Kilkenny, Alcantra B&B, Chile Fudge - Chap.2

Kilkenny was our next destination and we selected it for two reasons:
#1 It was going to be my husbands first driving day, so I thought it would be best to start out slowly. (Approx. 2 hours from Dublin city centre.)
#2 Personal Family History

The driving went fairly smoothly getting out of Dublin. Once again, no major traffic during mid June like everyone had warned us about. We decided beforehand that dh would drive and my teenage daughter would navigate. This proved to be a great combination! I was off the hook. We tried to keep the driving to a minimum on our trip since we were traveling w/ two kids and due to the fact that I get very carsick on windy, curvy roads.

As we made our way into Kilkenny, we finally had some sun after three cloudy and misty days in Dublin. I even got sunburned. My daughter commented that the landscape looked just like a green quilt. It was a beautiful and easy drive. Once getting into town, we walked around Kilkenny Castle, the rose gardens and the pet cemetery. We had a delicious lunch at the Kilkenny Design Center, directly across from the castle. I had the salmon plate for 15 euro and tried the local brew, Kilkenny Draught. The Design Center proved to be a fun shopping location and we found some treasures to bring home. I decided to bring home a special cross from various counties that we visited, and found a neat one here of St. Patrick. (There is a St. Patrick's graveyard in Kilkenny and a St. Patrick statue at a local school.)

ALCANTRA B&B - City Walking Tour - Kilkenny Castle

We met our hosts and checked in to our "home" for two nights. Our host Brigid, couldn't have been nicer or more helpful. We loved her breakfasts and would highly recommend this B&B to our friends and/or family. Alcantra is close enough to walk into town and it was very quiet. We loved having two rooms here - one for the kids, one for the adults.

We had dinner at the Marble City Bar and enjoyed watching World Cup soccer here - Japan vs. Brazil. I had a disappointing cheese tart, but washed it down with Smithwicks, so life was good. The kids enjoyed their first experience with Ireland's kid meal options - sausage and fries or chicken strips and fries.

The following day we toured inside of the Kilkenny Castle and had a wonderful Italian tour guide. The tour was very informative and fun. Afterwards we walked around the entire city and saw all the sites - The Black Abbey, St. Canices Cathedral, The Butter Slip, etc. (Thanks yesiree for the walking tour info! - As we left Kilkenny, we passed it along to some fellow tourists. BTW, when went to Smithwicks we were told they no longer give samples ?! ) They had a Farmer's Market in town that we visited too. My daughter and I grabbed some free samples of fudge and gobbled it up. Seconds later our mouths were burning!! Next time we will read the label. It was chile fudge and it definitely had a kick to it. We heard some trad music in the evening.

All in all, I liked Kilkenny, but it wasn't my favorite town. The kids were thrilled that it had a McDonalds. Two nights was the perfect amount of time, going at a leisurely pace. As we walked along the streets a man we didn't know put both of his hands on my husband's packback. I screamed and the man said " I cause no harm, no worries." Be careful! This was during the daylight hours. I assume he was trying to pickpocket.

Onward to Kenmare, Killarney and the Rock of Cashel in the next chapter.


-- Edited by Irisheyes at 13:55, 2006-07-28