Day 3 cont'd 6/7/12 Kilkenny

It as a relief to be back in the car away from the crazy wind and rain.  Our next stop was Kilkenny, known for the amazing Kilkenny castle.  Kilkenny was MUCH smaller than Dublin and as we drove into town it seemed much more cozy to me.  There were lots of little shops as you drove down the main streets and there were lots of people out walking and shopping.  We got checked into the Pembroke Hotel on Patrick St. that had an amazing view to the castle, and began to walk back uptown.

We had lunch at Kyteler's Inn that is at least a 3 level pub and restaurant.  We went up to the 2nd floor and got to watch some young girls Irish dancing, we think,  for their part time job. There's a neat story about Dame Alice Kyteler that the town thought was a witch and she was the original owner of the pub.  Matthew and I shared amazing fried mushrooms and a toasted ham and cheese sandwich for lunch.

The next stop was a Smithwick's Brewery Tour just a block away.  The guided tour taught us all about how the beer began and the brewery got passed from generation to generation.  The playful, sarcastic, female guide took us to the historic cathedral that is there on sight and then inside the brewery.  The stench inside one of the rooms of the brewery was awful!  At the end of the tour, she told us the brewery would be closing next year and moving to Dublin.  I believe to a bigger brewery that makes Guinness too:(  It was so sad, because after the great tour you really felt like a part of the family!  As we sat and enjoyed our free pint in the brewery pub afterwards we met a young couple on their honeymoon from Cinncinnatti, Ohio. 

We left  the tour not sure if we'd make it to Kilkenny castle in time, because it too closed at 5pm! But we did and it was a huge, old castle with really tall ceilings. I loved walking through the rooms dreaming about what I'd do if it was mine:)  There were lots of hidden staircases and the rooms were so big you think NO ONE needs a house this big:) Photography was not allowed inside the castle, so you'll have to go see for yourself what it looked like inside.

For supper we ate at a pub and restaurant Matthew had heard about on the internet call Matt the Miller.  For the first time ever we had fried brie!  It was amazingly delicious!  I don't even remember the rest of the meal:)  It was still early in the night and we knew we wanted to end up back here at the end so we went for a walk along the river running through town and then went over to another local pub called Tynanny for a pint. And then back to Kyteler's Inn to hear 2 men playing live Irish music.  One song called "Sweet, Sweet 16" I will never forget.  Slowly I began to understand the etiquette for live Irish music in pubs, everyone squeezes in as tight as they can get around the music in a semi-circle.  The scene almost looks like a campfire.  You dance, sing, laugh, and drink... alot:)  We had a great conversation with one of the waitresses about tipping in Ireland, because Matthew and I are both restaurant people we had been feeling really bad about NOT tipping or not tipping enough, which is what he had read online to do.  We got straightened out and learned it's just not expected in Ireland, the servers get paid minimum wage so the tip is just extra nice.

We did end up back at Matt the Miller's where I had a great time!  The solo guitarist that was opening for the big well-known band seemed to be playing just for us:)  He teased us with American songs (James Taylor for example) and requests, like ANY song from The Script (a band from Dublin) that I shouted out to him.  He talked right to Matthew and I and we talked right back to him, as everyone else in the bar was too busy being rowdy to listen to his great music.  Matthew and I even danced to one song and I might have danced alone to one too;)

The middle one is our rental car!  We really wanted one for Matthew to drive to and from work, but I don't think it would be too sturdy for our Iowa winters:)

~Lucky to meet a great guitar player/ singer in Ireland~