car probably won't be ready until tomorrow ! What the hell do I do now ?!?!? * I get online and start calling . . . finding an automatic for today is going to be near impossible. I call Europcar and get Ivor. . . what a character and, you guessed it, helpful ! He has an automatic but not a small, it's a sedan. A bigger car !?! Oh boy. And yes, more expensive (in the long run, not that much more) I did try calling a few other places but nothing. Call Ivor back to let him know we'll be there as soon as we can. €25 taxi to the Cork Airport. (quicker and probably the same price as the buses we'd need to take)
Waiting our turn a few feet from the counter "Come on up, Amanda" Ivor knew it was me ! Incredibly friendly and so helpful. So, we are discovering this is going to be a ridiculously expensive trip (all accommodations, food, transportation - insane). Despite having insurance on my credit card we opted for theirs (€23/day) because after the $7,500 deposit required to go on my card, the charge for the car, all accommodations, and my previous balance - it didn't leave me much of a 'safety' blanket :-( Fortunately, the car had GPS (saved us €8/day). All paperwork done, here are the keys to your BMW ! ! ! Nice :-) Out we go to find it - ooh, ahhh, it's pretty ! Spent quite a bit of time getting familiar with it and away we go.
So, I did go the correct way around the round about, unlike the person ahead of me ! But, I did hit the left shoulder :O - oops ! It is really hard to keep to the centre. Scared Tracy a few times - I heard, a quiet, "move over" a few times - however, a few times I couldn't because I was already straddling the centre line AND we were still hitting the brush on the left side WITH cars coming flying towards me. INSANE roads with maniac drivers.
Made our way to Kinsale, with a lot of 'holy fekk' . . . Parked, wandered, shared a fish & chips lunch (yummy). Wanted to get to the sea and had been given directions and had the GPS, still made a wrong turn ! But had some lovely sites. The roads to the sea were scary but I did it ! Constantly looking back at the white (centre line) in my mirror - need to stay as close to it as possible but not panic when a bus is coming at you. You can not swerve ! Especially when the rock walls (that I HAD been appreciating and thought were so pretty) were literally inches away from Tracy. I am not looking forward to being a passenger !
Stopped at old head Kinsale and then found a beach on the Celtic Sea ! ! ! So much fun . . . we were two giddy girls :-)
Stopped at a 'castle-like' structure to take some pictures ...
A few hours into the drive i said "I wonder what year this is?" ... Long pause ... Tracy "you mean the car !?!" She thought I was loosing it . . . This thing is sweet and all but we're not in a time machine ?!?! We laughed so much I was actually crying - while driving !
Drove around Killarney for a bit, found out there are actually 3 lakes at the National park. Great little town !
Arrived at the Sleepy Camel Hostel in Glenbeigh but no one here to greet us * Went to the B&B next store and they called someone to come let us in (I guess it happens often)
Really odd smell of something burning and "we don't want to know what it is" :s
Wandered the tiny town and had dinner at the Glenbeigh Hotel Pub (Curry Chicken)
Wifi is only available in the common area and is horrible :(
Met Chris (runs the place) and he thought we were pretty hilarious - are you the Canadians driving a BMW and staying in a hostel !?!? Chatted with him for a bit - lots of laughs "you two would be awesome to be on a road trip with" He has offered us the use of his kayaks ! (*We discovered you can't rent kayaks in the Killarney park :( )
Can't believe it, it is 12:45am ! And we are to be up at 8 and on the road by 8:30 !
Nighty night xox
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