A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.

As I've said, I'll be renting a car in Dublin, and driving to Longford (approx. 90 miles). Now, this creates a few issues:

1) I don't know how to read a map.
2) I don't know their road signs.
3) They drive on the other side of the road.


Here is the map I bought at B&N. The large orange area to the right is Dublin and the area to the left that I've circled is Ballymahon.





I will take the blue road that comes out of Dublin (I don't think you can read the road names, but the one that comes almost at a straight horizontal line out of Dublin) which turns into N4 (the green line). Then I could do one of two things:

-Continue on N4 to where the map reads Longford, then turn left (SW) to Ballymahon.
-Get off N4 where the map reads Mullingar and then take the little orange road straight to Ballymahon.

The main roads are undoubtedly easier than little roads, but I'd like to see some of the country at the same time. Decisions, decisions.

Once back in Dublin however, I'm not sure how much driving I will do. It seems almost more logical to walk most of the time. I will drive to the train station for my two trips at least.

Here is the Dublin map I bought at B&N:






At the top I've labeled the airport and the road (Tolka Road) my hotel is on. It's nice that they're so close to each other. Also, I've found the road that BNY is on there (towards the bottom right - Guild St.) and I think I'll make a pit stop there if I have time. (There's more to Dublin of course but I couldn't fit it all in nicely.)

This map is so much more detailed than the first... hooray for friendly locals!

Since I'll be there on Easter (oops!) when most things are closed, I was thinking about doing a road trip in Longford and the surrounding areas.

Much more to plan, much much more.

And I'll need to invest in a compass!