Hello friends,
Today was a good day. We got up and drove back to Bunratty to see the castle and folk village.I am glad we did. The castle was a combination of a tower castle and reg. castle Winding spiral staircases with rooms off them and long rooms like the banquet hall we ate dinner in. Much roomier than Ross but I can't imagine those women going up and down those stairs in long gowns. It also had a toliet. One toliet. There must have been a line quite often. The folk park had homes and cottages from olden times. Some had been taken apart and put back together in the park. One was in the way of the Shannon Airport's runway so they moved it there. Interpreters were in some of the homes to answer ?'s. They also recreated a town street. The old school looked like the one in The Little House on the Prairie. And our kids complain today. It took several hours to go thru, and then we were off to find the Burren.
Well, let me tell ya, we drove all the heck over and got very frustrated. The roads on our map had no numbers and the ruins we wanted to see had no signposts. Besides the fact that the road was one lane in many places. I really think you need to hike or go on a tour. We did see a very famous dolman at Poulnabrone. The name means "The hole of the sorrows." They found the remains of about 20 adults and children and dated the site back to 3600 B.C.
The burren (bhoireann) means a stoney place which fits it since it is made of karstic limestone. It has alpine and Mediterranean plants and trees living side by side. Next time I go with someone who knows the area.
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| Bunratty Castle |
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| Looking up at Bunratty |
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| The view of the river Shannon from the castle |
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| Indoor plumbing |
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| The winding stairs |
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| One of the big rooms at the castle. |
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| One of the farmhouses st Bunratty |
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| The church that was hauled stone by stone. |
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| The "Long and Winding Rroad..." |
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| The Dolman at Poulnabrone |
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| Tom in front of the Dolman |
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| Limestone ground in the Burren |
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| A tower castle? |
On the way back we went down "Corkscrew Hill" a very appropriate name. That trip gave me a few more grey hairs. We went to O'Connors Pub and had roast duck. Very tasty. Again everyone around us was American. Aren't there any Irish people here at all? TaTa til tomorrow. Love you mom.
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| Looking toward the Cliffs of Moher |
Hey guys! No sign posts and single-lane roads makes you 2BRAVEandsassytravelers.
ReplyDeleteHave you or are you going to try to videotape an Irish Mass? If it's even allowed. If you could find actual Irish people and a non-tourist church =)