Kilkenny

The last Monday in October is a holiday here (no historical or religious event - just a day off for everyone from school and work).  We celebrated by going to Kilkenny for two days.

I was a bit late in researching accommodations, so I was unable to find a self-catering apartment in town.  Rather than stay out in the countryside, we opted for a B&B in town called Celtic House.  I found it via Google, which lead me to www.kilkennycityonline.com.  It was very conveniently located - a 5 minute walk from the main part of town, on a quiet side street with onsite parking.  Their family room had two queen beds, not ideal but I was tired of calling and e-mailing places that did not have room.  Plus, it was very reasonably priced.

The B&B was great for us - hearty Irish breakfast (without the pudding, which is fine with me).  The only challenge was the girls didn't really want to share a bed.  We ended up putting ORBJ on the floor (on a camping mattress) for the first night.  The second night, they woke us up at 4am with cries of "stop kicking me" and "get on your side".  Somehow, we got them back to sleep until 6:30am.

Despite the sleep deprivation, we had a very nice time in Kilkenny.  There was a food festival going on - Savour Kilkenny - and many of the events were within walking distance.  It was raining when we arrived, so we went to one of the food demonstrations.  It was led by a chef named Fiona, and it was on sushi.  The first sushi dish was vegetarian and designed to make with kids, so FABJ helped chef Fiona make the dish:

This isn't quite as exciting as I thought it would be.

Big deal, my mama went to cooking school.

When do I get to eat?

Yes, we took about 8 photos and these are the best of the lot!

FABJ didn't like her sushi roll of red pepper and mango - she doesn't like seaweed - so I got to eat it (without the red pepper or mango, though).  LBJ answered a question correctly from chef Fiona and won a free cooking lesson.  We're all looking forward to some Japanese food!

We ate well that weekend, and the girls quite enjoyed Kilkenny Castle.  The tours were self guided, but a couple of rooms had guides to provide more information.  One room was dubbed the "princesses bedrooms", so the girls enjoyed hearing about the princesses.  In the drawing room, the girls got to see more pictures of princesses and duchesses - they enjoyed the stories as well.

The ladies in back of the castle after the rain stopped

FABJ on the castle grounds

Possibly the highlight of the trip for me was a wonderful walk along the canal.  The weather was perfect, and everyone was in a good mood.

One happy family (I bet LBJ was smiling as she took this, too)

We even managed to visit a cultural site - Kells Priory (a different Kells from the Book of ...).  It was a fascinating site with no one else around.

Peppa Pig or Minnie Mouse, I can't decide!

Cutie and Patootie exploring the grounds

Not another soul around ...

The girls enjoyed some quality playground time on the way back at Castlecomer Discovery Park.  They have a climbing wall that we may take FABJ to some day.