From Dublin we rented a car and went straight out to Kilkenny and then on throughout the wonderfully green Ireland. We made our way to the home of a lovely family, a single mom with her delightful daughter, and stayed a night with them.

Our hostess took us to a beautiful beach and a calm lake. [images are clickable for enlargement] As we toured around the coast of the “sunny south east” we chatted about all sorts of things. Among these we chatted about recycling. It seems that all through Ireland recycling is huge! This ecologically conscience women, by the end of the month, has about a handful of trash. During our stay, my parents, my brother and I went to an Irish pub. My father and I brought a guitar, a banjo and a handful of harmonicas. We ended up joining a group of musicians for a fun night of lively Irish music and ballads. Justin sang the only Irish song he knew and had the whole pub laughing by the end of it.

I played the first verse of “Blackbird” on my guitar. We all contributed something to the night.
After our stay outside of Watersford, we headed to Bantry and encountered our next new friend, Feargal, an Irish vegan with a very earthy feel to his home. We slept quite cozy and in the morning, our host took us for breakfast at a waterfall. After a short hike through the woods and a few unavoidable hops to get over a stream, we made it to our destination, a rock overlooking the falls. Great crashing of rumbling water was a great background to our half yelled out conversation. Our adventure continued as we traveled the ring of kerry and picked up a hitchiker on the way. He was a friend of Fergal, and had stayed with him the night before. He played the fiddle for us, it was terrific!

Ah, anyway, to much has happened that could be fit in one post. My brother perhaps can tell you about the Chinese food and B n’ B’s of Ireland. My dad can tell you about “cashew” castle, Renae can write you a great story about meeting the children of our hosts… But, that must be saved for later, onward to Germany for a day, and then [insert drum roll here] Israel!Your host,
Natep.s. Guys, I am so stoked about the movies we’ve been compiling for you. Some quite funny ones are coming your way . We even made a promotional video for justnichols.com! Ha! Soon I’ll be posting a video of the Eiffel tower. Going up and coming down, at night time.