Day 20 - What's in Castlebar Anyways?

Oh yes! More rain!!

We did not want to stay inside all day again so once we got ready, which was after lunch (we just much rather eat our meals at home unless it's something special), we headed to a town about 40 Km from Louisburgh, called Castlebar. 

We had heard Castlebar is good for shopping, and although we have no desire to shop for anything we thought the shops would be indoor and we could just window shop. Yes we are from Jersey so we were thinking of our good old malls. 

That thinking clearly ended up being incorrect. There are definitely shops in Castlebar here and there but they are all off the streets.

We parked the car and headed towards a home-made ice cream shop.

El Vito's Ice Cream Shop in Castlebar

The kids enjoyed their ice cream with marshmallow toppings. They shared a little bit with us and mmm mmm the ice cream was delicious, both the chocolate and the strawberry.

Kian and his chocolate ice cream

Hannah loving her "pink" ice cream

After ice cream we walked around a bit. It was drizzling but we had our raincoats so we didn't mind much. 

Street view in Castlebar

We found a cute book store and went inside to look around. I read a few books to Hannah and then we joined Kian and Daddy who were reading the Irish version of Where's Waldo? called, Where's Larry?

Where's Larry?

The kids had fun looking for Larry on a few pages.  It was a cute book that had Larry hiding in various Irish landmarks, including some we had been to.

The kids looking for Larry

Overall we were not very impressed by Castlebar as a town. We love Westport much more and we are grateful we live closer to Westport. It is also probably worth mentioning that despite the name of the town we did not see any castles, just a church. 

Kian and Hannah posed with the "Bronze and Stainless Steel artwork, evoking the 1798 rebellion and in particular the episode known as the  "The Races of Castlebar". The cloud of doves signifies the reconciliation after conflict."

Once we got home, I started making dinner. Marinated chicken legs baked in the oven with rice and veggies made in coconut milk.

Marinated chicken legs baked in the oven with rice and veggies made in coconut milk

Mmm Mmm. The kids loved the chicken legs and they also liked the coconut rice. We are really hoping for some sunshine tomorrow since it is the day of the Louisburgh Horse Race.