Ireland day one

I landed at 445 am in Dublin. Didn't sleep much--not sure why. I guess it's not the first time I've been in Ireland as I flew through Shannon once but never got out of the airport. I still have a book I bought there though--Anam Cara. I love it. 

Everything is in Gaelic and English. Wonder if I can pick up a bit of Gaelic?

I picked up my car. Driving on the wrong side is an adventure but I am proud to say that I had only one lapse and since I was going slow and the other person was too there was no harm done. I got the heck out of Dublin so I could get a feel for it. The first thing I noticed was that signs are...well, they are difficult. They are sometimes right on top of the turn so you can't prepare. Or turned funny so they don't work or were never meant to work for the direction you are coming from. That said I somehow managed to get out of Dublin going the right way and then onto a smaller road and then still smaller roads. That weird sense of direction I've always had was very helpful this morning! I found Fourknocks, an old cairn site. Odd and interesting site. It's quite old, like Stone Age. There's a slightly wide spot in the road to park and then you take a lovely short path to the cairn. Apparently you can get a key to go in but at 630 in the morning I decided not to ask. 

The cairn from along the path. 

Steps leading to the top of the cairn and its entrance

View from top of cairn looking south 

After I left there I made my way to Slane (a town) which was basically still closed at a bit after 8. I also realized the room I thought I booked for the 9th was really for the 8th. So I decided to go on over and see if they would let me check in and stay another night. I was mad at myself for the silly mistake but in the end I think this is going to work out well--they let me check in and gave me a badly needed breakfast and some information, like where to get a SIM card for my phone. Athlumney Manor, in Navan, if you are interested. Very nice place, easy to find, kind owners. Now I am feeling better--fed, found, a place to lie down, a plan for the day and for tomorrow too I think. Also feeling more confident that I can manage the driving as long as I pay attention. Another good reason to have checked in early as I was getting very tired and so was hyper careful while driving which is in turn exhausting! Rumor has it the Hill of Tara, an old site high on my list is 10 minutes away and there is an Irish music session tonight at 10 pm at one of the pubs.