Langton's Kilkenny

... man in the room has to come give you a birthday kiss on the cheek! It was so embarassing, but I have the interesting tale of being kissed my about 15-20 men old enough to be my grandfather. ha Anyways on my birthday I went to classes and David gave me a pretty gold chain because I had broken one my necklaces when I was over here. Then after class the girls helped me get ready and David took me out for a nice supper. It was good to eat ...

... around the town, taking in the historical cathedral, Reginals tower (viking built), peoples park and the old city wall. Then we headed off across to Kilanery. We stopped off at the Waterfor Crystal visitors centre.. just some lovely crystal here, famous for their sporting trophies, ie Wimbleton and golf and also the Ashes!<br><br>We drove thought some lovely country side and towns such as Currich-on-Suir and stopped at Cahir to have a look at their castle ...

<br><br>With cloudy skies overhead, we ate our breakfast and said good-bye to Olive and the people from Missouri. We had to make a stop at the nearby Ford dealership because one of our headlights was out, and John had no tools with which to replace it. The service tech had it done quickly, and we were charged only for the bulb (around $19), and told to enjoy our holiday. With the days getting shorter, we really needed the headlight.<br><br>Our first stop today was the Hill of Tara ...

... night I started Irish Dance. From 9 to 11 at night we go dance with a bunch of ederly people. They are really nice and they swing you around really fast. Its definetly going to be a challenge keeping up with them and all their dances. We are also going to learn how to play the tin whistle and a learn how to sing a couple sings in Gaelic in Irish Experience class. We went on a small tour ...

After finishing the Ring of Dingle we pointed the GPS to Killarney. On the way we were in need of a rest, bathroom and a pint. So we stopped at a very interesting place, Inch Beach. Ironically the beach is a 3 miles long crescent of sand. Must be the old Irish sense of humor in play. <br>The beach reminded me a little of Wildwood, without the boardwalk. There was a lot of sand to traverse before reaching the water's edge. <br>It was ...

... lunch from a street vendor and picnic on the lawn by the castle. It was beautiful. Afterward, we headed back to the train station and caught the train back to Dublin. Upon our return we decided against grabbing drinks that night like we'd planned and sleeping instead. Doris and I made it back to the house before the host family had even returned from Mayo. We fell asleep very early sore and exhausted.<br>

... St. Canice's Cathedral, a 13th century building which didn't have the pomposity of a standard cathedral, but rather the solemnity of an old town church. It was surrounded by an ancient graveyard, its large tombstones slanted and crooked by time, the engravings faded by rain and wind. We walked around the grounds for a while, until it started to rain heavily. They were charging a fee to enter the church, but since ...

The next morning we got up bright and early to depart the hostel with Martin. We ended up taking the sheep to market with him in Kilkenny, which became our drop off point for the day. The ride was absolutely amazing on the way to Kilkenny. The sun was rising to a beautiful, clear-skyed day. The dirt roads took us through the green pastures of Ireland with road-side castles and farms in which Martin explained much of the ...

... been to and Amber and I had no interest in visiting, we then swiftly moved further inland and on to Kilkenny. <br><br>After finding a B&amp;B there for the night what we really needed was a local to take us under their wing and show us some Kilkenny craic for the evening, and that was where Shauna came in to the equation. I had met her while travelling in New Zealand nearly three years earlier, and after meeting her outside Kilkenny Castle she ...

... which stopped there about two weeks before we arrived. We were also initially taken with the castle, which sits on a rocky point overlooking the river that crosses through the town. From the exterior, the castle looks very impressive. However, a visit inside dispels this notion. The interior is home to the Wexford County Museum. This museum looks more like a collection of junk. There's no pattern to the displays and no information describing their ...