DAY-31: More Castles
Day – 31: Friday, September 22, 2017
Starting Location: Killarney, Ireland
Ending Location: Newmarket-on-Fergus, Ireland
Today would be a relatively short drive through the Irish countryside en-route to our next destination in Newcastle-on-Fergus in County Clare.
We can't miss the fact that the Aghadoe Resort had a sumptuous breakfast highlighted by a fresh honeycomb for slathering the sweet stuff on to the wide variety of breads and rolls. As can be seen, we actually had our own "Queen Bee Chris" hovering beside the honeycomb appropriately attired in her Steeler "bumble bee" colors, black & gold.
We departed Killarney around 10 AM and traveled for about an hour and a half to Adare, Ireland.
Adare is touted as one of the most picturesque towns in Ireland, a definite tourist stop for Ireland travelers.
On arrival in Adare things appeared to be quiet; we pulled into the welcome center parking and of course searched out the rest rooms. We were met by a welcome center employee explaining that the town was without electricity due to a tree damaging the utility lines. The incident had occurred sometime last night and it was unclear how long the outage would last. The receptionist pointed out the rest rooms but cautioned that mobile phone flashlights (aka torches) would be needed for lighting.
After the break we traversed the streets of Adare. Today there was a farmers' market but there were only four street vendors participating (homemade soap, jams & jellies, jewelry and vegetables). Chris, Diane, Greg, Pat & Jack found that Pat Collins' Pub had coffee available though they knew not how the power issue had been circumvented.
Sheila and I continued walking through the local streets and parks. Adare is noted for its thatched-roof houses. Actually one house was undergoing a re-roofing project. I don't know much about thatching but I'm sure Google will help improve my knowledge.
Fire is not a good thing with a thatched roof.
From Adare we traveled on to Bunratty Castle in Bunratty, County Clare.
After some debate over where we would be eating tonight it was decided to tour the castle and grounds. Basically the site is a medieval Williamsburg with most of the site having been restored and cast members providing insight into medieval life.
The castle like so many, was old and access was via winding staircases. The stone-walled rooms were partly furnished with what was assumed to be furnishings appropriate for the times, but who really knows. One thing is clear, none of the sleeping or sitting arrangements appeared to be comfortable.
After the castle walk-through we walked the grounds seeing what someone perceived medieval life to be.
We made a brief coffee and snack stop where Sheila was feeding the chickens.
Once through the gift store we were soon en-route to Dromoland Castle, our home for tonight.
We arrived at the castle around 3 PM. The view as we approached was very picturesque, a postcard type image. The facility has any number of activities, e.g. golf, tennis, archery, skeet, fishing, etc. We were shown to our rooms, very nice rooms I might add and soon settled in for our one night in town, well actually in the country.
Sheila and I walked the grounds, viewing the golf course and the large "walled garden". Though it's seasonally late for flowers, many were still blooming providing a colorful backdrop for the castle.
For dinner we were scheduled for the Knappogue Castle Medieval Banquet along with about 125 of our other Ireland tourist friends. We arrived around 6:15 and were soon invited into the hall by the theater players, all dressed in medieval festive attire and welcoming us all using the "my ladies and my lords" phraseology.
For openers we were all served glasses of mead. Bread and wine was served and consumed while the staff provided entertainment and a description of the various meal entrees. Dinner included a salmon salad starter followed by tomato basil soup, the main course was chicken with potatoes and vegetables and for dessert an apple cheese cake was served. The entertainment continued with violin and harp musicians, singers and a step dancer.
We all rated the meal and show favorably. The food was served expeditiously, often a challenge for large group events.
After dinner we returned to the hotel, had drinks while listening to a solo guitarist. By 10:30 we were back in our rooms for the night.
In that we were near Limerick and actually in Limerick County for a while, we continued working on Limericks. Clearly Diane has taken the lead as she has at least one limerick for each of us. Perhaps one day we will publish the limericks or at least those that are g-rated.
Today would be a relatively short drive through the Irish countryside en-route to our next destination in Newcastle-on-Fergus in County Clare.
We can't miss the fact that the Aghadoe Resort had a sumptuous breakfast highlighted by a fresh honeycomb for slathering the sweet stuff on to the wide variety of breads and rolls. As can be seen, we actually had our own "Queen Bee Chris" hovering beside the honeycomb appropriately attired in her Steeler "bumble bee" colors, black & gold.We departed Killarney around 10 AM and traveled for about an hour and a half to Adare, Ireland.
Adare is touted as one of the most picturesque towns in Ireland, a definite tourist stop for Ireland travelers. On arrival in Adare things appeared to be quiet; we pulled into the welcome center parking and of course searched out the rest rooms. We were met by a welcome center employee explaining that the town was without electricity due to a tree damaging the utility lines. The incident had occurred sometime last night and it was unclear how long the outage would last. The receptionist pointed out the rest rooms but cautioned that mobile phone flashlights (aka torches) would be needed for lighting.
After the break we traversed the streets of Adare. Today there was a farmers' market but there were only four street vendors participating (homemade soap, jams & jellies, jewelry and vegetables). Chris, Diane, Greg, Pat & Jack found that Pat Collins' Pub had coffee available though they knew not how the power issue had been circumvented.
Sheila and I continued walking through the local streets and parks. Adare is noted for its thatched-roof houses. Actually one house was undergoing a re-roofing project. I don't know much about thatching but I'm sure Google will help improve my knowledge.
 |
| Before Fire Image |
 |
| After Fire Image |
Fire is not a good thing with a thatched roof.
From Adare we traveled on to Bunratty Castle in Bunratty, County Clare.
The castle like so many, was old and access was via winding staircases. The stone-walled rooms were partly furnished with what was assumed to be furnishings appropriate for the times, but who really knows. One thing is clear, none of the sleeping or sitting arrangements appeared to be comfortable.
After the castle walk-through we walked the grounds seeing what someone perceived medieval life to be. We made a brief coffee and snack stop where Sheila was feeding the chickens.
Once through the gift store we were soon en-route to Dromoland Castle, our home for tonight.
We arrived at the castle around 3 PM. The view as we approached was very picturesque, a postcard type image. The facility has any number of activities, e.g. golf, tennis, archery, skeet, fishing, etc. We were shown to our rooms, very nice rooms I might add and soon settled in for our one night in town, well actually in the country.
Sheila and I walked the grounds, viewing the golf course and the large "walled garden". Though it's seasonally late for flowers, many were still blooming providing a colorful backdrop for the castle.
There's even a Fairy Garden ...
guarded by the house cats.
For dinner we were scheduled for the Knappogue Castle Medieval Banquet along with about 125 of our other Ireland tourist friends. We arrived around 6:15 and were soon invited into the hall by the theater players, all dressed in medieval festive attire and welcoming us all using the "my ladies and my lords" phraseology.For openers we were all served glasses of mead. Bread and wine was served and consumed while the staff provided entertainment and a description of the various meal entrees. Dinner included a salmon salad starter followed by tomato basil soup, the main course was chicken with potatoes and vegetables and for dessert an apple cheese cake was served. The entertainment continued with violin and harp musicians, singers and a step dancer.
 |
| Medieval Chicken |
After dinner we returned to the hotel, had drinks while listening to a solo guitarist. By 10:30 we were back in our rooms for the night.
In that we were near Limerick and actually in Limerick County for a while, we continued working on Limericks. Clearly Diane has taken the lead as she has at least one limerick for each of us. Perhaps one day we will publish the limericks or at least those that are g-rated.
No comments:
Post a Comment