Day 7.
We made our way from Dingle to Adare this afternoon. This
was one of the destinations on the tour that I was most looking forward to.
Although it’s only for a single night, we are staying in
what was a real manor house.
The evening was planned to take advantage of all of the manor's amenities. We had dinner at the
manor in their restaurant. The food was excellent. The option existed to choose
a 7 course tasting menu, but our whole table would have had to make that
choice, and there were a few at the table that were less adventurous than others, so everyone decided to go ala carte. After a wonderful meal, we spent the evening in the pub located on the lower level. They had a guitar player who played some songs from the U.S. as well as some Irish tunes. We had a great time in sing-along mode. We enjoyed many beers and whiskeys before returning to our rooms for the night.
ND and Adare Manor House
Our traveling companions Sheila and Brian decided to take
our driver David’s suggestions to practice some falconry while at the manor.
They invited me along, and then gave me a treat by asking me to participate on
their dime. Hell… when am I going to get that opportunity again...? I agreed to
participate even though it means an early morning.
Brian with the golden eagle
There were 8 or 9 birds, with the largest being a golden
eagle. Brian was the only one who held the eagle, but the rest of us held all
variety of birds, including an Asian owl.
The handler with the asian owl
After holding the birds, two were selected for some flight.
This involved the handler placing a piece of meat on the glove and letting the
bird fly in and land on your hand to grab it. It is quite an interesting
experience to have a hawk swoop in and land on your gloved hand. After many flights the birds were well fed and the falconers were ready to move on to our next adventure.
Brian catching a hawk
After the falconry we boarded the bus and headed toward
Dublin. Adare was wonderful. I’d love to
stay at the manor house again.
-ND
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