Maynooth and the Best Hamburger in the World

For dinner on Saturday we went to a place called The Roost. While we sat and waited for our food, we looked over all of the random condiment packets at the table. There were packets of Tomato Ketchup, Mustard, Mayonnaise and Brown Sauce. Brown Sauce was kind of like A1 Steak Sauce.

Then, they came. The best burger that I’ve ever had. 8 ounces of meat on a huge bun. I had mine with Cheese and the pepper sauce on the side. Needless to say, I was very hungry and finished the whole thing. The ketchup didn’t taste much like our ketchup in America… it had a tangier taste to it, I think. The pepper sauce was really quite good on it, but even without it, the burger tasted really good and the flavor exploded in your mouth. It tasted like it was cooked on a stone or a wood stove. And the fries were also terrific.

After that, we went back to Rachel’s place and we slept in uncomfortable positions on couches with chairs pushed up to spread out across or on the floor with mats from window benches, with blankets and a pillow. We were asleep by about 9:30, and when we awoke the next day, it was 1 pm.

We took a stroll around the college in Maynooth, led by Rachel and three of her friends. We saw an awesome graveyard where many priests were laid to rest, as well as a Cathedral there that was being restored. Inside, they still have all of the seating that faces the middle aisle. It was AWESOME in there. It was just beautiful and I could only imagine what Gregorian chant would sound like resonating within those walls. There were many pictures of cardinals in the hallways surrounding. There was an awesome park in the middle courtyard that we walked around. We then went to a mall and got ice cream!

After that we went to Mass at the Parish of St. Mary’s & Ladychapel Maynooth. It looked like a castle on the outside. The priest was Fr. Paul Coyle. The mass only lasted about 45 minutes because there was no singing at all. It was a welcome change of pace, though, as some times all of the singing can detract from the solemnity of the mass.

Next we got pizza (again, but it was recommended) from a place called Mazzoni’s. It was alright… but I’ve had much better (Chicago stuffed). After that we went back to the train station to head back here to our hotel. More to come!