Ireland Day 3

Today was my first day on my own in the city.  Peter got up bright and early to head out to work and I slept in until the glorious hour of 9:30. Guess maybe I do still have some lingering jetlag.  After a  bit of a slow start that included some baked goodies I picked up yesterday and some fresh tea I really started to feel like I am fitting in around here! 

Eventually I decided I should probably vacate the room for a bit.  Pretty close to our hotel was the Old Ennis Friary Grounds. Apparently this friary was built in the 12th century and there were some pretty cool carvings that were added in the 15th century. 

These are the original carvings that were on a giant tomb 

I literally had this entire graveyard and old building to myself.  It was a bit creepy wandering around, especially with the addition of several crows who were up on the tops of it crowing at me the whole time.  Oh well, the building was cool though. 

This is the giant tomb, the original carvings were taken off and put in cases but they put they put copies of the carvings back on it 

I thought this gravestone I found was pretty cool. It loaded upside down, but it reads
"All you good people who now stand by
As you are now, so once was I

I am now, so shall you be,

Remember death and pray for me"

After wandering the streets for a bit more and doing some window shopping, I went one of the numerous bakeries where the baker helped me pick out a few treats to bring back!  Everything is so tasty here!  Fresh creams, fresh jellies, soft and yummy doughs and the pastries are relatively inexpensive!  These are my kind of people! 

I came back to the room, where I guess jet lag was still taking a hold of me and I quickly found myself back asleep.  Shortly after I woke up, Peter was back from work where they released him a bit early! We had dinner plans with one of his coworkers tonight.  Again, it was nice to get to go out with a local because they know where all the good food is!

This was a pretty fancy restaurant and our food was plated beautifully!  I would have taken some pictures but we were chatting with Peter's coworker and I didn't want to seem weird ;)

I ordered a sirloin steak with beer battered onion rings and gratin potatoes with red wine sauce.  It was seriously so yummy and had the best onion rings I have ever tasted!  Peter ordered the herb crusted, fried hake fish filet with crab that he also enjoyed. We also ordered a super yummy dessert that had crushed meringues in strawberry cream with sliced strawberries!  I could eat more of that!  It was fun to meet and chat with one of Peter's coworkers over here. She also has 3 children who are the same ages as 3 of our children so between work topics with Peter and kid topics with me, we had plenty to chat about!

Definitely a bit more of a laid back day but that's what I enjoy doing on vacation! I've almost finished one of my books but still have several more to read if time allows. Looking forward to tomorrow!