Spent 2 days in Kilkenny last weekend with Steph, Sydney, Sebastian, Paul, and Phillip (all the boy are German) and had a great time! Killkenny is known to be one of the most beautiful inland cities in all of Ireland, and it did not disappoint! The bus ride brought us through the true Irish countryside and many stereotypical small towns... and since I managed to avoid my usual bus sickness it was actually a fun ride!
After arriving at the Machabhainns Backpackers Hostel around noon on Saturday we headed out to enjoy a sunny day of sight seeing. We stuck to the river and shops at first, but then we walked through the Kilkenny Castle park and realized that spring has sprung here in Ireland... even though it's only February! We decided that with a limited amount of sunshine in the forecast we'd wait until Sunday to actually tour the inside of the castle.
After another hour of aimless walking/sun-soaking/sight-seeing we met up with my Irish friend Tomás, whos parents live in Kilkenny, for the rest of the day so he could show us around. Our first stop of the afternoon was Smithwick's Brewery! We went on a 45 minute tour of the brewery and St. Frances Abbey on the grounds, learned about the history of the beer, and enjoyed a pint. It was pretty cool and I really enjoyed my first Smithwick!
On saturday evening, we enjoyed spaghetti and meat sauce at the hostel before meeting up with Tomás again for a small pub crawl... kilkenny style! We went to a few authentic places, a wine bar, and an old theater transformed into a night club.
On Sunday we rolled out of bed to get our tourist needs taken care of! In addition to Kilkenny being one of the most beautiful inland towns in Ireland, it is also one of the most medieval ones. We started out back at the Kilkenny Castle... although it was fun, it was a little less than what we'd expected and I wasn't allowed to take any pictures.
Next, we walked back across town to St. Canice's Cathedral which was no dissapointment!! The church itself was beautiful and completely full of stained glass and old tombs. But the really amazing thing was the guard tower right outside the cathedral. There are 32 left in all of Ireland (another 1 is in my pictures from my weekend in Glendolough) but only 2 area actually open to the public... and this was one! The tower had 112 steps and was 100ft. tall. The view of the town and countryside was amazing from the top! Something you should never miss if you make it to Kilkenny!
This is the view of St. Frances Abbey at Smithwick's from the watch tower.
We had to leave for the bus pretty much straight from the cathedral thinking we might be late. However, the bus didn't show up until 30 minutes after is was supposed to come! Very frustrating... but we finally made it home 5 hours after we left Kilkenny (it should have only taken about 3.5 hours).
It was a great weekend, and nice to have a local guide for the weekend!
Next weekend is only a day trip to the Burren (again) and the Aillwee caves with the international division... thank goodness! I need a weekend night in my bed here at UL!
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