Ireland Day 5

 This was our longest sightseeing day. We started the day at Bunratty Castle. Rick Steves' Guidebook didn't have high praise for this attraction, but Ryan and I enjoyed it the first time around. So we brought the girls this time.

Down to the dungeon!

The Great Hall in the middle of the castle.

Each of the corners of the castle holds a spiraling staircase of uneven stairs.

We got to climb out on the roof and look over the landscape.

And get buffeted by the wind.

Outside of the castle, there was a whole village of sample dwellings. They range from the super poor with dirt floors to a nice manor house. There is a tiny church, a village street of old time-y businesses, a schoolhouse, a formal garden, etc., etc. I didn't really take pictures of those.

Just this wooded path and the Mill House.

It was in the Bunratty village that we found another Irish storyteller willing to wax eloquent on many topics. When he found out that Ryan and I are not beer drinkers, he gave us a plan for how to work up to 5 pints of Guinness a day while we were in Ireland because it is "both food and drink." You start out with a half pint a day, and before you know it, you can hit your 5 pints. Or not, in our case.

After we were done and in the car, I couldn't help but notice a mom with a toddler having a meltdown. I can't say I have let my child roll around screaming in a parking lot, but hey, we've all been there. 

Lunch time. Once I spotted a table at the restaurant that was big enough for the 5 of us, I draped coats over the chairs and waited for my family to place their orders and come sit with me. That meant that Ryan chose the side salads for my panini. The carrot salad was... pickled? Just vinegar-y? Definitely on the savory side. The carrot salads I have had in the past have been sweet, so it was definitely a surprise. And the sprout salad didn't have dressing. :( Good thing the sandwich was tasty.

Then we drove out to the coast. Instead of going straight to the Cliffs of Moher visitor's center, we drove out to Hag's Head for a different perspective.

It was much less busy here and had some great views.

It was very windy. You had to be careful because a big gust could really knock you off balance. This would be a concern with 700-foot cliffs nearby.

Then we drove to the "real" Cliffs of Moher. We didn't go into the visitor's center though.

I had to climb over the fence to get this photo:

The rock wall below is new from our last visit. But I got a similar shot to the above photo last time, and I was going to do it again. Ryan had really built this story up for the kids. Apparently, I was risking life and limb and practically hanging over the edge of the cliff, blah, blah, blah, and Ryan thought I was going to fall to my death and he'd have to bring home a new wife. I had to prove that it wasn't as bad as all that, but of course, there was this rock fence in the way... Proving Ryan's point that I was being foolish and dangerous. Oh well. Watch Mom living on the edge!

This path is way nicer than the tiny, uneven trail that we walked last time.

Since we were near the Burren, we had to see the Poulnabrone Dolmen before calling it a day.

We stopped at a little pub for dinner finally around 8 pm. This was a dog-friendly place and there were many dogs sitting or wandering around. This dog made himself comfortable under our table. We must have looked like we would drop food. The pub was getting ready for live music while we were eating. They carried out the tables, chairs, and a couch to get ready for the large crowds coming for.... wait for it... a rock concert. That's not what I was expecting. We had a friendly, inebriated man strike up a conversation with us while we were waiting for our food. He had fond feelings for Americans and was excited that Joe Biden was coming to Ireland the following week. He remembered when the Clintons made a trip to Ireland and got teary-eyed thinking about it. We figured it would be best to continue on before the crowds grew and things got even more interesting.

We didn't get back to our Airbnb until pretty late. This was the evening I spent washing dirty underwear in the sink. For some strange reason, no one else wanted that privileged job. 

Ireland Day 4- Killarney

 We were up and on our way early once again. It was a short drive to Killarney National Park and Ross Castle, and we were there before Ross Castle was open. So we wandered a little before being let in. Ryan is always a fan of cannons.

Our tour group was made of entirely Americans. No one is allowed to take pictures of Ross Castle while touring, but I snuck this one below. This medieval toilet was large enough for a couple of people to use at a time. It was a glorified hole that human waste would fall? slide? into a cesspit. That cesspit didn't go outside of the castle like a person might expect. It sat there, fuming ammonium gas into the castle. Blech. There is now a metal grate blocking the hole-- to discourage tourists from using it? Ryan was still tempted to have a go.

