Wednesday, 11 September 2013

Adorable Adare


Tuesday 10th September

Today’s pedometer reading is 8.91k’s

This morning got off to a very cheerful start…when we arrived in the breakfast room we were greeted by Dolores with a kiss on the cheek! She was dressed in an orange chiffon outfit that I can only describe as frou frou! Her glasses have red plastic frames and her glossy dark hair was pulled back in tight pony tail…she is one of those women of indeterminate age and absolutely bursting with energy. The breakfast room is decorated to the max…with every available spot embellished with something exotic. The curtains look like they are made from silk with matching swags, ornate tie backs and dingly dangly bling cascading down one side…just a little over the top for breakfast. There were four couples having breakfast, Dolores knew all our names, there was lots of banter and she was telling jokes…Andrew wasn’t impressed and kept raising his eyebrows and shaking his head…I’m sure you know what I mean. The food was fabulous…loads of fresh fruit…I had fresh pineapple, banana and kiwi fruit…there was also a huge array of cereals and separate ingredients that you could put together to make your own muesli. Natural yoghurt too…most places have only had the sweetened variety. Then of course there was the opportunity for a full Irish breakfast or several other cooked offerings. I’m sure you can guess who had what!

We packed up the car and headed for Limerick…my Mum’s heritage is Irish, her family originally came from County Cork. Believe it or not her maiden name was Limerick so this photo is for you Mum…it’s King John’s Castle on the banks of the River Shannon in Limerick.


I also bought you a special fridge magnet mum…I hope you like it!


We thought it would then be a straight run to Killarney however we just had to stop at a beautiful little village called Adare along the way. Loads of thatched cottages…here are a few favourites…







Our drive from there was lovely…we can really understand why Ireland is called the Emerald Isle…there are vast expanses of so many beautiful shades of green, but mostly emerald.

We arrived here in Killarney, booked into the guesthouse that will be home for two nights. The décor here is way more restrained than Bunratty Mews and we are both very happy with our spacious and comfortable room.

It was time to explore the town so we walked two blocks into the centre of town and found a café for lunch. Seafood chowder seems to be a specialty here in Killarney and we were very impressed with the one we sampled. We wandered around this quite large and beautiful town and ended up in a huge shop that specialises in Aran products…I’m not sure how long we were in there but we tried on lots of stuff but decided they were just too thick and heavy. I did fall in love with a beautiful throw rug with Celtic designs woven through it. Frightfully expensive but we decided to buy it, then I noticed it was only 20% wool & 80% acrylic and put it back on the shelf!

An afternoon rest was next on the agenda before heading back into town for dinner.

Good night all …I’ll leave you with a photo of the parking disc we purchased today…
We found a car park in Limerick and there was a sign nearby that said it a parking disc must be purchased and displayed. Andrew stayed in the car and I went into a shop and asked where I could buy a disc. I had to go 2 doors down and asked for one. This is what I got!



It’s a bit like a scratch and win ticket…you have to scratch off the year, month, day, hour, and minute you bought the ticket and leave it on the dashboard...very interesting concept.

No comments:

Post a Comment