Today's Adventure: The Medieval Mile

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I had the easiest drive of my entire trip today, less than an hour from Waterford to Kilkenny. This town is pretty cool. I went to the Kilkenny Castle, and was a little bummed they don’t let you take pictures inside. It's very much a museum though, so I do understand. I've become a bit of a nerd being on this trip and have become quite fond of guided tours. It makes me want to do more of them when I get back home.



The castle was right in the center of town, so it was a perfect location to walk around. After I sent off some postcards, I went to my first ever brewery tour. If you know me, you know I’m not a beer drinker, but Smithwick's just looked neat, so I went in. Again, a guided tour, and I enjoyed learning about the history of the place (304 years old!) and the process of making the beer itself. I even actually enjoyed my pint at the end.



Once I snagged some free coasters (score!), I moseyed over to St Canice's Cathedral & Round Tower. I was only slightly disappointed that the ticket office was closed and I wasn't able to climb the tower. (I think I've had enough of super giant extra tall several hundred years old stone structures for one week.) The place was very cool, there was even a real cemetery with tombs and headstones so old they were unreadable. It's still used though as a regular church, and some of the Smithwick's family members have even been buried there in recent years.



After I'd had my fill of mortal awe, I jaunted over to view St. Mary's Cathedral. I'd been seeing the tallest tower & its spires all day as I'd been walking around, so it was very neat to see the building up close.



After an eventful day, as I was walking back to my car, I came across a patch of clover and picked the hugest clover I'd ever seen. It makes all the other clover I'd seen back home seem leprechaun sized.



Tomorrow I'm headed back to Dublin; a suburb this time instead of the city. Then only one more day until I pick up Jason from the airport and we continue the journey together.

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Photos

Kilkenny Castle
I never got a shot of the whole thing. It's huge, and the farther away you get, the more things (like trees & such) get in the way.

St. Canice's Cathedral
Look at those old headstones!

Smithwick's of the Legendary Ale
I was surprised to see these ones were so new. I expected this not to be used anymore.