Sew Not My Day!

The next day on our Ireland trip in 2005 including my trip diary for the day. Since I've started the ball rolling, might as well continue it...



Day 3: Tuesday, June 7th
We headed West towards Cashel on the smallest narrowest roads we could find. Not by choice... We were determined to find the Rock of Cashel. This is where St. Patrick preached and many many Kings of ancient Ireland had been crowned. We finally came to Cashel and Robb parked in the first car park he found. Pay and display rules applied here and we complied. You pay for a parking time of say 2 hours and leave the ticket lying on your dashboard. I panicked at this point because my wallet wasn't in my purse. I was positive I had it when we left the cottage and dug around under the seats. No luck!
So we had no cash. Robb had his wallet, so we found the first ATM and withdrew some. Ryan and Maddy ran across the street to a SuperValue and got a couple waters for the walk. The waters were a sparkling water that tasted awful! It turned out that it was a hefty long walk to the Rock. When we got to the base of the steep hill that takes you there, there was a car park.and we knew it would take more than 1 hour and 20 minutes to see everything and make it back.
Ryan and I decided to go get our car and move it to this car park instead. So we started walking back. We had a nice talk and I took some pictures of the Friary when we came to it half way back to the car. At this point, I discovered that Robb hadn't given either of us the key to the car! So we headed back to the Rock to catch up with Robb. He was sitting on a bench at the entrance with the girls climbing on the rocks around like billy goats. He had realized we'd forgotten the key when he went to pay for them. And it was cheaper to buy a family pass so he waited outside for us. So we started our mission back again. Ryan shifted for me on the drive to the Rock car park. He really enjoyed that. Plus, he found my wallet! It had fallen farther back under the seat than I had thought it might have.
The Rock of Cashel was incredible! The main church part had no roof and had deteriorated quite a bit. For having survived as long as it had, it was very impressive. The wind was horrific up there, but the views were fantastic! There was a movie explaining the history of the Rock. After we left, Ryan admitted that he had at first misunderstood the narrator in the movie and thought that Mormons had invaded Ireland. But no, it was really Normans. Maddy found a tombstone dated in the 1400s.
I drove from here and we went south towards Mitchellstown, where we found signs to the Mitchellstown caves. We found it easily enough and had a picnic in an area next to the car park. It was a good hike back to the cave entrance where we were met by the tour guide. No pictures were allowed in the cave, so that was a bummer. We started down the steps. It was 100 feet to the bottom of the first cave. Steep steep steps! And narrow! Maddy went first after the tour guide and Robb and Meri came last. Meri was scared to death but was encouraged by everyone. One step at a time! Water dripping everywhere. Once down, it was beautiful! Crystals shone in a couple rocks that don't get much moisture. Then we came to a huge cavern where the Irish Tenors had given a special concert a couple years back. We got to stand on the actual stage area when they stood and hear our voices echo through the caves. It was beautiful! Meri sang Jesus Loves Me to the wrong tune and giggled when she realized it. Ryan graced us with his version of My Lovely Horse from the Irish sitcom "Father Ted". Our favorite tv show. Our tour guide knew it well and loved that we knew it. One of the rock formations looked like a giant monster or dinosaur. The kids were creative with finding different images in the rocks. The straws hanging from the ceiling are said to take 1000 years to gain an inch in length through the limestone.
Afterwards we headed back to Bruree. I had tea with Jessie and Ryan got to meet their son. They soon ran off to play on his Playstation. Ryan felt right at home! Well Jessie did our laundry and even folded it before she brought it up around 10pm.
Dawn in Ireland in June is around 4:15 to 4:30 am every morning and sets around 10:30pm. So needless to say, it was useless to put the kids down for bed until at least 10 or 10:30 every night. I'm sure it's a different story in the winter.