A little Trim for us...

Mom and I were up and about for our normal breakfast at 8:30am. We were welcomed by Catherine and sat at the opposite end of the table from the morning before. Our choice was tea and the full Irish for us again….however our plates also included a slice of black pudding. Funny, because mom thought it was a sausage patty. Of course you would know it would be the one time that we didn’t specify not having it on our plate.

Our conversation with Catherine was quite busy…discussing where we were off to and getting Paddy to come give us directions. They were quite cheerful and full of gab. Of course we had been their only guests last night and that could be why as well. The discussion also included their kids…one boy in Houston, one girl 45 minutes away, another boy in Madrid and a total of 4 grandchildren.

We wrapped up our breakfast conversation; finished packing a few things then it was off to the car. As we walked out, mom mentioned getting a picture of them and Catherine wanted me in the picture with them…too funny! Then mom and I posed in front of their door while Paddy snapped the picture. A few more laughs and we were onward to Trim.

Catherine, Me and Paddy

Mom and I

We were able to make good time on the motorway (M6). Then we exited to try and make our trek to the Brú na Bóinne. An ancient burial ground from 3000 BC dating before the pyramids. We did get to view the exhibit and a short film about the grounds, but didn’t get to walk around the actual structure but thank goodness for a long range camera lens. Here are a couple shots I took.

You can see it off in the distance.

On down the road towards Trim from Naveen. We were able to check into the Tigh Cathain B&B and were welcomed warmly by Marie who called us lovely first off. So very sweet! She showed us up to our room (The Yellow Room). We were quite impressed at the bigger bathroom and the fact that we had a tub for only the 2^nd time on our trip. Marie showed us around and then suggested we fill out our breakfast requirements and leave them on the hallway table. Here are some shots of the room and around the B&B. After a little freshening up we made our way downstairs to ask Marie for directions and dinner suggestions before heading out.

Outside the B&B

Our Room

Mom and I made our way into the town of Trim and bought our tickets for the castle tour. A tour of the Trim Castle had just started and we were able to catch up with them. The guide mentioned it was the most intact Norman Castle in Ireland. It was around this area that some of Braveheart was filmed. So amazing to see the way they kept increasing the Gate Keep’s structure. They had 3 different models to show the progression. One of the owners had decided to split the main hall in half with a wall which no longer allowed for banquets and dances. Then he thought it would be good to build the banquet hall upstairs. However, with all the walking from food storage, kitchen then back around and up 86 uneven steps with food it didn’t work out so well. It was a very steep winding staircase; I can’t even imagine soldiers in armor with swords trying to make it up those stairs.

Outside the Gate Keep

Our Tour Guide

Several of the models.

Shot of the main hall that was split by the wall.

Steps that have now been evened out with cement.

The guide walked us through various parts of the castle…chapel and the constable’s room. This was interesting as she pointed out it was the best room in the castle, as it had the most warmth and also a toilet (hint hint…a hole in the floor). A comment was made that in Medieval times no one bathed, washed their clothes and they were a bit infested with lice and other bugs. So at night they would hang their clothes over the toilet area and gases released from the excrement being collected by the Gong Farmer would cause the bugs to drop off. Definitely a gross thing but it looks like they had a system going.

Chapel

View from the 2nd floor.

Constable's Room

Yep you guessed it the potty hole. HAHA

Up to the roof of the gate keep we could view the surrounding areas. The daughter of the man who had kept Trim’s Castle decided to build a separate banquet hall from the keep. Just under the banquet hall was the slaughter house where they would discard the blood into the river. However it was also mentioned that the blood was not the worst thing put in the river. Just up a ways was a leper hospital where they would discard any waste from the hospital, bandages and medical type of stuff. YUCK! Talk about a very informative tour.

View across what would have been the Banquet Hall upstairs.

What used to be the separated Banquet Hall.

Views of the surrounding areas.

There is the river that used to have waste in it.

We about froze on the roof, yep even mom now that’s a shocker. Back down to the split main hall it would have been the last hoorah and safest place in the castle. A big remnant of what used to be the fireplace and the spiral chimney that helped whisk the smoke from the fire out. The guide commented that only now was the castle just a stone facade and interior, before it would have been white plaster and white washed exterior.

Split Main Hall

Chimney

Spiral design in chimney.

The tour wrapped on the grounds and we made our way about the town center of Trim. It’s quite a small town…we went through a few shops then headed to dinner by 5pm. We dined at Franzini O’Briens. 

I started with the Croquette of Brie, onion marmalade and salad

with pesto and balsamic drizzle.

Mom started with nachos…yep kind of a weird thing, but hey when in Ireland…haha!  Apparently this restaurant is known for cooking anything other than traditional Irish food.

Entrees….I chose the roasted lamb shank served with

mashed potatoes and roasted root veggies.

Mom chose the fish and chips also accompanied with mushed peas.

Wrapping up the meal we shared a sticky toffee pudding….

quite a delightful sin of a dessert.

Then back to the B&B for the night. It was the first night to have the heaters on…oh yeah I climbed into a toasty warm bed. I was really tired from all the driving and sacked out around 7pm.

Finally got the 9^th day of our trip, August 29^th chronicled. We only have a couple more days left of the trip. Are any of you still out there??? I know it’s been since January but I’m going to try and keep it going til this trip has been fully chronicled.

That’s all for now…

~Curls