Gorgeous Day

First day that we have had sunshine!!!!!! Today I was not wet and it was sunny and that was fabulous! We saw a bunch of beautiful countryside and shopped! We started out the day driving down part of the Ring of Kerry to get to the Muckross House. It is a beautiful manor house with a fully working farm. It was very beautiful and quiet. There were a million horse buggies that will drive you around for a fee. They are very sweet and try hard to get you in the wagon. We also saw a beautiful waterfall called Torc that is right next to the Muckross House. That was scenic.

Torc Waterfall

We then traveled down to Kilkenny where we shopped! I bought myself a new ring and a Christmas ornament. My mom and I also bought some of the ice cream that we have found all around this country. It is delicious soft serve ice cream. (I'm not a huge fan of American soft serve, I like Marble Slab or Blue Bell much better). This soft serve uses real cream and it is just delicious. The perfect marriage between cream, texture and flavor. My mom and I have had it almost every day since we found it! We also vistited the Ross Castle; which is actually more of a Tower-home than a castle. It is just the single fortified tower were a family lived. It was easily defending and could fit a ton of people. It had stumble stesp (uneven round steps which make it difficult to climb quickly) and a murder hole (ways to drop objects on attackers heads as they come through your door). Outside was a lake which had a ton of ducks. My mom and I single handedly started a duck turf war.

New Ross Castle

To explain the situation: we were sitting by the lake waiting for our tour to start. I decided I wanted to feed two ducks that had approached us. I got some bread from the wonderful ladies running the store. When I got the bread the two ducks were no where to be seen but a mommy duck and her ducklings were very close. So I started to feed the ducklings. Then the other two ducks showed up and for a while all was well. Then the female duck and the mommy duck got too close to each other. One of the two climbed on the back of the other  one sinking it into the lake while pecking at it. When the two separated the mommy duck took her ducklings and tailed out of there. Then there were other adult ducks coming to be fed and the male duck kept chasing them off! After I fed those ducks one piece of bread I moved to an area that had about 30 ducks and a swan! I really enjoyed feeding them. They would walk on your feet and quack at you to get bread but if you tried to reach your hand toward them then they would run. The swan was gorgeous and I got it almost close enough to take the bread out of my hand. In the water stretching its neck out it was probably only 8 inches shorter than me and I was on slightly higher ground. These birds are huge! I really enjoyed my time with the ducks and swan.

So other random fun facts that I have picked up while in Ireland. We refer to the Irish language as Gaelic. This language covers all of Ireland and Scotland. However, the Irish refer to Gaelic as speaking Irish. So we are no longer politically incorrect for thinking they speak Irish. Also when you are listening to live music being performed it is rude to clap along. This is actually mostly for practical reasons, real Irish music is performed without amplification and songs are sung unaccompanied. So if everyone is clapping then you can't hear the music and the musicians can't hear themselves. Let alone each other. The tunes are usually gigs and reels and it is perfectly ok to tap your feet along to the music. These songs were meant to be danced to so tapping your feet replaces the sound of the dancers.

Live music at Davitts

We just came back from dinner in Kenmare at Davitts where there were two live musicians. The lady played guitar, concertina, and harp! The man played guitar, violin and mandola. They both sang as well. It was a wonderful dinner listening to live Irish music from the Kenmare area. Well goodnight all! I am in for an early night.