Day 4

Close-up of my play cottage.

Day 4

The seven dwarves' house? Or a cute pleasure house for rich, bored aristocrats? I wish I had my own pleasure-house....

Day 4

Mom modeling the old-fashioned castle toilets (yes, I made her do this every time we ran into a toilet in the castles). Fun toilet facts: 1. Toilet users would just go out the side of the castle into the moat...and that could be their drinking water too. 2. One of the most vulnerable areas of a castle was this toilet shoot. In fact, it was a wide seat so you could go the bathroom next to someone else in case someone tried to invade. The unlucky person who "volunteered" to climb the toilet shaft could be hit with falling um...yeah. And it must have smelled. Still, I can't imagine being on a toilet and suddenly a head pops up next to me. Eek!

Day 4

This small door within a door is a castle defense strategy--no armies can get through it quickly. It seems to me it is also a stumbling block for the castle owners. And yes, I did fall through it.

Day 4

A beautiful example of crystal work at the Waterford factory. Alas, Cinderella's carriage is a little out of my price range....

Day 4

Day 4 was our second day in Kilkenny (fun fact of the day: kil means church in Gaelic, hence why so many kils in ireland). It was really fun. We went to Kilkenny Castle the day before (first built in stone around 1206 and remodeled most recently in the 18th century). I love those tours where we learn history and archaeology. We stayed in its dower house so doubly cool. Anywho, the family who owned it, the Butler family (look up the Earl of Ormonde for cool stories) also at one point owned two other castles and a playhouse we visited. The playhouse was where one branch of the Butler family (Earl of Cahir) went to play peasant (a la Marie Antoinette...I can feel Michelle wincing). It looks like snow white and the seven dwarves' cottage (I have pics above, no fear). The other two castles dated to the late 12th century not the early 19th (during which period many of them were remodeled) and thus were more typical castles of Medieval and Elizabethan period (directly above is a picture of one of these early castles). Earlier the castle day, we went to Waterford Crystal and learned about how they make the crystals. The craftsmen there were amazing and it made me feel bad for all the crystal I will accidentally break in the future.

Day 3

The gardens at the Castle of Kilkenny: I look like a little person!

Day 3

Kilkenny Castle-- the home of the Earls of Ormonde (sadly the title was lost in 1997 as someone had only girls).

Day 3

Katie, no fouling!

Day 3

On Day 3 we left Dublin and arrived in Kilkenny. The countryside is amazing. Full of cottages, green grass, sheep, and cows. Our hotel is super cool. It is called the Butler House (pictured above) and was once the dower house of Kilkenny Castle, where we toured today. It was fascinating-built in the early thirteenth century and used up until the 20th, mostly by the Butler family, aka the Earl of Ormonde. We had Irish Italian for dinner- not what you'd think. I had thoughts of corn beef and lasagna, shepherd's pie and pasta, guiness and wine. It was actually close to American Italian, just with more salmon, Irish chicken, and Irish beef. I had polpette al pomodoro, aka spaghetti and meatballs. My room's view is amazing, out onto beautiful gardens. You can look out on them from the toilet! Now that's what I call classy :D

Day 2.4.2

You'd think with all the effort they put into making the beer that it would taste good. It doesn't. I managed two sips. Which got me to thinking, bars should have vanilla milkshakes on tap.

Day 2.4

One of the most popular sites in Dublin, the Guinness Factory. My ancestors, the Roe family, owned the distillery that Guinness bought in the 1700s. Yet again, I do not luck out. I could have been Lady Iveagh!

Day 2.3.2

The outside of St. Patrick's Cathedral

Day 2.3

The inside of Saint Patrick's Cathedral. I took this shot with the sun shining in and somehow made my Dad look holy. My grandmother would disagree :)

Day 2.2

This is the women's waiting room in Dublin Castle. The women would wait here until the men came to bring them to the ballroom. Supposedly, the women were forgotten on more than one occasion as the men drunk themselves into a stupor (or is that several stupors?). Now, the focus of this room is the chandelier-filled ceiling. How much do these beauties cost? Often over $20,000 each. How do I know this? Did you think I would not investigate such a sparkly treat? Sadly, I could not afford even one of these. A good birthday gift though...hint.hint.

Day 2

Day 2 was full of activities in Dublin (it was our only full day in the city and we had to get everything done). We took a step on-step off bus to the biggest tourist points in the city. Above are pictures of some of our stops. Directly above is a picture of Dublin Castle (which is more a palace than castle).

One pill makes you larger, and one pill makes you small....

Is it a shoe? Is it a plane? No, it's modern furniture!

Day 1.5

The picture is of the Dylan Hotel where we stayed in Dublin. It was modern-chic (sorta like shabby-chic...well, actually no, but shabby chic is such a fun word). I will add some pictures of the interior above. We arrived at this hotel at 6:00 AM after our flight. After check-in we went to see the Book of Kells at Trinity College Dublin. In my opinion, it was highly overrated. It was pretty and all, but the admission cost was too high. And I could not even read the Latin as it had medieval words and spellings. Grrr. After I took a four hour nap we went on a bus tour and ate at a pub. I had Shepherd's Pie. Yum! (NOTE: This was the first and last time I had Shepherd's Pie in Ireland...I think it might be one of those Irish American things...like French Fries for France or "Greek Salad" for Greece...my discovery in Greece that Greek salad has no lettuce in it was one of the greatest let downs of my life. Okay, I am going to end at this long parantheses).

Day 1

Am I going to prom? Am I getting married? Nope, I'm going to Ireland! My mom ordered a car to drive us to Logan Airport thinking "Black Lincoln Town Car," instead we ended up with a white limo. I guess we drove in style (I wonder what the neighbors thought).