Ireland - Day Eight

I want to start this post with a picture I meant to post on "Day Seven" - this is our whole group after we'd gone up to the top of the Blarney Castle.

Mike, Doug, Mom, Bryce, me and Dan

Anyway, this morning we got up and went to check out the Kilkenny Castle. I will admit at this point I wasn't super excited about seeing (and paying for) another castle. We almost decided to skip it because we were going to have to wait about 40 minutes for the next tour, but I'm so glad we decided to stay. This was probably my 3rd favorite experience of the trip! Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures inside the castle, but trust me when I say it was AMAZING! They are working to restore all the wings of the Castle, and the parts we saw that were already done were spectacular! They even have some of the original furniture! This castle was owned by one family for hundreds of years (up until the 1980's) when the last owner sold it to the county for 50 POUNDS! An entire castle for 50 POUNDS!! It's been lots of work getting it all fixed up, because apparently it had been abandoned for nearly 50 years when it was finally sold. Also, sadly, one of the last owners was doing so poorly financially that he had a big auction and sold most of the families possessions. Over the years they have gotten some pieces back, but many, they say, will be lost forever since good records were not kept of the auction. Whew, can you tell I loved this experience?? Anyway, here are a few pictures outside the castle before we went in!

Doug, Mom, Dan and Mike

Me and Bryce

After the tour we got back on the road and made the last leg of our trip back to Dublin. We stayed with the same lady, Eileen, as our first night in Dublin. She was such a kick, so spunky and fiesty. We took a picture with her before we left, so I'll post it on Day Nine. We got in, dropped off our stuff and took off almost right away. One of the only thing I ABSOLUTELY wanted to do while I was in Ireland was to go to the Dracula Museum in Dublin. I know that sounds weird, but I actually read the book before going to prepare myself. We rushed to get there (since we didn't know the hours) and on the way to catch the bus it started hailing!

This is the view out of our window at the B&B. I guess those clouds should've warned us of what was coming!

This is the amount of hail that was coming down as we ran for the bus!

Bram Stoker and Dracula

Only Bryce, Dan and I went to the Bram Stoker's Dracula Experience (that's what it was called.) Mike, Mom and Doug headed into downtown Dublin and we met up with them after. While we looked for somewhere to eat Bryce took a picture with James Joyce.

At dinner we all went around and said what our favorite part of the trip was. Aside from all of us just being together, I think the Aran Islands was a big favorite! After dinner we took the bus back to Eileen's and packed up so we could leave early for the airport! As I was packing up our stuff I couldn't believe the entire trip was already over. We'd seen SO much and traveled SO far, but it seemed liked we'd only just gotten there.