25 June: Day Four My favorite Tidy Town!
Walking Tour of Kinsale
Don was the quintessential Irish man, tweed cap and all! Our group had a wonderful walking tour of Kinsale. As we wandered through the streets, Don taught us the unique history of this harbor town. It was fun to imagine that hundreds of years ago this town was bustling with ships and sailors. As Rebecca and I followed along with the tour, we spied many places we wanted to come back in the afternoon to see again.
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Our Backdoor Experience...
It is such a bummer to be sick on your vacation! Donna had been struggling with a cold the entire time we had been traveling, but by the time we made it to Kinsale her cold had turning into more, so we needed to visit the surgery (a.k.a. doctor's office.... It felt very Doc Martin like!)
As soon as Declan had a free moment, he took me to the surgery in town to help make an appointment. Within an hour my mom was seen by the doctor, had a prescription in hand, and was back in bed resting! One of the worst things is being sick around other people. It is no fun to have to blow your nose with 28 other people around, while you know they are secretly thinking that they don't want to get sick too! We loaded up on the hand sanitizer and tried to keep the germs contained! Rebecca and I never got sick on the trip (and we were sharing the same hotel room), so it seems that we did a good job! Luckily on the days where we were on the move, my mom felt well enough to enjoy the activities. Then on several days in Kinsale and Dingle she was able to stay at the hotel and rest. Here are some great things to know in case you find yourself under the weather while on tour:
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Our Free Afternoon...
Since we had tucked Donna back in bed to rest after the doctor's visit, Rebecca and I decided to go explore Kinsale. While we were having our backdoor experience at the doctor's, the rest of the group had gone to tour Charles Fort. So I can't tell you what that was like, but I can tell you that Rebecca and I were just fine with some extra time to explore Kinsale.
Kinsale is known as one of Ireland's "Tidy Towns," a competition basically for the cleanest and cutest small town. We adored this little town and the local dogs! Rebecca and I made our first stop for lunch at the bakery that had award winning scones. (They were very good... and thanks to our tour group, they had sold out of them by the end of the day!) Next we strolled the water front before hitting the farmer's market. We even took a break to just sit, enjoy, people watch, and have a drink! It was the perfect afternoon! For dinner Declan had arranged our group meal at Crackpots. It was a cute little place with yummy food. They were even nice enough to wrap up a serving for my mom for take away, so she could stay in bed and rest! |