We are not joking, we went to Limerick...

House taken over by ivy in Adare
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This morning we set off for a short touring day. It was pouring rain today so we were happy to be in the bus, rather than doing a morning walking tour of a city or town. Around morning tea we approached the small town of Adare, which contained many old looking thatch style houses. We pulled into the Historic Centre which contained a few shops and a cafe, but decided to head up the road on foot to see if we could find a small coffee shop. The rain was bothersome and all we found were more craft and antique shops and pubs, and also the arbor covered entry to the public gardens. We decided to call our wonderings off as I did not want to risk freshening my head-cold up just when I was starting to feel better. Nothing tickled our fancy at the shops and the hot coffee hit the spot.

Entrance to the Adare town park
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It was then back on the bus and onward to our final stop of the day - the city of Limerick - the third city of Ireland. The rain was still persisting, and after lunch in the hotel bistro, those of us that opted for the afternoon castle tour left at 2pm. This took us to nearby Banratty Castle. Here we were guided around the castle rooms by our guide Lady Elizabeth, who recounted stories of the original builders of the castle, and re-building and restoration works over the centuries. The building is now used only as a tourist attraction, and in high season, you can attend a medieval banquet for dinner. We walked around the castle and up the skinny spiral staircases to the corner towers to look out across the fields of green. It was pretty precarious going back down the stairs let me tell you.

There once were two people from BrisVegas....

Banratty Castle
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After the castle tour, we wandered around the attached folk park. This included many town buildings that had been moved to the property and renovated and furnished with period furniture. We saw the laborers hut, the standard farmers cottage (with a handy indoor hen house), and the obviously well off doctors house. They also had set up shops in the village, the weavers sold jumpers, the potters sold ceramics and the grocer sold gifts. You could also attend the baker to purchase your afternoon tea. We passed a large moose stag fenced in the grounds of the Earl's estate house.

The main hall in Banratty Castle
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At 4:30pm we headed back to the hotel and not wanted to waste time in our hotel room, decided to head to the town square to find somewhere for a hot coffee. The weather was not being friendly, at with it being just after 5pm, many of the shops were closing. We finally found a small cafe that made us two hot lattes. We gave up on the idea of walking around any further as everyone was closing up shop and the rain was just annoying.

At 7pm we had an included dinner at the hotel, then decided to head across the road to a local pub for a guinness or two to mix with the locals. The first rugby game of the season was on tonight and we had been warned that the locals were very much behind the local Munster team who were playing a French team. We arrived at the hotel at about 8:30pm and the 10 of us quickly took over a corner of the pub. A couple of the locals were watching the game and being very, very vocal. Joe got to talking to them, Tom and Sue, and starting giving Sue tips on where to go when she visits Australia. She had very colourful language, with every other work being f$%k. At one point, when I popped out to the ladies, I came back to find everyone looking at me, and at Joe on the middle of the tables. I then noticed that all the drinks that were on the two small tables were empty. They were full just 2minutes earlier. Joe had apparently stood up and turned around to see where I was, and had nearly knocked over one table, then in reaction to this, quickly turned back around, and knocked over all the drinks on the other table. Not one drink survived, and floor, couches, and one of our fellow Aussie travellers were covered in guinness and/or beer!!! I was dumbfounded - everyone else found it hilarious, including the lady with the soaked through jeans. Joe shouted everyone a new round of drinks, and the night continued on as if nothing had happenned. Luckily for the locals they won 14-13 in the last 3 minutes of the game. Not long after the game finished we decided to head back to the hotel, as one of the locals said the people attending the game at the stadium would start flowing into the city and fill up the pubs, and there would be a "right old ruckus". We said our goodbyes to Tom and Sue and called it a night.