Day 5 (Travel to Ireland)

We said goodbye to Iceland and boarded an early flight bound for Ireland. As the plane descended, we caught our first view of the Irish countryside from the window—lush green fields stretching to the horizon, punctuated by winding hedgerows and stone walls (Slide 1). A whole new chapter of our journey was about to begin.

After landing at Dublin Airport, we picked up our rental car from Europcar, a sizable Skoda Estate station wagon. It was comfortable to drive but challenging to park in the tight spaces of Ireland’s towns and cities. It ran on diesel, which was new to us, and of course, we had to adjust to driving on the left. We again opted for the full insurance package, which brought the cost to about $400 for five days.

Traffic into Dublin was heavy, which gave us time to do some checking on our phones. We had hoped to stop at the Capuchin Friary, which is also a shrine to St. Padre Pio, but a quick search revealed it was already closed for the day (Slides 2–3). Rebecca had really wanted to see the relics housed there, so it was a disappointment—but at least we didn’t waste time trying to stop.

This time, we used our Verizon international plan for internet access, which solved the CarPlay issues we had experienced in Iceland. One phone handled both navigation and music, and everything worked seamlessly.

We parked near St. Patrick’s Cathedral, feeding €4 per hour into one of the city’s ever-present parking kiosks (Slide 5). We joined a guided tour of the cathedral itself (Slides 6–10). I took advantage of the senior rate, now that I’m officially over 60. The cathedral was beautiful, with soaring Gothic architecture and detailed stonework. While it no longer functions as a Catholic church, it was still impressive and full of historic interest.

For Rebecca, visiting Ireland had been a dream for years, and standing together in such an iconic and historic place was a special moment (Slide 10). As we made our way through the city, we had only limited views of the River Liffey, since we were navigating through traffic (Slide 11). To give a better sense of what we missed, I found a scenic photo of the river and its bridges to include (Slide 12). We also passed the famous Guinness Storehouse, though we decided to save that stop for another trip (Slide 13).

After leaving Dublin, we headed west toward Kilcock, where our Airbnb was located. Once again, using the Airbnb app for driving directions was crucial—without it, finding the exact location would have been tricky in the winding streets. After dropping our things and getting a look at the room—including a cozy four-poster bed and no air conditioning—we set back out for nearby Maynooth.

Maynooth, a charming university town, was just a short drive away. We visited the church (Slide 14) and explored the peaceful ruins of Maynooth Castle (Slides 15–17). We walked around the streets looking for some dinner and taking in the sights, sounds and lots of people watching on a warm busy Friday night. We got some fish and chips and headed back to a quiet spot near the river to eat it. (Slide 18), with a bit of company—some persistent local wildlife.

We stopped at ALDI to stock up on supplies for the next few days—bread, cheese, fruit, and snacks for our travel lunches. On our way back  a sign gave us a laugh: “Caution: Otters” (Slide 18).

We returned to the Airbnb in Kilcock for the night (Slides 20–21). The temperature lingered in the low 70s, and after the chilly 40s at night in Iceland, we were still adjusting to the warmth—especially without A/C (Slide 21). But the gardens (Slide 23) offered a lovely place to unwind as the light faded. We ended the day grateful for the peaceful surroundings and excited to see more of Ireland in the days ahead.