Rain caught up to us, but didn't stop us

Greetings from County Mayo! We awoke to a soft rain, enjoyed a lovely full Irish breakfast, and after the tyre (that's how they spell it here) finally got replaced by someone they sent to our parked car (again, thankful for full coverage insurance), we sadly left our luxurious castle suite (was informed by our bellman, Tom, that ours was one of their bridal suites), and went in search of that church where one of my favorite Irishmen, Pierce Brosnan, got married, Ballintuber Abbey, with ended up being a very unique church, dating back to 1216A.D. The grounds were very well kept and had a very unique and moving story of Jesus' journey to the cross.
From there, it was 30 mins to our home for the next two days, Ashford Castle, which is also where Pierce had his wedding reception. Ashford Hotel is a very exclusive (expensive) hotel with rooms starting @ $600/night. But, for us little guys, there is The Lodge on the Ashford grounds, which is supposed to allow you access to view the castle, but alas it is closed during our stay for a private event. When we arrived, I heard some of my favorite words..."we've upgraded you." We were shown to a 2-story suite with a little patio. So much space for two people! However, for those who know me, the decor is sooo not my style, and we had a good laugh but are still happy with our upgrade. Even though the skies were still spitting at us, we took off for the 20-min walk to the tiny village of Cong, famous for the film setting of John Wayne's "The Quiet Man." Bruce is a big John Wayne fan, and has always loved the movie as well. We took an hour walk through the forest outside of town (found an old stone tower, which we of course climbed), and had dinner at one of the the tiny town's restaurants where Bruce enjoyed a big pot of mussels. He was a happy guy. Walked back through the soft rain. Looking forward to our Quiet Man tour walk and 3-hr bike ride tomorrow, hoping the rain I'm hearing outside our window will clear out in the morning.Read more