We got up EARLY, because we had several things to get done before our tour at Kilmainham Gaol began at 12:30.
Our final breakfast. Ugh, talk about heart-breaking. We finished up our last bits of bread and eggs and fruit, but we still had an unopened block of delicious Irish cheese. Yeah, I packed it in my checked luggage ;-)
We were off. When we had left Newgrange six days earlier, the gift shop had already closed, and we all wanted to have a look, so the Newgrange gift shop was our first stop. Thankfully they let us in without a ticket. I hadn't bought much of anything except food all week, so when I found a beautiful leather purse embossed with the three concentric circles that are endemic to Newgrange, I took it to the cash register almost immediately (I did do the thing where I imagined walking away from it, and I knew that I would regret it). Glo wanted to buy some local jewelry, but Gordon wasn't enthusiastic about her doing so. We had a good discussion in the car about the dilemma and guilt of being a "kept" woman, and what is a proper way for a man to support a woman when she wants to buy something. No really, it's a real problem, and I would seriously love to know the best solution.
We then tripped east about 30 minutes to the B&B where we had stayed the first night. Gordon had somehow lost his wedding ring while there, and thankfully the staff ended up finding it.
We then drove into Dublin to arrive in time for our tour of Kilmainham Gaol (or the jail). The Gaol is a hot ticket in Dublin (listed as the top-rated tourist destination), and the tickets are, in fact, difficult to get. The OPW releases the tickets 30 days before a tour, but sometimes they released them 33 days before and sometimes 28. Or sometimes they release a week at a time. Whatever the case, I had been checking daily for a couple of weeks leading up to a month out. One night in Cayman, after the midnight bell had struck, I had the idea to check again. Sure enough, the tickets for the day we wanted to visit the jail had been released just 17 minutes earlier...and there were only 11 tickets left for the entire day. Needless to say, we didn't have our pick of our tour time (or I certainly wouldn't have yeeted out of Northern Ireland quite so early in the morning). We found a spot to park directly across from the entrance and walked in. It had been several hours since we had eaten breakfast, and there was a little cafe. With 15 minutes to spare before our tour started, we ordered two trays of food and horked it down (John is happy to have an eating comrade in Gordon). I personally was happy to have my scone and cream ;-)
The jail is intense, and I suspect for the Irish, very moving. We still attempt to grasp the whole Irish independence from Britain, and the reasons why not all of the counties belong to Ireland proper, so when heroes' names were being thrown around, and when our tour guide asked for a moment of silence amid emotion, we were respectful but honestly pretty clueless. But the idea of the jail. Wow. I'll let the pictures do the talking:
I had been having trouble with my back almost the entire week. That's what happens when I'm stuck on an airplane for hours, followed by sitting in a car for more hours, and then standing for hours on tours. At times, I would have to crouch down to just stretch out my back. I wanted to read all of the information in the displays, but there was a bench with my name on it that offered my aching back some relief.
After we left, we checked into our hotel, the Crowne Plaza near the airport. It was only when I was presented with luxury again did I realize that we had settled quite easily into the country life. No lumpy beds at the Crowne Plaza ;-) Glo and John went running one last time, and I took a quick nap.
We then headed to The Merry Ploughboy for dinner and a show.
I love going to The Merry Ploughboy. There's nothing like delicious Irish food, fantastic Irish music played on authentic instruments, and Irish teenagers dancing Irish dances. Turns out, the evening made everyone's lists of one of their favorite activities of the week, including Gordon! In fact, when we were warned of audience participation (and I do everything to appear busy doing anything that prevents them from choosing me), Gordon hopped right up when the cute Irish girl asked him to come up and dance! That was a first for our family at The Merry Ploughboy and was so sweet, seeing him up on stage! (I have screen grabs from my video)
We bought our requisite t-shirts and magnets before setting back off into the night back to our hotel to prepare to fly home the next day. Or so we thought....
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