From Sunflowers to Spurs: Ireland Trip Part7...the husband's plans

At this point we had seen pretty much everything that I absolutely *had* to see. So I gave the day to my husband to plan. He's not a big planner, he's more of just do whatever we come upon. This was hard for me, but I managed to survive the day...barely! We started off at John Street Deli again. My husband wanted more of their tasty breakfast. Then he wanted to walk aimlessly about the streets of Limerick some more. So we did that for a little while. Then we decided to hop in the car and drive to a castle we had passed a few times on our other adventures. He didn't want to do too much driving this day because the next day we were going to Dublin. Anyway, we found Knappogue Castle and toured it. It was sprinkling on us pretty good, so I actually didn't get too many pictures of the exterior of the castle. This castle had a couple of very pretty gardens too.

After we had our fill of the castle, we found ourselves in Quin and walked around the ruins of the Quin Friary. Unfortunately, this was a Monday, and this was the only day the friary was closed, so we didn't get to go in. But the headstones were neat to look at and the outside of the building was really cool.

Then we went on to the nearby town of Ennis. This is where I had intended us to go when we arrived in Ireland, but talk about crazy narrow streets, lots of traffic, and roundabouts galore. Not a good idea for someone who is learning to drive on the left from the wrong side of the car. Anyway, we figured out the pay-and-display parking and got a map from the tourism office. Then we went to the Ennis Friary and took some pictures. They are in the process of restoring this site, so it was one of the few free attractions we found. After that we walked around Ennis aimlessly (again, not something I am good at doing since I like to walk with a purpose) and found a nice little place to have lunch.

After that we got our Ireland book out and found another castle to go to. This was Dysert O'Dea, and it was pretty cool. It was more museum-y than any of the other castles we had been to. I found my family name on one of the displays! And surrounding the castle within a 2 mile radius (supposedly) were 25 other historical sites to see. We purchased the map and started tromping through cow pastures. We found the high cross and that was really cool. Then we went on to the church and monks' tower. From there we found an old lodge building that had seen better days. And then we were supposed to walk past some supposedly haunted house. That's when things went wrong. Somehow we missed the trail and just kept walking. And walking. And walking. And walking. That's when I kept telling my husband that I just knew we were lost, that we passed that house a long time ago! He pulled out the map and tried to tell me we were ok. Then some random giant of a dog came upon us in the road and barked and snapped and I thought we were going to die! Well, maybe not die, but I did really think my husband was going to get bit because he kept talking to the dog and running from it! So when we were past the ferocious beast, I reviewed the top rules of dog safety with him.

Just when I was about to break down into tears because we were lost, I see a sign that says we are 2 km from the castle. So we walk and walk and walk and walk some more. Then finally we come upon another sign that says we are 2 km from the castle! WHAT?! I thought we were 2 km away 2 km ago! So I was on the verge of tears again because my feet hurt and I thought we would never ever get back to the castle. But we finally did.

My poor husband. He thought that was the greatest walk ever until the first time I almost cried. I'm just a fun ruiner. Here are some pics from the day: