We're not staying here!!!

Good Morning from Ireland and the beautiful Ashford Castle, our last Irish castle. The air was still cool outside, but the sun was brilliant. After a good nights sleep, we enjoyed our gormet Irish breakfast in the lavish dining room.


Not only did we order from the menu (notice the Kelly menu), but we also enjoyed the well stocked buffets.



Wonderful, fully stocked buffet.

After breakfast, we went directly to the lobby sitting room to meet some beautiful Irish Wolfhounds named Cronin & Garvin.  They were so sweet and cooperated nicely for pictures.


These brothers are extremely laid back and weigh 164 lbs each.


Thanks boys for kissing my ears!

In an effort to stay in this wonderful castle and grounds as long as possible (thank goodness check out time is noon), we decided to take another walk before leaving.


The walk took us to the equestrian center, the lake, and gardens before we sadly had to hit the road.  They were going to charge us a lot more money if we hung around any longer!


The lake.


The castle.


Beautiful Hydrangeas. 

Time had come for us to head east towards Dublin. Tonight we'll stay close to the airport because we have an early morning flight to Paris tomorrow (Saturday).


Thank you Martin - looking dapper.

Our last castle visit before leaving Ireland - we decided not to stay here!


Roscommon Castle built in 1269 - we poked around the castl for a little before we went into the town square for lunch.  

For lunch Bill had the pea and coconut soup and chicken salad sandwich and loved it. Karen had a vegetarian wrap and fries and she loved it as well.


Free styling again - we stumbled upon Gleeson's in Roscommon.


Our lunch.

Continuing on the road we made it to the Dunboyne Hotel where we have a very modern room as opposed to the traditional somewhat medival rooms we have been enjoying.

Once here, Bill contacted Rail Europe to find out if our train from Paris to Mont Saint Michel tomorrow is running.  So far, it shows yes - but this is France and anything can happen. We sure hope our train goes!!!

Now that we are leaving Ireland, here are some things we have learned about Ireland:

  1. It is truly beautiful and green.
  2. They serve fries with lasagna in most resturants.  Weird.
  3. The salad dressing of choice here is honey mustard.
  4. They put onions on their salads and they are very strong.  A warning to Irish travelers!
  5. The roads can be very narrow and winding (think Hwy 1 on steroids) through thick forests where we are sure Leprechauns live.
  6. There are more pubs per capita than anywhere else.
  7. The Irish people are very nice and friendly.  See #6 above.
  8. The food was much better than expected - we ate plenty and never had a bad meal.

Slan agus beannacht - Irish for 'Good bye and blessings on you'.

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