Walking With a Hawk Named Aztec......

Morning came far to quickly, but, breakfast was calling our name.

Breakfast was served in the George V dining room.
They had a buffet with quite a varied selection and also a menu.
You were shown to your table, your napkin was placed on your lap, your choice of beverage was promptly bought out and then you could graze the buffet while waiting for your menu selection to come out.
When it did, it was covered with a silver plate cover which was removed with a flourish by the waiter.
Dinner was also served in the George V dining room.
It is a fancy affair.

"Located in the Beating Heart of the Castle is the George V Restaurant built by the Guinness family to host evening dinner parties for the visit of the Prince of Wales in 1906. Here one can sit under the soothing light provided by the 11 magnificent Waterford Crystal chandeliers and dine like Lord or Lady while listening to the harmonious notes floating through the air provided by our resident pianist."

 

We had a 10:30am appointment at Ireland's School of Falconry.

We were about to take a photo in front of the sign, when the gate suddenly opened.

We were given a tour of the facility and tutorial about how to handle the hawk.

Sam was quite disgusted when he saw what the birds ate.  I spared you a picture of the frozen baby chickens.

Jessica volunteered to be the one to carry the hawk out to the start of the walk.

Our hawk's name was Aztec.

We found out that the hawks all have different personalities.

They are just like people in some of their likes and dislikes.  Some do not work well with children, some are very temperamental, etc..

I am just going to let the photos do the talking.

OK, I need to talk!

We were trying to get Aztec to fly between the 2 trees,

An owl that was at the falconry

The falcon walk was one of the most wonderful experiences.

Our guide was great.

If anyone ever has the chance to do this, don't hesitate.

Afterwards, Samuel and Jim went and explored a bit more.

We drove into Cong for lunch at Puddleduck Café.  Once again it was delicious.

Then it was off for a walk......we got a little lost, but it was fun.

This stone building was the monk's (from the abbey) fishing house.

Explored Ashford Castle a little when we arrived back there.

No escalators at Ashford Castle, but, Sam loved the elevators.

He was very impressed by the hidden paneled doors that the staff used to go back and forth to the kitchen. His face would just light up if we happened to be going by when they opened.

We decided to have dinner in our room.

It was, once again, delicious.

Sam is either ready for bed or battle.......as long as it isn't a battle not to go to bed!

Good night all.......