Day of castles and Ennis

Sorry that we dropped the ball yesterday all you blog followers!  We just were too tired to sit in front of the computer and upload and type, so we watched some 3rd Watch DVD's (thanks to Mike).  Check for Friday's post later, we need to get dinner, because right now it is only 1:50 for you, but almost 7:00 for us!!!

So today started with a little exploration around Ennis, where we are staying.  There are a number of streets that wind around town and they are all lined with shops, pubs and eateries.  The interesting thing about this town, and possibly other Irish towns is that there seems to be a "prime-time" to be out and about.  The shops all open a bit later 10ish and they all close between 5 and 6 it seems.  As we have been out on our ventures, we will drive through the narrow and densly populated streets on the way home but when we leave our hotel to get something to eat, everyone has disappeared and we are the only ones out there.  I am not complaining because it is nicer to walk on narrow sidewalks when it is just us, it just boggles my mind that it can be like clockwork and everyone has somewhere to go!

The afternoon began with us traveling again, we just can't sit still, there is too much to see!!!  So we started at Quin Abbey.  This is an old church which is also a graveyard.  Inside the ruins of what remains standing of the church are the graves of many.  Some are really erie to look because it seems as though they are coming up out of the ground!  After here, we made our way to Craggaunowen near Quin, in County Clare. 

This was pretty cool, although of course when we stopped in the tea room to get a quick snack, there was a British family (mom, dad, and three children) who were clearly staring at us and talking about us while we sat right there.  It seems the norm around here, but we are convinced that it isn't the Irish culture to do this, as much as the British who evidently teach it to their children at an early age.  Needless to say, Matt and I have come up with many faces with which to give back to them, when it happens again!  ..and that had us laughing a ton, just planning it!

So this place was open and had a bunch of different things to do, across 50 acres of land.  We saw a 19th century castle, and some other cool things, including some goats that didn't sound real when they made noise!  After we left here, we went to Knappogue Castle which wasn't far away and also in Quin.  For some reason, there are only a few castles which are real tourist spots.  We think they are all cool and rich with so much history, so we have traveled to as many as we could.  I mean, could you imagine the things that have taken place right where you are standing in these mind blowing buildings. Just getting over how they built them with this massive rock is overwhelming to do, let alone the families that have lived here among the many years.  Since they haven't been as popular, we have been able to travel through them at our leisure. 

We ended our day at a pub for a nice dinner in town.  Also food report:  food is ok, takes some getting used to, but almost always is something you don't expect.  One example, I ordered a mozzarella pizza the other day and it came to me with tomatoes, and black and green olives all over it.  So far my favorite food is the fries!!! I had an amazing potato salad the other day, the cappucino's are awesome (decaf of course)and I LOVE the desserts!!

Quin Abbey

Castle (they still use this castle, by having medieval dinner banquets here)

They said we could go anywhere...not here though!

These are the stairs in EVERY castle...you can't tell how steep they are, but there are floors and floors of them all the way up the towers...so to get rid of my thighs, I decided I will build and live in a castle when we get back home!!!

These were definitely boys, they sounded very different from the other ones!