Gambling our experiences

 

Well, you win some, you lose some. Today we won most of our gambles, and though we are both exhausted after forcing ourselves to stay awake against the strong pull of jetlag, we are content with our first day's adventures, small as they may be.

I learned an important lesson when it comes to rental cars : the person registered as the driver must pay the deductible upon pick-up. I make all the reservations online when it comes to cars and hotels, because I have travel insurance on my credit card that protects all of my purchases. However, this doesn't work when I register Mario and the sole driver, and Thrifty insists he pay the car's deductible on his card. And since I booked through booking.com, a third-party website, apparently the reservation can no longer be changed...in the end, I have to pay an extra fee per day to add a second driver(me), therefore making it possible for me to then front the money needed for the deductible. So complicated. At least I will know for next time.

Turns out, navigating while simultaneously trying to help the driver stay on the right side of the road is challenging. And I thought just navigating all of those round-a-bouts on the Côte d'Azur was a lot! I find myself repeating "stay left" a lot, but I give Mario all the credit - he is doing a fantastic job unlearning 20 years of driving in a single day!

We stop for coffee and ham and cheese toasties at a little roadside stall called Relish Xpress. Mario happened upon the place while browsing Google maps, and it seemed like the perfect halfway point between Dublin and Armagh to stop for a coffee. It was the exact pick-me-up we needed to continue on with our day, which turned out to be right down the road at Monasterboice, another place spotted on Google maps. It is a cemetery that contains some of the oldest - and largest - Celtic stone crosses in all of Ireland. There is also a round tower, used as a safety feature, and refuge, during attacks from the Irish and Viking during the 10th and 11th centuries. Lots of history in Ireland, and this quick stop is only the very tip of the iceberg we are going to uncover during our
travels.

There is a cider festival happening this weekend in Armagh, which we are unfortunately too early for, so we swing by the large cider producer in the area to sample their wares on site. Turns out, it's tough to plan a festival when you are already short-staffed, and so there in no one on hand to run the store, let along host tastings on a random Tuesday with us. We are directed to a nearby farmers market for apple-themed baked goods(which we buy), and the Tesco's, a grocery store, for the alcoholic cider(which we do NOT buy). We drive just down the road and check into our amazing B&B for the night.

As I am conversing with our host's son about towels and tomorrow's breakfast, I ask about a nearby place to get a quick bite to eat for supper. It's now getting late, we've been going non-stop for about 24 hours now, and should probably eat before finally crashing into bed. Steven(Steevie as he is know at the pub) suggests the nearby place he frequents, just 3 right turns away from the B&B. We follow his advice, and have the greatest first meal in Ireland we could have possibly hoped for. 

 Pubs seem to be more than the stereotype we see them as, full of rowdy locals, drinking pints of cheap beer and eating greasy fish and chips. Tonight, there is a 2 for 24$ menu available, on which we can each pick our own main course, and then share an entree and a dessert for a complete - and filling -  dinner. After a bowl of creamy herbal carrot and coriander soup, I order the Pan Roasted Sea Trout with gnocchi and a tangy chive beurre blanc, which I could have easily licked off my plate, it was so good. Mario had an equally tasty Sugar Pitt Pork Chop with sweetheart cabbage, fried egg and mustard sauce, washed down with a Guinness. 

And I could not pass up the blueberry Eaton Mess for dessert. Now, does that all sound nothing like what you expect pub food to be? Yeah, me either. And to make the evening even better, the manager/bartender spent most of the evening chatting with us, among other staff. Mario thinks, if we had been staying a couple more days, we could have been as good as locals at this place. Steven even shows up to eat while chatting over a pint with the bartender.

Back to the B&B...and then we crash. Tomorrow we have an early start - we're off to Belfast!