Day 2 - "What did Kenny ever do to you?"

Our (Mike's, Pat's, Libby's, and my) day started with a traditional Irish breakfast. Of course, we didn't tell my father what was on his plate until after he was done eating.

A "typical" Irish breakfast
The circles in the upper left and lower left are "pudding," but really sausage. Upper left is black pudding. Lower left is white pudding. Know what the difference between the two is? I'll give you a hint: one ingredient is missing in the white pudding... Any guesses? My dad tried them both, though, to his credit.

Mmmm... that's a bloody good meal!

After a heavy breakfast, we wandered down the road to a lake with lots of swans. It was a nice walk, and very beautiful... as long as we didn't get hit by the cars whizzing along at about 100kph on the narrow road with no sidewalks.

Our new friend

A closer look

My mother getting hissed at

Don't worry. All our methods were legitimate.

Meanwhile, Grandma had a lovely morning with Helen and her family. I don't know all the details, but I know it involved a delightful breakfast (where Helen once again offered to make a large, elaborate meal) and taking Andrea (one of Helen's daughters) to school.

After breakfast, we were off to the Bellvedere. It's a large estate with lots of pretty gardens, and the ruins pictured below.

Grandma and the "Jealousy Wall"

Another pretty view of the ruins

Fun Fact: The owner of the estate had a bad marriage with his wife. He got jealous because his wife became friends with his brother. So, he built the large wall seen above to block the view between his house and his brother's house. Family reunions must have been a sight to see.

Who's going to win this staring contest?

There were lots of bears, and I got attacked. But don't worry. I made it out alive. There were also lots of pretty flowers.

Bear attack!

Pretty flowers with a pretty lady in the background

Walking through the garden. Did Grandma's smile leave her face?

Ah! There it is. No worries!

More prettiness

Ireland's beautiful, huh?

We also got to tour the house itself... we got to see what poor Belvedere's brother never got to see.

Just a small little cottage, really...

Or maybe not.

Grandma's always hanging out in the kitchen

Wow! This is probably the most beautiful picture on the blog

An upstairs parlor

After a cup of tea, Helen had to get back home and get the kids from school, but we were off to see more of Ireland! We went through a lovely town called Kilkenny. Grandma was quite appalled with its name and felt that poor Kenny got a bad rap. She asked, "What did Kenny every do to you?"

A cup of coffee after the walk

Always have the camera ready, in case the coffee does something cool

A typical Irish downtown

Since Libby and I have been in the market for a new house, we went to a castle, too. "The Rock of Cashel." We tried putting an offer on it, but they didn't seem to think $100,000 was enough. I think they didn't understand the dollar-to-Euro conversion. It was a really pretty setting. They have a cemetery surrounding the building. The cemetery is still used today for the people of Cashel, but the castle is just a tourist attraction. (Which makes me wonder why they didn't take our offer more seriously.)

Irish countyside: green pastures, sheep, and a castle... what else do you need?

How cool is that?

Part of the cemetery

Inspecting one of the newer gravesites

Entering the castle

Libby pictured with our new house

Touring the grounds

The view from inside

The happy couple inside the Rock

And after the castle, we caught a quick game of Ultimate Frisbee. I never thought frisbee would be so commonplace here, but just outside the parking lot, there was a group of kids tossing it around.

Frisbee! The players didn't move too fast, though.

It had been another long day, already, so we headed to Waterford. It was a decent drive, and by the time we got there, it was very hungry in the car. We stopped at a pub just outside of Waterford, but there were no cars there. We weren't sure if that was a bad sign, so we kept going. That was a mistake. In Waterford, we had a heck of a time finding A) a place that was open, B) a place that cost less than $20 per entree, and C) nearby parking. Finally we came upon a pub within the Days Hotel (which had a logo that looked just like Days Inn, so I'm not sure if they're related) where food cost about 10 Euros, and parking was right across the street (though you had to pay a fee about equivalent to parking at a sporting event... only there were no sports).

The food was good, and then we drove the last few miles to our hotel. Wouldn't you know it, though, there was a darn river in the way! Fortunately, though, there is a ferry that runs continuously to help us get back and forth. It's kind of a neat idea. I think living on such an island would be a pain in the butt because it delays you a bit, but it's fun for a short time. And even though Grandma isn't a huge fan of boats, she tolerates the smooth ride very well (perhaps because of her wise, strategic timing of naps in the car).

On the island is Waterford Castle. It's a hotel, now. Not our hotel. The registration was inside, though, so we got a sneak peek. It was very cool inside.

The Castle - apparently one of the nicest hotels in Ireland

Then we made our way to our "lodge." It was incredible! We have three bed rooms, three and a half baths, a huge kitchen, a fireplace, and open floor plan, a flatscreen TV, a few balconies... If this were a house in the USA, we legitimately would want to put an offer on it.

Our livingroom... fireplace... flat screen...

Nice kitchen where we prepare our breakfasts and lunches to cut costs

Fancy bedroom. Very nice to see after our long days

Great place to get clean

Handicap friendly, too

We didn't last long, though, before our eyelids got way too heavy to lift, so we turned in for an "early" night at about 11pm. Remember that nice bedroom pictured above? So nice! Earlier than the night before, but definitely a long day. Maybe that's why day 3 started so late...