Lady of Leisure...

The harvest is officially over!! Finally, technically, physically and emotionally, all of the taters have been dug. In a previous post, I had mentioned the Irish farmers fall phenomena known as the Harvest Beard. Almost the whole crew Peadar works with have one since they no time to shave, but now that we've reached the end I feel we need to crown a winner. Congratulations Dermot Whyte, or should I say Paul Bunyan!

We saw D's harvest beard at an engagement party for Brendan Whyte (Pad's cousin) and Karina Smyth. Congratulations to the happy couple! I even got Catherine, who is 7 months preggers to have a drink with me at the party. Just kidding!! Well she wasn't drinking, but I was :)

The party was on in Drogheda, which is a medieval city about 40 minutes North of Dublin. There is a fab restaurant there called Eastern Seaboard that I highly recommend. It kind of reminded me of a place you would find in the states, with high ceilings and menus on clipboards. Great seafood!

While I was having a drink we were discussing our plans for a Sunday in the town. I hadn't been up there in ages but when I first moved to Ireland, Peadar told me about a few sites we could go see. One of them included Saint Oliver Plunkett's head at a cathedral in Drogheda. Yes, an actual 500 year old head, on display, for the world to see. I was so there. I had been begging Peadar to take me to see the Saint's dead head since he first told me about it, and today was our day. 

Peadar informed me that this was a bit of a pilgrimage for some people, so I needed to be very respectful. I checked to see if photography was permitted. It was. Below check out the door of the cell where they held Ollie until his martyrdom.

It wasn't fair at all to the old chap, he advocated educating Catholics and Protestants in schools together and accepted everyone. The British, who have oppressed Ireland for hundred of years, had him hung, drawn and quartered, which is not a nice way to go at all. Have you ever seen The Tutors or Braveheart? This includes having your nether bit cut off if you are a guy and also disembowelment.  

So, check out my picture of the head below! It was hard to get a good shot with a flash so I have included one from Google as well. Pad reckons the head looks decent for being 500 years old, but to be honest it is pretty moldy looking.

The church was amazing though, it had beautiful stained glass and the biggest organ I've ever seen. 

I have been living as a "lady of leisure" for the last two weeks since I am finished up with my old job and haven't started the new one yet. Part of that includes shopping and eating a lot, so when my friend Michlle Ryan and I heard there was a new Avoca at Malahide castle we were there in a heart beat. Avoca is like Anthropologie and Whole Foods combined.

Amazing shopping, clothes, food, kitchenware, etc.

They also have a bakery that is to die for. Look at the size of Michelle's eclair. I of course had Eton Mess which is like smashed up Pavolva in a glass. Delish. 

Our adventure to Malahide castle was all well and good until it got dark and closed. This wouldn't have been a problem for people who parked in the parking lot close to the visitor center, but unfortunately I had parked in the one by the playground  which requires a 10 minute walk through a forest. Not like a lit up forest. Straight pitch black. 

Michelle and I hung on to each other and used the flashlight app on my phone, but it wasn't enough. We got 25 yards into the path and started screaming our heads off and ran back out. It was one of the moments where you ask yourself "If this was a scary movie, what would you do?" We would be judging the characters for being dumb and going in the dark forest. We also called our signif others who so insensitively suggested we are babies and to simply walk through the forest. Well, it wasn't that simple.

Using our better judgement, we went back up to the now locked up visitor center, where a cleaner suggested we try the "Park Ranger's house". No joke, this is the door the Park Rangers. It was almost creepier than the forest. 

I was like, twist in the story, what if the Park Ranger turns out to be the killer and not a creepy guy already in the woods? Well we had to use an actual iron knocker (no doorbell) but to no avail, there was no answer.

In the end we called a cab to come get us from the main entrance. We asked him to take us the other entrance when he creepily goes "there are many entrances into the castle but only a few ways out." TWIST again, what if the killer is the cab driver?!

In the end, we found the car, behind some locked up wrought iron gates, so even if we had gone through the forest, we would not have been able to get out and would have had to go back through the forest to get out to the road.  Solution: leave the car overnight and come back in the daylight. Cabbie, take us home!!

Just another adventure in Ireland, exploring castles and creepy forests and living like a lady of leisure. Tonight Pad and I jet off to Thailand for 2 weeks of R&R before I have to report to Boston for basic training. 

Lots of Love, As Always,

Keats