Blogs from County Kilkenny, Ireland, Europe - page 8

Wow, Kilkenny Hostel is sensational. It’s a small castle with a stone wall surrounding a beautiful garden. Our room is in a little room built into the wall of the garden. Walking through arched doorways into a courtyard then into the main castle we found the dining area to be just like the dining area at Bunratty only cozier and warmer. As we climbed the spiral staircase we found a sitting room with easels and paintings in progress then further still other dorm rooms until we reached the top. We got the key to have a look at the topmost room that leads out to the rooftop. Fantastic. ... read more

We left Dublin on a train from Heuston Station which took us through to Waterford which was the end of the line. Although we would have preferred to stay at Kilkenny we couldn't find anything there that was within our price range. The Waterford train was very crowded and we boarded the train in a similar manner as the train from Glasgow where everyone waited in the main concourse area until only a short time before the train was ready to depart. When we arrived at Waterford we had quite a long walk up a big hill before we could get to the hotle where we were staying which was on the edge of the town near the famous crystal factory. We also had quite a challenge finding anything decent to eat that night as there ... read more

So, today we hit the Jameson’s Distillery, very nice. Boring tour, dull guide, but it was cool to see how it was made, and when you turn your one free whiskey into 4 free whiskeys, the night has promise. We hit Killkenney and took a quick tour, which wasn’t that great, but was somewhat informative. I got the chance to see some 500 year old churches and the like, which was really amazing. From there we had dinner at a 700 year old pub called Kyteler’s Inn, established in 1324. Food was ok, but honestly, in a SEVEN HUNDRED YEAR OLD PUB who cares what the food tasted like. Then we returned to our hotel and hit up the most amazing bar I have ever seen. Someone had the brilliant idea to purchase an old Welch ... read more

Well here I am in Kilkenny, the home of Kilkenny! (the beer, Im assuming anyway, think it was named after a guy called Kilkenny who did something here in ireland but i dunno, and I think its a safe assumption that the beer is sold here, never saw it in Dublin however, weird, cos I remember having it on TAP for a while at the Windsor.. Strange that it wouldnt be here in Ireland, I will have to go looking! but no tasting! cos if its anything like that horrible stuff called Guiness.. YUCK!, ok thats enough about that now I think hehe). Anyway like I said, here I am in Kilkenny, took just under 2 hours by train to get here from Dublin, not too bad and at least it was direct not like some ... read more

Hello hello, my faithful listeners, Again, sorry that there aren't as many postings as I'd like. We left the city of Dublin two days ago to discover the countryside, and see what the less commercial face of Ireland looks like. After studying the Ireland guide that Amber and I picked up from Barnes & Noble, I decided that we should head to Kilkenny, which is in the Southeast area of Ireland, and a 2:10 bus ride south from Dublin. Kilkenny is known as the Medieaval Town of Ireland (and yes, that's how they spell medieval). The population is about 20,000, so it's about the size of my old stomping ground in Grants Pass, Oregon. On the way over, our bus driver was very talkative, and like most everyone that we've encountered here, extremely friendly. Amber and ... read more