My Adventures in the UK - DAY 15 - by Anne Shier

(this narrative began from when I first landed in London on September 3, 2016)

Thursday September 15, 2016:

Today, we had to get up early (6:00 am), get our baggage out the door by 6:45 am, have breakfast at 6:45 am, and leave our hotel by 8:00 am.  It was going to be a long day of driving, stopping for photo opps and lunch along the way.

We started out driving along the very picturesque Dingle Peninsula, a trip I thought we’d already done, but I was wrong.  The scenery we saw today was as breathtaking as any I’ve seen anywhere so far.  After a couple of hours, we arrived at the BLASKETT ISLANDS CENTRE to learn about the way of life of the Irish settlers on these remote islands that were eventually evacuated by its inhabitants in 1953.  That was probably due to lack of fresh food and water and electrical power of any kind.  Also, there was no medical care of any kind available.

Then, we drove for another couple of hours, first to have lunch at the village of Dingle, Ireland and then we drove on for another couple of hours to arrive at the quaint city of Adare, but we only stopped for a washroom break there.  Half an hour after that, we finally arrived at our destination for the night, the Clarion Hotel in the city of Limerick, Ireland.

Excursion # 5 happens tonight at Knappogue Castle where we’ll partake in a medieval banquet.  I am curious to see what that term “medieval” means in this case - what kind of food are we going to be served?  Obviously I chose to participate in this particular excursion.  I was tired today, so I slept on the bus.  I hope that tonight’s excursion will be fun, but that the evening will be short.

As it turns out, it was much more than a banquet.  It was certainly medieval in nature because of the courtiers and ladies dressed in medieval court wear.  The dinner was nothing unusual, but the entertainment that accompanied it was wonderful and unexpected.  Music (by a harpist), singing, dancing, and joking were the order of the day provided by the courtiers and ladies.  I enjoyed this excursion thoroughly and so, I am really glad I chose this one.

Tomorrow morning, we must be up early again (6:15 am), have our baggage out the door by 7:00 am, have breakfast at 7:00 am, and then we leave Limerick by 8:00 am.  It’s another full day of driving and sightseeing:  the Cliffs of Moher, Galway, Knock, and finally Sligo.  We are still in Ireland today, but by Saturday September 17th, we will be in Northern Ireland spending the night in Belfast.

copyright 2016 - Anne Shier