Queen for a Day

Before I tell you all about our amazing day here at Dromoland Castle, I'd like to share a photo of Dom kissing the Blarney Stone.  His camera shot was not that good.  I wanted him to buy the professional one like the ones they try to sell you on the Disney rides but he scoffed.  Our amazing Disney guides overheard us and unbeknownst to us, they purchased the photo and presented it to us later in the day.

Everything here at Dromoland is done with the utmost of elegance.  After a delicious breakfast (2 days of porridge and Jameson is enough now), it was time to learn about this wonderful place.  As we walked the grounds with one of the Dromoland historians, who, by the way, was dressed quintessentially Irish with his tweed jacket, bowler hat and walking stick, we learned that we are actually staying in a 'residence' and not a 'castle'.  A castle would never have such large windows on every floor.  It would have slits to fit the arrows through.  It would never have a grand entrance.  That would be like rolling out the red carpet for your enemy!  Dromoland was the ancestral home of the O'Briens who were the Kings of Thomson and whose lineage goes back 1,000 years to Brian Boru.  Boru is a big deal here in Ireland; he was the only High King of Ireland who defeated the Vikings.  My factoid of the day!

The estate sits on 400 acres which include lovely flower gardens, manicured lawns, a lake which can be fished, a golf course and their renown spa.  Did you know that Ireland & New Zealand are the only two places to have green grass all year long?  Clearly, the Irish rain is a huge contributor on this island!

Here at Dromoland they have a Falconry School.  Now this is really cool and so far out of my wheel house!  So much to learn about this ancient sport which dates back to approx. 2,000 B.C.  The Egyptians, you may recall from your studies, etched falcons on their pyramids.  The talents of these birds, their vision, their strength, is so extraordinary, especially when you come to learn that they weigh only a little over 2lbs.  Some of the idioms we use today have their origin in Falconry.  A common way of training these birds is to cover their heads with a hood, sort of a calming method.  Hence, the term 'hoodwinked'.  The way the trainer holds the leash is 'wrapped around his little finger' or 'under my thumb'.

We got friendly with one of the two resident owls and that was really cool.

This is "Pickles" the owl

Oh, how do you like my yellow lipstick?

There were no planned activities for this afternoon.  It is a day deliberately scheduled for the guests to enjoy their beautiful surroundings.  They could take a horse and carriage ride, do a Hawk Walk, fish in the lake, stroll the grounds, do archery or golf like Dom or spa like me...hence, Queeen for a Day in my castle.

The spa here affords its guests an exceptional experience.  I treated myself to a 90 minute massage and facial and then an hour in the "Relaxation Room" while Mr. Nuzzi golfed for the first time on Irish greens.

A view of their signature hole:

When I was finished with the spa I strolled through the castle and who should I come upon?  Dom, having his afternoon tea!  Such a civilized culture, isn't it?

Tonight we attended a Medieval Dinner complete with typical campy medieval banter.  The best part, however, were the talented singers, dancers and a harpist who played and sang for us.  The food was surprisingly very good.

We get to sleep in a little tomorrow .  Call time is 9am for our final Adventures by Disney day.