Also, we learned that a door threshold literally was made to keep a couple of inches of straw inside of a room. The straw could be used to insulate, give a little cushion, and could be discarded as it got dirty.

That just sounds really itchy to me.

Onward to more exploring! Some of us might be giants.

Here's a good photo of Ross Castle in the back.

Oh, look. Mom's here too.

On our way back to the car to drive to our next destination, we passed a very chatty guide who promised to take us all around the northern part of the park in his jarvey and we "wouldn't have to pay if we didn't enjoy" ourselves. As if. He was very entertaining and was one of those fellows who wouldn't let a little truth get in the way of a good story. We were treated to all manner of stories of misfortunes, hauntings, mysteries, and an accent thick enough to make me strain my ears to make sure I was catching everything over the sound of clomping horseshoes.

And if that wasn't enough, he was our personal photographer for the 45 minute trip.

You can see Ross Castle in the distance.

After our little jaunt around the park, we drove down to the Muckross area and parked before walking down to Muckross Abbey. We passed a lovely arched stone bridge on our way.

The Muckross Abbey was one of our very favorite parts of our trip to Ireland. It is a ruin, but it is well preserved in its state. We were allowed to roam all over, up to a second floor, with twisty stairwells and long corridors. It was so much fun!

The old yew tree growing in the courtyard was a nice touch.

Up on the second floor was an old fireplace and chimney. It was really a shame it isn't connected to the Floo Network. It would be perfect.

Other tourists liked my idea of taking my family's picture in the fireplace. One offered to take our picture so I could be part of it. Their idea wasn't quite the same as mine...

You could look up and see the sky through the chimney. 

There were several staircases to traverse.

A view of the yew tree from the ground level.

Next, it was back to the car for the drive to Torc Falls. It was an itty, bitty hike to see the waterfall.

The walk to the waterfall only whetted our appetite, so we walked up the hill to the first overlook.

So.

Many.

Stairs.

Our quads were on fire.

Ta-da! 

This was a pretty spot too.

Here's me taking the above picture. Thanks, Ryan.

My complaints led to a better photo being taken of me.

Before we left Killarney for Limerick, we stopped by a grocery store and picked these chips up (among other things). They were only ok. But as non-drinkers, it was our best option to try Guinness in Ireland.

Interesting fact: When Ireland became independent from Great Britain, they wanted the harp as their national symbol. Sadly Guinness trademarked this harp about 200 years beforehand, so Ireland uses the mirror image of it.

Which couch above would you guess to be the extra bed? I had thought the one on the left was, but I was wrong. It was the L-shaped one on the right. One of the sections hid a compartment for the extra bedding for Elizabeth. We had to message the host to figure that out.

We stayed in this Airbnb for two nights. It was meant to be our laundry spot. It would have given us two nights to let our clothes dry because the Irish do not believe in electric dryers, as far as we can tell. But the washer was not responsive. We tried all of the switches in the laundry room and the ones outside of it. Pulled out the washer. Did anything we could think of to fix the problem. The host never got around to fixing that problem, so the second evening (when we were all out of clean clothes) I washed a couple pairs of underwear for each person in a sink. I had even planned ahead and brought a couple of pods of laundry detergent, so I popped one and used some of the soap as I swished our dirty underwear around in cold water. Seriously, why can't you have hot water anywhere besides the shower? I had to wash dishes in cold water too. Anyway... Between me and Ryan, we did the best that we could wringing out the water but our underwear was not dry the following morning. And it is quite a lovely sight- everyone's underwear draped over the backs of chairs and over the cold radiator. So, we put all of those wet clothes in a bag for Sunday and finished drying them during our last night's stay. Don't even ask about our other clothes. Yes, we wore dirty clothes for the rest of the trip. Good thing we were only tourists that no one was going to see again. At least those couple pairs of underwear smelled clean.