Kilkenny – October 18

Tour number five of the weekend was about a mile walk around the town of Kilkenny learning about the town and the history behind it.  Aside from Galway, my favorite place in Ireland. Kilkenny is another cute little town with a lot of Irish culture. There are little shops, Irish music and old buildings all around.  Oh and the first castle I’ve been to so far.

 

 

Although Guinness is the beer most think of relating to Ireland, Smithwicks is actually what should be thought of. This is tour number six, the Smithwicks brewery. We learned the history of this beer and the people who created it. It is older than Guinness, that’s why I’m surprised more don’t know about it. It was fun to hear about the Smithwicks family and the generations of brewing.  

 

 

Another self guided tour through the Kilkenny castle was our seventh tour. We got to walk through the different rooms in the castle which were all decorated just like they would have been when the castle was actually lived in. Pictures weren’t allowed here either. But we sure got a lot from the outside!

 

 

 

Again, after our tours we got time to walk around the town and check out the many small shops they had. I happened into this tourist store when the lady was about to close, but she welcomed me in anyway. I looked around while she sorted stuff out and started closing up. I got to talking to her because she had a shirt with Kenny from the cartoon South Park.  After working in a tourist shop in Fairplay all summer I had to say something. She said that is probably her most wanted shirt, which I thought was interesting all the way in Ireland. After talking for a bit, I told her how much I loved the town and she suggested I come back during the week sometime to avoid all the tourists and spend some more time there. She even offered to help me find accommodation because she knows so many people. What a nice lady! A fantastic way to end my day in Kilkenny, Ireland!