Monday June 8, 2009

In the morning we had a team meeting about cleaning and such and then a meeting where we went around and talked about our highlights from free weekend.  I liked hearing about what everyone else did.  After lunch we went to Ward Castle, which is actually more like a really big house.  We went inside and saw the rooms decorated in the period style with mostly original furniture.  I really enjoyed this because I have been to so many old mansions it was cool to see an Irish mansion which is not too different from many I have seen in the states.  After our tour we had tea and biscuits in the courtyard.  We didn't have much time to walk around the beautiful gardens and see the front of the house, but we were on a time crunch.  I don't have any pictures from the day because my camera is broken, so I have to get some from Phil later for you.  We then went to New Castle which is a beach town nearby.  They had a boardwalk, but the beach was not what we think of.  It was mostly rocks and very cold even though it was a warm day.  We only had time to have ice cream at Maude's, which is like Coldstone with the creamy ice cream.  Here, though, the flavors were different like Poo Bear which had a honeycomb taste.  For a snack we were given chips to share since we wouldn't be home until late.  Then we went to Tullymore Forrest, which was huge and beautiful, but we only had 20 minutes to explore.  I was fine with that because I wasn't wearing hiking clothes, but the guys really wanted more time.  Back at home we has a light dinner and then later did homework.  Phil and I both found a tick on ourselves- I hate ticks!