Ireland Day 4 Comments

After a hearty breakfast before leaving Cliff House we set out for Kinsale, Ireland. Picture of the french toast breakfast below. On the way to Kinsale we drove the copper coast road which runs along the ocean part of the way. We stopped at Midleton, Ireland which is about half way to Kinsale and toured the Jameson Distillery. You will find several photos of the original distillery below. Jamesons whiskey is apparently one of the smoothest whiskeys in the world. I had never drank any before and had barely heard of it until now. After the distillery tour they asked for volunteers for a whiskey tasting. I reluctantly held up my hand and was one of the testers as was Bruce. We were given three shots of whiskey, a scotch made in Scotland, Jamesons made in Ireland and Jack Daniels made in Tennessee. I didn't like the Scotch and have never liked scotch. I have always liked Jack Daniels but I must confess Jamesons was much smoother and by far the best of the three. After the tasting was all over we each were awarded a certificate stating we were certified whiskey tasters and certifies us to taste Jamesons whiskey anywhere in the world. After the Jameson distillery we drove on to Cohb Ireland where we toured the Queenstown museum which has a museum dedicated to the Titanic. Cohb was the last stop for the Titanic before it sailed for the US. It's hard to imagine being an 18 year old and being handed a one way ticket to the US knowing you would never seen any of your family ever again and knowing you would be getting off the boat in a foreign country without knowing anyone there. After that we drove the final leg of our journey to Rivermount Bed and Breakfast where we are staying for 2 nights. We finished up the day with some excellent fish and chips at a local eatery. I neglected to get any photos of our dinner. Words cannot describe driving on Irish roads. Their driving lanes on their major roads are considerably narrower than our US freeways. Their state roads are way narrower than our state roads and have no shoulders or ditches. Their secondary roads are about the width of a drivway and if you meet someone coming the other way one of you has to back up to a wider spot and pull over. Driving on the left the passenger side mirrors and doors are constantly being scraped by the hedges. The stone walls and hedges right up against the blacktop so two cars passing are both scraping the hedges or stone walls. You have to see it to believe it.