The Tour of Limerick

Being a directionally-challenged American, I decided that a free tour of the city and the surrounding area would be a good idea. We set off on the "Paddywagon" to see the sights.

Downtown Limerick reminds me of the twin cities, only more picturesque and less built up. There is a substantial amound of graffiti around as well, enough to make me wary of wandering around the city at night. Limerick is nice enough to have pedestrian only streets, which makes daytime wandering that much easier.


Limerick differs from Minneapolis in that it has its own castle in the city. King John's castle was apparently never the residence of King John, but it still qualifies as a castle, and certainly looks like one. Limerick is also home to the treaty stone, which ended the fighting between the English and the French in Ireland, in exchange for the safe passage of the French soldiers to their home. Unfortunately, the rock later became known as the "Broken Treaty" stone because the English subsequently killed off all of the French soldiers after they surrendered their arms.

We left Limerick to visit the very small village of Adare. Adare is a tourist trap, but then I am a tourist. I was charmed. They have a beautiful city garden and cute little cottages and overpriced souveniers. I ate my first hot sausage roll, which was delicious.

We returned to Limerick, where our guide was kind enough to point out the pubs that have special nights, where ladies and international students can get in free. While I probably won't take advantage of these deals, many of the other students seemed appreciative.

On the whole, I find Limerick and the surrounding area charming. The countryside reminds me of Hobbiton, and who doesn't love green grass, cottages, and castles?