Sunday: the day of rest

Day 9: We filling intended to wake up early, be after hearing the raucous hen parties and pub crawls for well into the night we decided it was best to hit snooze and rest up. We skipped breakfast at our B&B, which was described as help yourself cereal and toast bar, and opted for Sunday brunch. Melody's near the castle fit the bill and we enjoyed a hot meal, and Allison had a delicious latte. While enjoying breakfast we could help but notice the parade of period dressed controlling through for coffee take aways... It appeared that the castle was hosting its 2nd annual Medieval Festival. We were thrilled.

Off we went to Athlone and the Medieval Festival. We arrived promptly at noon only to discover things weren't quite ready. Fair enough, there were no wrist watches in medieval times. We took the opportunity to explore the castle built for King John. After visiting Trim and Ashford we felt Athlone was more of a fort at the river, used for trade and defensive purposes. The tour was cheesy and hardly informative. Back to the festival we went, but no process had been made....so we left.

Over the River Shannon to modern Athlone we went. And modern it was. We stumbled upon the 2nd largest mall in all of Ireland, which is also where the Sheraton is located (we overheard someone at breakfast referring to a famous person currently staying there). The only store we made a purchase in was Mark's & Spencer's. We continued to walk off our breakfast and found ourselves back at the B&B. We spent the remainder of the afternoon reading "The Rosie Project" aloud.

Soon our tummies rumbled and reminded us it was time for another meal. Allison expressed a desire for non Irish food, and we settled upon Mother India. The food was surprisingly authentic and we enjoyed our change of food immensely. On the way back, we thought to stop by a pub for an after dinner drink, forgetting the World Cup Final was on! The crowd at the bars overflowed to the streets as throngs of sports fans cheered wildly.