Following up on Kelly's last post, here is a brief summary of the rest of our trip to Kilkenny.
We arrived in Kilkenny Station after a nice 2 hour train ride from Dublin. Kilkenny is a small city, so it was only a short walk downtown and across the River Nore to our hotel :
Berkeley House B & B, which we found through our Rick Steve's Ireland Guidebook
(thanks Megan & Ken)
The hotel was small but nice. They gave us the room on the top floor, apparently because they thought Kelly & I needed 3 beds ? We indeed used all 3 beds...for laying out our wet clothes !
After settling in briefly, we went to find Triple G's grave and the street named after him. Then we went to the biggest site to see in K-town... Kilkenny Castle !
We took a guided tour of the castle and ancestral home of the Butler Clan but we weren't allowed to take pictures inside. It was a 45 minute tour which is perfect. The interior was very impressive, you'll have to use your imagination. Fancy doors, tapestries, hand carved furniture yadda yadda yadda.
We looked over the castle wall and I said to Kelly "uhhh Kel? I've only had one beer, but I think their are heads floating in the river". Our trip coincided with the Kilkenny Arts Festival, so that explains the heads...i guess
It also explains why there were people walking about town in large costumes like these
They were very funny, walking around the bookstore making jokes..even getting behind the counter and calling the next customer "Ok who is next, i'll scan your item for ya" (In an irish accent of course)
Then we were off to the opposite end of the oldest part of town to see St. Canice's Cathedral built around 1250
Typical cathedral stuff. Impressive architecture.
Loads of stained glass
Impressive archways etc.
More stained glass, but the highlight of the cathedral was....
Its tower ! It's tall, skinny, leaning towards the Cathedral a bit, and you can climb up to the top !
You better be sure-footed when climbing tiny metal steps in wet weather !Here Kelly demonstrates proper safety protocol...always 3 points of contact !
The climb inside is not for the fainthearted or claustrophobic. There are 6 or 7 of these staircase/ladders stacked inside the tower. Very tight space, theres no room for people to pass but plenty of room to fall to your death !
Lovely views of the graveyard of course.
When you finally get to the top, you have a great view of the city,
a commanding view of the countryside,
and a great place to enjoy the lovely summer weather of Ireland !
and of course, another beautiful view of the graveyard.It was a wonderful trip to historic Kilkenny.
-Chris
2 comments:
Soooo coool! Holy crap you know now I'm totally ready to go to Ireland... rivers with floating muppet heads? Pinch me, I'm dreaming. They sort of look like the people the fraggles used to run from when they were stealing radishes.
Even without the muppets, this place looks like a true Rick Steves destination. Miss you guys!
I think they were called Gorgs, I love the Fraggles!
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