On Wednesday, August 24 we checked out of our hotel and took a taxi to the airport to pick up our rental car. Everything went smoothly and off we went. I haven’t had too much experience driving on the “other” side and the most recent time was in 2014. I watched some YouTube videos to refresh my memory and I wasn’t too nervous. Well, maybe just a little. JD sat in front and was my navigator and Jim and Marie sat quietly in the back. We were on the highway, which gave me the opportunity to drive on something other than small country roads and I was able to avoid city driving. So far so good. As we approached the beginning of a toll road I had to figure out which lane to choose. It was a bit confusing and I went to the right hand side because there was a sign that indicated that you could use cash. Great! Oh, not so great. You had to use coins, and I didn’t have enough. I had to back up and thankfully traffic was light. I had to cross about 5 lanes to the left to find the proper one. If I had come up to the lane as I should have it would have been fine, but I had to actually turn into it. Uh oh, was that my tire that hit the curb? Why yes, yes it was. After I paid the toll we pulled into a no parking area and confirmed that not only was the tire flat, but there was no spare tire. There was a fix-a-flat canister but that wouldn’t work because there was a hole in the sidewall of the tire. I called the rental car company and spoke to someone in roadside assistance. Eventually a tow truck came for the car and a taxi came for the 4 of us. We were taken to the repair shop and waited awhile until the new tire was put on. Then we were back on the road and had to go back through the toll booth. Practice and just driving forward, plus knowing where to go made it easy.

We were off to the Rock of Cashel, also known as St. Patrick’s Rock. It was the traditional seat of the kings of Munster for several hundred years prior to the Norman invasion. In 1101 the king of Munster donated his fortress on the Rock to the Church.

The drive to Kinsale from Cashel took us on both the highway and small and very windy roads. We survived the drive and made it to our apartment in one piece.

After settling into the apartment we went in search of a grocery store for a few provisions. We returned to the apartment to put things away and then found a place for dinner that was very good. It was a long day and we knew we would have plenty of time tomorrow to see more of the town. It was time to call it a night.