DAY NINE
It was time to make the last leg of our journey.
It was time to make the last leg of our journey.
When looking at the drive aaaall the way across Ireland,
from Galway to Dublin...
The Sweet Man pointed out that Athlone was smack in the middle.
"I don't know," I said,
"Rick Steves doesn't say anything about it. And some guy online said it was 'rubbish'."
But we needed a place to stop for lunch, and Athlone was at the right time, so Athlone it was.
And what a good decision that turned out to be!
The castle there had recently had a spiffing up...
... and had dramatically-lit displays...
... and interactive touch-screens...
.... and a big ole, theater-in-the-round for a documentary.
It was both modern and agreeably castle-y.
(These two photos below illustrate why The Girl is in so many more pictures than The Boy.
He's really not a grumpy person -- he's as even-tempered as you can imagine--
but he treats the camera like someone will pull out his teeth if he shows them.)
At the visitors' center, the helpful lady said Athlone was home to Ireland's oldest pub!
How could we miss that for lunch?
And what did we see when driving into Athlone?
A sign for...
Yes! A petting zoo!
Now, the whole family enjoyed this petting zoo.
But The Girl did not stop smiling once.
Forget castles and museums,
The Girl got to hold a baby goat!!
There was one inhabitant of the zoo, however, that was not so cuddly.
Dun dun...
 |
DunDun DUNdun... |
Despite the emu having the velociraptor/cobra neck thing going on,
I figured it must be safe to feed.
(The young woman at admissions had even given instructions on feeding it, after all.)
"They wouldn't let something dangerous around little kids," I told myself.
But,
holy cats!!
That thing smacked my hand with the force of a frying pan.
My family teased me about my shriek, but as I reminded them,
did they have the nerve to feed the emu?
And, no, they admitted, they did not.
It was time to head to our last stop, Dublin.
But The Girl announced she might as well get on the plane right then,
because nothing was going to top the Glendeer Petting Farm.
*** *** *** *** ***
I visit a library, and am as happy as a bird with a french fry.
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