Day 6 - Ashford Castle

Again I'm pretty far behind. Part of that was due to actually getting out and exploring Edinburgh and part of that has been due to the lack of internet at a couple places.

I'll try and catch up so I don't have to worry when we get to London which isn't too far away.
The drive to Ashford was very easy compared to the previous day's drive but the Irish have a far different idea of what's "small" and what's "not busy" compared to (at the very least) me. Nick and I stopped at the Petrol Station before heading to Ashford and the guy there was very helpful but when he gave us directions.

I was really excited about going to the castle and wondering if Nick would think it was cool. It was crazy actually driving to a castle to stay the night. Rather surreal, really. =)

We were able to check in immediately, which was nice, and we went up to our room after a brief tour. The lad that checked us in and gave us the tour was named Ethan. If you've ever seen the movie _Love Actually_, he completely reminded me of Rowan Atkinson's character in the jewelry shopping scene. It was hilarious because Ethan kept saying "Lovely" after almost everything and, every time, I was reminded of the movie. If you haven't seen it, be sure to check it out.

Once we were in the room, Nick wanted to watch tv while I took a nap but the tv didn't work at first so we called the front desk. They sent someone right up and I chatted with him for awhile. He was a very nice guy and we discussed politics and things before he left.

Then I wanted to take a nap so that we could explore later but it started raining and the exploration was put to the side. I did get the nap, however.

After the nap, Nick and I got dressed up and headed to Cullens Cottage. Feeding Nick can be quite an issue because he's so picky but we managed to find something (fortunately they have a children's menu). I had a delicious chicken dinner and topped it off with the most divine bread pudding. That bread pudding is now up on the top of my favourite desserts list and I'm going on a mission to find a recipe...

The bed was comfortable and luxurious as was the bathroom...we even had a heated towel rack which pleased me to no end.

When we went to bed that night, the back side of the castle is incredibly dark. We couldn't see hardly at all and there was a wonderful storm raging. I slept like a baby and didn't want to leave.
I was really lucky because I had left my credit card at the restaurant (they didn't give it back, obviously) but Ethan had it for me the next day. It would have been a really bad thing to leave it on the other side of the country, especially when we were leaving the next day for Scotland.
I definitely recommend going to the castle and staying the night. So many famous people have stayed there and Pierce Brosnan was even married there. If you go on the tour with Sceptre Tours, it's well worth it. (I should have used them for the Scotland part of my trip...)