Day 3 – Wexford to Adare

We were up at 7 am.  The weather was overcast, but dry.  We enjoyed a wonderful and private breakfast that was cooked and served by the very friendly husband of the house.  We had LOTS of food (which we would eventually learn is simply the way it is for B&B breakfasts).  This was our first good experience with blood sausage…yum.
Within an hour of getting on the road the weather cleared...

... and it was perfect sunny and warm (60’s) weather.
 
 

We drove the Ring of Hook scenic route stumbled upon Slade Castle (c. 1500) next to a cute little fishing harbor.


Ahhhhhhh!!!!
Sheltered harbor.

Some sort of dwelling within
the castle wall.

Low tide exposed this.
 

A little further along the Ring we found the Hook Lighthouse (oldest operational lighthouse in Ireland) and Hook Church (a medieval church ruin believed to have been built on the site of St. Saviour’s of Rinndeaun Monastery, founded in the 5th century by a Welsh missionary).

On our way to Waterford, we got an unexpected ferry ride across Waterford bay (we were expecting a bridge, but, um, no bridge).

The Passage East Car Ferry Co. makes runs back and forth as fast as they can load and unload for 8 Euro/car.

The ferry takes all of about 8 minutes to cross…so that’s about a Euro per minute.

We hadn’t planned on stopping in Waterford as it is clearly a tourist town, but at the last minute we changed our minds and decided to make a stop at the Waterford Crystal’s visitor center to do a little souvenir shopping.  The only problem was that, per the norm, signs with directions/streets/distances were pretty much non-existent and we found ourselves lost.  With a little help from a nice Irish man, we made it to our destination.  Lots of expensive glass products of every size, shape, and design.  Does anybody really need a four foot high crystal goblet?  How about something that looked like a candy dish that would hold a few million M&M’s and had a carved crystal seahorse on top?  Really?  On the way out we stopped by their café and discovered a really tasty brownie and got our first Irish Diet Coke.  It looks the same…but the formula is different and it’s sweetened differently (enough so that John didn’t like it and he abstained from Coke products for the rest of the trip).




A little further down the road, we drove through a City that was built within old medieval Castle Walls.

 

We also saw a fort that had been built into the side of a hill and we continue to see interesting churches (and have decided to not stop at ALL of them).

 

The next stop was the Rock of Cashel – awesome!
The castle served as the traditional seat of the Kings of Munster for several hundred years prior to the Norman invasion.  The original structure was built c. 1100…but little of that still exists.  What remains dates from the 12th and 13th centuries.
  Really made your mind wander and imagine what it was like to live in a place like that…with all the high ceilings, huge rooms, huge fireplaces, etc. 

We lunched in Cahir at a small sandwich shop where we sat outside and watched an armored car make its’ daily visit to a Bank of Ireland Branch.  What made it interesting were the six army guys (two driving two vehicles and four on foot with automatic weapons and bullet proof vests) looking very serious.  Do that many banks get robbed in Ireland?

After lunch, we wandered down to Cahir Castle – a 15th century castle built on a rock in the middle of the River Suir.

This was the most accessible and restored castle that we have visited so far with several restored floors and rooms.
The slots were for archers.

 

 

 Access to the different floors and rooms was via a LOT of winding staircases.
 

Outside of Cahir, we stopped to see a group of very beautiful horses.

 

They were very skittish (obviously had never been handled)…but Erin was determined, climbed the fence, and approached the group very slowly.

   

They all gathered round…quite curious…and it appeared that Erin was holding court.  One mare did let Erin touch her and she enjoyed her stratches.
 

Near the town of Bruff and Lough Gur, we found the Grange Stone Circle - the largest stone circle in Ireland (over 48 meters across).
It is believed to date back as far as 3000 BC and there are several megalithic remains in the area.
We met an old farmer (taking a break from milking cows) who seems to act as the caretaker of the place who showed us the extra circle and standing stones.  There was a small group of baby cows grazing in the circle who didn’t want anything to do with us.
 

Arrived at the Berkley Lodge B&B in Adare.  We had reserved a room almost two months ago (and confirmed in writing via email), but the owner had us down for June 28th instead of May 28th…and no vacancies.  She called down the street to a friend of hers and found us a room at the Churchview B&B.  The place was very cute, very PINK, and run by an ancient and somewhat curmudgeonly old lady (Birdie) who was also very nice (we think she had started to lose some marbles).  This place also wins the prize for the world’s smallest bathroom (basically a converted closet that housed the toilet and the shower, all in a space that would fit into our shower at home).
The ancient town of Adare was historically a market town.  In the Middle Ages, it was a major settlement and boasted three monasteries and a castle.  In modern times, it is considered one of Ireland’s prettiest villages and relies on tourism as its’ major source of income.
 
We unpacked and then headed into town.  We wandered into Bill Chawke’s Pub for beers and trip planning.

The weather was gorgeous so we sat outside in the beer garden for a few pints, then moved inside as it cooled off for a couple more pints...

...and some nice conversation with the young bartender (who, as we found out and much to his chagrin, is hooked on reality tv.
 

Then we took a walk down to Adare Church, past the Adare Gardens, checked out the thatched roof homes, and then ducked into Lena’s Lounge for another pint. 

On tv, we caught the end of England beating the US in football (American soccer).  A little later in the evening, we were pleasantly, or not so pleasantly, surprised by live music – a guy playing Irish tunes with a foot-controlled synthesized percussion kit and an accordion.  Yes, it’s exactly what you might think and not at all pleasant – think too loud polka with “what is he singing?” Irish. 
 

We didn’t last long before heading back to the B&B and retiring.

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