@ chris - what was your impression of Bunratty Castle? always wanted to check it out but every time I visit Ireland (for work) i'm in a rush -- is it worth seeing?

Hi! I ended up going to Bunratty Castle with a large group from work (the Ireland visit was a work visit primarily) and we had a multi-course dinner to the accompaniment of Irish folks singers clad in medieval garb. What is good: You are handed mead when you walk in the door, the musical performances are very good with some humorous banter thrown in for good measure, and the castle furnishings seem pretty authentic. Not so good: The food itself, which I wish was more traditional. The spare ribs had more sweet BBQ sauce than I get even in Texas! All in all, I recommend it as an interesting historical spot (they say William Penn was an infant in the castle during a siege) but since the company picked up the tab, I don't know the cost. Hope that helps you.

@ chris - cool, thanx. can't complain about a mead-at-the-door policy, now can we?

Thanks for the reminder - I'm going on a trip to Italy soon and plan to bring my KOLO ESSEX travel book for journaling --