mini adventures and slaying dragons!

when you live in Ireland you automatically become a tour guide. that is probably true everywhere else but it comes across that most of the time we know our tourist stuff ourselves. given, i have done more tourist stuff (mostly as a guide)in Ireland than anywhere else across 20 odd years.

anyway two friends over from Sweden.

Tourist thing number one: go out to an Irish pub. so Brogans on Dame street, proper old man bar.
Tourist thing number two: drive to Galway. went to Galway, had a hotel booked which was really nice and at a great price and pretty much stayed there. drove out to Salthill and looked at the sea, and walked around town the day after. nice but not an effective way to experience Galway.

Tourist thing number three: find a castle. Signs and Gps said castle 7 mins away, not a castle, was a big house and not really that big. then decided that "King Johns Castle" in Limerick sounded good. Its not a bad castle but its more so a centre for a castle, weird little films and voice overs all over the castle and you can't walk around on the walls but you attempt to hang yourself. we had decided that we were going to try and see Charleville Castle on our way to Galway but i hadn't been told that and drove straight past the exit for Tullamore. it had then been decided that we'd go there on the way back.
left Limerick and went to Tullamore, drove through the forest and went to the castle. i had been there before and all we did was look at the outside, so we proceeded to do the same again, except the main door was open. there isn't really any tours of this place as they are still restoring it, but we look in and heard some one coming down towards the door to close it. we asked if there was a tour or anything and he kinda laughed and said no, he then brought inside and gave us a tour. it was class. it was strange but real nice seeing the old rooms with all the old furniture and paintings and a TV. also he brought us into a library, after showing us the stairs which are meant to be haunted, and left us in there. loads of real old books, ghost hunting books and skulls. he came back and then showed the secret passage way through the bookcase. overall class guy and amazing castle.
CastlePalooza helps this place be restored along with a few other events and charitys. there is no government funding for this which is strange.

i had to go to work after this adventure, which is where i was slaying dragons.