No, not a poem (I leave that to my excellent poetry writing daughter), but a little bit of the city. We made a day trip up there yesterday. Another gloriously beautiful spring day in Ireland. I must say, the bus system here is very easy to use and serious kudos to the bus drivers. The thought of driving through these tiny towns, with their narrow streets in a small car is daunting enough…maneuvering one of those huge buses is nearly heroic. Our drivers were helpful to the ignorant Americans and the buses were very comfortable. Highly impressive all around. Before we get into details of the day, let us fast forward to lunch and the sign on the wall back by the toilets:
I elected to do this day in my favorite kind of foot wear…Sketcher’s flip flops: ) Hey, if I can walk Mont St Michel in flip flops, I can walk Limerick in them. I realize that is putting on my ‘merican, but honestly, I did see several other people in them, and I am relatively certain they were not tourists.
King John’s Castle – which King John never visited. And this is King John of the Robin Hood legend – is quite impressive. It started out fairly small and simple and was added on to up until the 1700s. The beginning of the tour is through an outstanding educational opportunity. Everything from daily life in the 1200s to the political situation throughout the centuries was clearly and enjoyably described. A fantastic experience. But the next piece was probably my favorite – going underneath the castle walls. We didn’t try to take photos down there because, a) it was too dark and, b) we forgot to – we were so amazed by what we were seeing! One of the tunnels dug during a siege to collapse the walls was even visible! Truly a history geeking out moment! Now, back into the sunlight.
After leaving the castle we headed over the river for lunch. Me, being me, had already researched and decided that we would go to Hook and Ladder. We were quite pleased with my choice, up to and including the sign at the beginning of the post.
After lunch it was back over the river (by this time I’m really glad I had on my trusty flip flops!) to visit St. Mary’s Cathedral. Now, I love old stuff and I really love old churches. The older, the better. The oldest recorded date for the construction of St. Mary’s is 1160, but the front portion may date to 1111. Happiness abounds.
As is my custom when visiting these beautiful, old churches candles were lit
While waiting at the bus station for our ride home we realized that we did not have exact change. Well, there was this handy place to take care of the problem…
Happy Mother’s Day to all. Except the Irish. They do Mother’s Day in March.