"Bunratty Big Daddy"

Saturday morning, the family checked out of their Galway hotel and we all went to Shannon to be closer to the airport. The main tourist attraction around Shannon is Bunratty Castle so that's where we went. It was awesome. The castle is not open only by tours and guided walks. It's just a big building and once you're in, you can go anywhere. Rick, Katie, and I went up all four towers. Two of them led to open air and the view was amazing. Mom and Dad joined us for the first tower, but neither of them liked the cramped spiral staircases so they sat the other three out.


The castle is not very big, as far as castles go, but it's still awesome. They host medieval banquets there every night. There was a lady in costume in the Great Hall but we did not speak to her.

Katie sat in the head chair like she was some kind of royalty.


This is my papa and me on the top of the tower. The opening behind us was blocked off with bars but not all of them were. Some were open so we could look straight out at the scenery.



Here is Rick and me at the top of the other open tower. This was the last one we saw. It was connected to a lower part with a bedroom.


This is Katie looking out the Bunratty banquet hall window. The banquet hall also had stairs to the dungeon. It was a very small place between the stairs and the dungeon and down in the dungeon there was a spotlight on a rat. Pleasant.


Besides the castle, there was also a lot to see on the grounds of Bunratty. Everything was so beautiful, especially with the colorful leaves everywhere. There was also the aroma of peat fires in every cottage we explored.


We took some pictures outside the castle. If you look closely, you'll see that I appear to be holding a tiny Rick in my hand. It's not a perfect display of photo trickery, but I think you get the idea.


There were many animals in the area. We saw chickens, ducks, geese, pigs, sheep, Irish wolfhounds, cattle, ponies, and deer. The deer were really cool because the biggest one came up to the fence to eat ivy from our hands.


Above you can see Katie and Rick about to go deface some public property. That building is Bunratty Church which is very small but pretty.

After Bunratty, we had a late lunch/early dinner at Durty Nelly's. The food was great and the atmosphere was even better. It was the perfect way to end the day and my family's stay in Ireland. We spent the rest of the evening in the hotel and this morning were up before the sun. They caught their plane (I assume, I have not heard from them yet) and I caught my bus back to Galway. We had a fantastic week!