Today is Good Friday and it is apparently a pretty big deal here in Ireland because most of the attractions are closed, or have limited hours, and ALL of the pubs, bars, restaurants, and even the grocery stores are prohibited from serving or selling any kind of alcoholic beverage except wine. So, because the pubs and restaurants cant sell booze, most of them are closed. We searched high and low today for a place to eat some lunch and finally at about 3:30pm we found a little pub in a town along our way that was serving food. But more on that later… first, let’s start with the beginning! So this morning we got up on time only to realize when we showed up for our 8:00am breakfast that breakfast didn’t actually start at this B&B until 8:30am. It was ok though, Stanley and I enjoyed a nice visit in the common room until it was our time to eat. This B&B is owned by a German husband and Irish wife, so their breakfast was more on the Continental European style breakfast of sliced deli meats, cheeses, cereals, fruits, breads, yogurts, etc served buffet style in addition to a hot breakfast you could choose from the menu which included things like pancakes, French toast, fried/scrambled/poached eggs, porridge, etc. I ended up ordering the pancakes and had some of the buffet while Stanley and eggs and ham. After we checked out we drove along the coastline to the Cliffs of Moher. It was sunny today, but super windy and super cold. On the cliffs the wind was blowing anywhere from 60-80 mph at times in strong gusts and spells that would literally knock you over. If you didn’t lean into the wind to catch your balance, the wind would push you down. Some people actually fell over. In fact, they were announcing on the PA system in the visitors center that people should walk on the foot paths rather than the stairs in order to maintain control because of the heavy winds. Crazy huh? It was actually really fun to be out there “playing” in the wind like that, letting it push you around and leaning into it to see how far you could lean before you fell over. The cliffs are beautiful and dramatic and straight down. The area is beautiful and green. It’s a great place to see in Ireland. In the visitors center they have a café, a restaurant, an enormous gift shop, and down the way by the parking lot they have vendor shops selling woolen products, irish music, jewelry, etc, all handmade, all authentic and all from Ireland. I ended up buying a really nice woolen sweater that I just fell in love with. After our super great morning of wind, cold, buying and whatnot, we made our way from the Cliffs to Limerick to see the outside of Bunratty Castle (since it was closed today because of Good Friday). Bunratty Castle is not overly impressive from the outside and looks a lot like a castle you might see in a Monty Python skit. But, across the street from the castle are some very cool shops where we picked up some amazing swag. We tried to eat lunch here, but no luck. Back on the road, we drove to Cashel to see the Rock of Cashel. Along the way we stopped in several small towns to find a pub to eat in but everywhere we stopped was closed, even if they had signs outside that said they were open. Closed – NO FOOD FOR US TODAY!!! But wait – luckily just before Cashel we found a pub and it was actually open and serving really great food. I had homemade veggie soup and homemade lasagna, while Stanley had fish & chips. No Guinness though.. not allowed today. Stanley was sad. Onward we go to Cashel with full and happy bellies. We found out that it was open today until 5:30, but when we got there at 4:45 we discovered that the last tour had just started and they wouldn’t let us in... so sad!!! We could only take pictures from the outside which was a big bummer because this was one of the places I really wanted to see. Oh well. A little way down the road was the town of Cahir where we stopped to check out another castle. This castle didn’t have hours posted in the book and when we got there at 5:30, we discovered that they were open today as well but closed at 5:30. Ugh!!! We’re just not doing well today. We were able to walk all around the grounds though and got some great outside pictures of the castle. We decided to drive to Killkenny and stay the night so that we can explore the Killkenny Castle tomorrow and then make our way back toward Dublin to see Powerscourt and Castletown House. We’re now at a B&B in Killkenny just down the way from the castle and it’s pretty decent. It’s Good Friday and I think that they weren’t expecting any customers because when we rang the bell they looked surprised to answer and we almost thought they might turn us away. No problems though and now we’re enjoying some meats and cheeses from the grocery store while I write this and upload pictures. Tomorrow, we’ll see the castle here, then drive back toward Dublin to see Powerscourt and Castletown House, then go pub crawling through Temple Bar. Some points to talk about. In the West of Ireland, The Lower Shannon, and Cork & Kerry regions, there are cattle pastures instead of sheep pastures. I miss seeing the sheep and the little adorable lambs. I’m looking forward to seeing them again when we head back toward Dublin. The lack of sheep in these areas is compensated by the overabundance of crows. Perhaps crows are afraid of sheep which is why we didn’t see any of them in the Northern regions. They may have been there, but not nearly in the numbers that you see down here. It’s just crazy how many crows there are around here! –Michele
Pint (Point) to ponder… My Goodness, My Guinness!
-Anyone who knows me knows that I have a visceral disagreement with the childish and capricious liquor laws of the state of Utah. Just for fun, let’s recap- 3.2 beer (is for babies), ‘alcopops’ (what-co-whats?) (!) ‘private clubs’ (sounds dirty) ‘side cars’ (just what the hell is that?) Please, what a load of celestial bullshit.
SOOOOooooo- my constant refrain is that other places in the world have liquor laws for grown-ups and Utah is STUPID in that regard and etc, etc. Very well , I stand corrected. Utah is not alone. No gentle reader, I am not going to defend Utah’s vapid ‘kul-churl-ul hair-tige’ but simply admit that Zion is not alone in the poltroon column. Ireland (!) -OF ALL PLACES- bans (!) the sale of beer (!- even Guinness) and liquor (!- even Jameson’s and Bushmill’s Irish Whiskeys) on Christmas Day and Good Friday (to-day). Though wine is OK, but only in restaurants (Thank you, Jesus! Literally -first miracle, you know- water into wine = wine is ok. Not familiar with the story, look it up!).
Praise Jesus! BY ORDER ~SEA
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