Castles, Abbeys and lots O' Pubs
Hi there folks,
Arrived here in Kilkenny on Tuesday, and am staying in the nicest hostel yet called Kilkenny Tourist Hostel(go figure!). Very nice staff, kind of a hippie environment, but very clean, and huge rooms with 10 foot ceilings throughout the whole building. Lots of color, great fireplace in the sitting room and GREAT showers (which I have found to be worth their weight in gold). The kitchen is quite large with lots of working appliances.
Went to the pub the first night with a couple - James from Ireland and Helen from Australia, as well as another Australian gal who is travelling on her own for the next 3 months. We went to a pub just across the street from the hostel, complete with live Irish music, and had just a few pints.
Yesterday I toured Kilkenny Castle, which is only done by guided tour, which was actually very interesting. The castle was the home to the Butler family for over 500 years, and many parts of it actually date back tothe 12th century. The Butler's live in it right upuntil 1930's, so it is in very good shape with many recent restorations. The grounds were very large, and the castle sits on the edge of the River Nore that passes through the town of Kilkenny. The castle is one of the few that Cromwell didn't smash to bits.
After the castle I found a very nice little cafe withjust 5 tables, called the Friary Cafe, so named because it is right next to one of the Abbeys. Had a delicious baked potato, but I can't seem to find sour cream anywhere here in the restaurants...good potatoes though!
Last night at supper, I met another Australian (guy this time...Aussies are crawling over here!)And two South Africans (not travelling together). We all had supper together then headed off on a pubcrawl...four pubs later and 2am...I don't feel 100% today...We found two that had live music, and the Australian, who buskers, got up and sang Black Velvet Band, which was quite good. At the last afterhours pub, we ended up swinging each other around on a part of the dance floor, surely making fools of ourselves!LOL
The hostel closes its sitting room at 11pm, so in order to wind down, the Australian guy (he's just a kid, only 22, in case you're wondering) and I sat out on the front step and chatted for the better part of an hour, until Nathan realized he better get some sleep in order to do some buskering this morning.
Still managed to crawl out of bed this morning at a respectable 8 am, and headed off to the supermarket(Dunnes Stores seems to be the popular one over here) to get a litre of orange juice that I downed, hoping to stifle that fire in my throat from all those smoky pubs...God I miss the smoking bylaw of WaterlooCounty!!!
Another beautiful day here in Kilkenny. I like it so much I may just decide to stay here more than my regular 3 days I have been averaging. I want to get to Cahir to see a castle over there still, but it is on the way to Limerick, so may stop there on my trek back there next week.
I'm still thinking about going down to Waterford to see the Waterford Crystal factory, but it is in the opposite direction. Will see how things feel tomorrow. As for today, I am off to do the walking tour (self-directed) of Kilkenny to see the sights!
Cheers!
-Jude (in Ireland)
Arrived here in Kilkenny on Tuesday, and am staying in the nicest hostel yet called Kilkenny Tourist Hostel(go figure!). Very nice staff, kind of a hippie environment, but very clean, and huge rooms with 10 foot ceilings throughout the whole building. Lots of color, great fireplace in the sitting room and GREAT showers (which I have found to be worth their weight in gold). The kitchen is quite large with lots of working appliances.
Went to the pub the first night with a couple - James from Ireland and Helen from Australia, as well as another Australian gal who is travelling on her own for the next 3 months. We went to a pub just across the street from the hostel, complete with live Irish music, and had just a few pints.
Yesterday I toured Kilkenny Castle, which is only done by guided tour, which was actually very interesting. The castle was the home to the Butler family for over 500 years, and many parts of it actually date back tothe 12th century. The Butler's live in it right upuntil 1930's, so it is in very good shape with many recent restorations. The grounds were very large, and the castle sits on the edge of the River Nore that passes through the town of Kilkenny. The castle is one of the few that Cromwell didn't smash to bits.
After the castle I found a very nice little cafe withjust 5 tables, called the Friary Cafe, so named because it is right next to one of the Abbeys. Had a delicious baked potato, but I can't seem to find sour cream anywhere here in the restaurants...good potatoes though!
Last night at supper, I met another Australian (guy this time...Aussies are crawling over here!)And two South Africans (not travelling together). We all had supper together then headed off on a pubcrawl...four pubs later and 2am...I don't feel 100% today...We found two that had live music, and the Australian, who buskers, got up and sang Black Velvet Band, which was quite good. At the last afterhours pub, we ended up swinging each other around on a part of the dance floor, surely making fools of ourselves!LOL
The hostel closes its sitting room at 11pm, so in order to wind down, the Australian guy (he's just a kid, only 22, in case you're wondering) and I sat out on the front step and chatted for the better part of an hour, until Nathan realized he better get some sleep in order to do some buskering this morning.
Still managed to crawl out of bed this morning at a respectable 8 am, and headed off to the supermarket(Dunnes Stores seems to be the popular one over here) to get a litre of orange juice that I downed, hoping to stifle that fire in my throat from all those smoky pubs...God I miss the smoking bylaw of WaterlooCounty!!!
Another beautiful day here in Kilkenny. I like it so much I may just decide to stay here more than my regular 3 days I have been averaging. I want to get to Cahir to see a castle over there still, but it is on the way to Limerick, so may stop there on my trek back there next week.
I'm still thinking about going down to Waterford to see the Waterford Crystal factory, but it is in the opposite direction. Will see how things feel tomorrow. As for today, I am off to do the walking tour (self-directed) of Kilkenny to see the sights!
Cheers!
-Jude (in Ireland)
posted by Dreama at
5:40 PM
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