Blogs from Kilkenny, County Kilkenny, Ireland, Europe - page 3

Last night I learned some Irish step dancing. I knew it was difficult, but didn't know it was this hard. After a little bit, I get it down. We are a large group and its a small room, so we all get pretty hot. At least I got a cardio workout. Then, the professionals danced a bit for us. They were amazing, what talent! Then as we were leaving the pub, we could see that it was raining. I didn't bring my raincoat. The bartender was outside too and ran back in to get me an umbrella. I told him it was okay, that I didn't have far to walk. He insisted I take it; while making fun my of high pitched voice. The people of Ireland are so friendly and treat you as if you've ... read more

Seriously, can you go to Kilkenny without at least one South Park reference? I mentioned previously that I had ventured out to see a bit of Kilkenny while my husband and brother practiced dying (this is the Todd puking in the bushes timetable). I took the map that Rhoda at Rosquil had given me and stood on the street, sun getting ready to set prominently off to my right (aka a clear indication of direction) and did my best to head the wrong way to get myself into town. For someone who makes maps for a living, I have to be one of the crappiest navigators on Earth. I have complete and total map-reading dyslexia. Not something I list on my resume. This problem, while traveling in Ireland, turned out to be an early introduction to ... read more

LANDED IN DUBLIN 13 OCT. After a very small amount of sleep on the flight from Chicago, we picked up our rental car at 10AM. So, now Mike is driving on the left side of the road, shifting manual tranny with his right hand, and we need to get out of the city. Well, we did it and arrived in Kilkenny very early in the afternoon. Only once did we have to turn around. Stayed at Ashbrook House, a beautiful B&B about 6 miles out of town. Our hosts graciously allowed us to check in early. Took a little walk down the lane. Needed to do what we could to stay awake until dark. Had a fine steak dinner at Paddy's just down the road from the B&B, then heavenly sleep until 8 the next morning. ... read more

We’ve just visited four places – two stunningly scenic, two disturbingly urban. From Westport we drove out to Achill Island, Ireland’s largest offshore island (although not far offshore, as the bridge to it is only about 50 metres long). We drove along Atlantic Drive, another winding, undulating, potholed goat track, complete with wandering sheep, stones marking out the most dangerous of the drops off the side of the road and –amazingly – a lone jogger out in the middle of nowhere. Oh, and spectacular views of the Atlantic coast as well. Heading up toward Derry, through country that becomes less green and picturesque and more stony and rugged as you travel north, we stopped at Donegal for a look around, then Slieve League to see the highest sea cliffs in Europe. Slieve League is fantastic, although ... read more

Kilkenny is a medieval town south of Dublin. There was supposed to be an interesting castle to explore…we had a lot of trouble finding it. There were a lot of churches, however, each one we thought was the castle! We basically wandered aimlessly around the town looking for this castle…we did finally find it…looks a bit like Buckingham Palace, but don’t tell the locals that. Had a terrific lunch at this small café…mushroom soup, irish brown bread, and a blueberry muffin with fresh cream. It started to rain so we left Kilkenny to find Ennis, the starting point of our first day of biking tomorrow. We chose to take the scenic route…took three hours! Geoff drove, Brian navigated, and I napped in the back seat and snapped an occasional photo. The sky became gloomy and it ... read more