Strokestown

Today was the first field trip. We went to Strokestown and the museum and manor house there. The museum is the National Famine Museum. The first thing we did upon arrival was eat lunch. I had a rather generous spread. The irony was not lost, I will assure you.Pictured here are Tom (next to me), Deanna, and Wayne in the foreground (we'll meet him again).

The house on the site is from the 18th century. The last inhabitant died in 1981. By the time she died, though, she was occupying only one room of the house and large mushrooms and other fungi were growing on the walls of the others. Gross.

The house has been preserved rather than restored. There is a mixture of 20th century artifacts alongside 18th and 19th century articles. In the bookcase I found a copy of Derrida's "Grammatology." Creepy.

The most impressive room was the kitchen. I'll only say this: I need a balcony from which I drop orders on my servants. The most disturbing fact was the chamber pot in the dining room. Evidently the gentlemen did not like to leave the conversation for any reason. Here's something else bizarre. This is a giant cocoa seed.Queen Victoria outlawed its import because its resemblance to the human bottom was obscene.

We were able to stroll about the large, walled garden. At one point we passed along a little footpath. Wayne, the thoughtful Canadian, held a branch for everyone.Shouldn't this be a publicity photo for a sitcom?

The most pleasant experience was picking and eating fresh strawberries just outside the 6 acre walled garden.

What did I learn? Aristocracy is a life I could get used to.