Tynanwoods Day Eight

October 21, 2006
Day Eight: Off to Limerick; changes in the gravitational matrix and unusual labor practices

[note: xtina hasn't uploaded any pix of limerick yet, so here's a shot of the lake outside Castle Dan]

If Ennis is a small town grown up, Limerick is a big city scaled down. People here look different, dress different, even walked a different way than they do in Ennis or Corofin. The guide book says population is 51,000, but it feels more like 200,000. And just outside the bustling commercial district are some run down bits as well. The guidebook says Limerick can be a bit rough and tumble, and given its bloody history that's no surprise.

We ate scones and muffins and tea at a cafe on Bedford St., then wandered down O'Connell Street for a bit looking for a toy store. A sudden rift in the gravitational matrix pulled Xtina into every shoe store as we passed by; strangely, the rest of us were unaffected, though Ava suffered a similar effect when we passed pet stores.

(To be fair, I felt a similar pull whenever I saw a Guinness sign -- which is to say, constantly. But I battled valiantly against it.)

We found a toy store to replace a toy Ava had lost the day before, then an Internet cafe. Then on our way back to the car Ava discovered she had lost the toy we just bought her, so we retraced our steps to find it, but in vain. We did a major grocery shop at a Dunnes Store, which sells just about everything you could imagine in addition to food. I saw a sign next to the checkout that said "Child Delivery Service Now Available." Damn, these Irish are advanced, I thought. (When I re-read the sign, it said "Chilled Delivery Service Now Available." Apparently I am more jetlagged than I had thought.)

We hit King John's Castle just outside of downtown about an hour before it closed. Built in 1205 by (surprise) King John, it is one of those classic stout tower castles you see in picture books. But it was really just a fort, and not as interesting as the residential castles like Bunratty that show you how people really lived. The castle was under siege consistently for the next 500 years, from the Normans, the English, the Dutch, other Irish, etc. A bloody bloody history.

When we got home, Xtina cooked a lovely Irish roast, with gravy, potatoes, peas, corn, and bread. And I finally succumbed to gravity, adding some Guinness to wash it down with.