The car was not touched today, it was a Kilkenny day on foot. After a nice Irish breakfast at the hotel we checked out a local market that takes place every Thursday and is just about 2 blocks from our hotel in the shadow of the Kilkenny Castle. We found a great dessert lady who makes non-baked pastry with no sugar and all vegan. I had my doubts but weights couple of pieces for this evening and after sampling. They are very tasty.
Next it was off to the Kilkenny Castle for a self guided tour after watching a short video. Parts of the Castle are being used for offices and conferences, and some areas are open to the public. It was originally built between 1195-1213 and has gone through several major renovations. It was transferred to the City of Kilkenny in 1967. The Castle and grounds are on the River Nore.
After a little downtime Susie and I visited the Kilkenny City and County Planning Office. We had a nice chat with Naomi Scully a planner who explained their "Forward Planning" process and land development review process. All cities in Ireland of over 1,500 people have to do a general plan that future development has to be consistent with. The Planning Office is creating incentives and disincentives to have new development occur within the City to minimize sprawl. They also charge development fees for all new development.
After a little more walking and window shopping, a coffee and scone, we visited St. Mary's Medieval Mile Museum. It is a recently renovated church with cemetery built in the 13th century and had a central role in the history of Kilkenny involving kings, bishops, a Pope and 10 merchants who ran the City often against the desires of the Church, which was a big deal 600 years ago.
Tomorrow we drive back to Celtic Riders, turn in our rental car and head to a hotel near the Dublin Airport for our return home on Saturday. Hard to believe the trip is winding down. It's been great.
The original City of Kilkenny Charter with King Edward III from 1352
Burial headstone in St. Mary's Medieval Mile Museum
Remains from the St. Mary's Medieval Mile Museum
Sign
View of River Nore and Kilkenny Castle
City Planner and Sooz discussing planning strategies
Today we left Dingle around 10am and drove to Kilkenny. Along the way we stopped at the Rock of Cashel. It is a 12th century compound including living areas and a church. We signed up for the guided tour of the cathedral that was completed in 1134 AD. The weather alternated between windy rain and sunshine. They receive over 2,000 visitors a day during peak summer season so we were glad we weren't here then.
We have noticed that prices and availability of hotels, restaurants and tourist sites are much better in October. Hotel prices are way down and we have even found a couple of good package deals on short notice. Today we are in a 4-star hotel in Kilkenny for just over $100 per night including a full breakfast. So we are going to stay 2 nights.
A lovely warning sign
This is Hore Abbey in Cashel and is in the middle of an open field where people walk their dogs - no big deal, just another medieval castle
Graveyard at the Rock of Cashel
Wall around the Rock of Cashel
Rock of Cashel
Rock of Cashel
12th century Limoges
St. Patrick's Cross, 12th century
Inside the Rock of Cashel Cathedral
Inside the Rock of Cashel Cathedral
Inside the Rock of Cashel Cathedral
Sign
Interior wooden roof at the Rock of Cashel former form room
Susie and I are becoming Sticky Toffee Pudding connoisseurs. STP is a British dessert associated with the holidays but now seems to be found in most restaurants. It includes a spice cake, soaked in a warm toffee caramel sauce served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It has become our mission to taste test as many versions as possible before we head home Saturday. Our first, and so far best, version was at the Applecross Inn in Scotland. Tonight's version here at the Dingle Bay Hotel was a close second. Last night we had a serving at Ashes Pub here in Dingle and it also was very good. Our most disappointing was in Ennis at the Temple Gate Pub. And the quest continues.
Today was a bit of a slow and restful day. We had breakfast and took a nap which set the tone for the day. After the nap we went for ice cream at Murphy's Ice Cream store. Murphy's is an Irish institution for ice cream all made with local ingredients, even the salt used in their sea salt flavor.
We did some shopping and lots of walking around the small town center and that was pretty much the day. Tomorrow we head out to Kilkenny for 2 nights. Kilkenny looks like a neat town and is near the Rock of Cashel and and Hore Abbey, two historic sites.
Evening view of the Dingle Harbor area
Tasty version of Diet Pepsi not found in U.S.
Selection of local cheeses in a Dingle cheese shop - we picked up a couple of flavors that we combined with some bread for dinner
First, I need to catch up from last night in Ennis. We headed towards the restaurant at our hotel and heard live music coming out of the pub so we ducked in and ordered dessert. A local group of musicians was playing traditional Irish music and below is a short video of a jig they played. We stayed about an hour and they played without break. It was great and the crowd loved them.
We drove from Ennis to the Town of Dingle which of course is on the Dingle Peninsula. Rick Steves has an entire chapter in his Ireland travel book on Dingle including a detailed description of a 30 mile drive around the peninsula that he highly recommends.
We originally planned on taking the drive tomorrow but the bartender at the pub where we had dinner tonight suggested we take the drive this evening to take advantage of the sunny skies and not get caught up in the buses and traffic during the day. That sounded like a good idea so we took the drive this evening and it was great. Pictures and videos below.
For my planner friends I took a picture of the Ennis city sign that shows they were a gold winner in the TidyTowns competition. TidyTowns is an annual competition that evaluates 600 submittals across the Country against 6 categories.
The longer I drive in Ireland the slower I get. Lots of blind curves, hills, rough pavement and narrow roads. So I just slow down and "fock" the drivers behind me who want me to drive faster, as Paul at Celtic Rider said. We are using a nice Toyota Corolla Hybrid that handles well and is easy to drive.
Our first stop today was The Burren on the coast in County Clare. It is a geologic formation that stretches for 5 miles right on the ocean. It's pretty wild looking with what looks like slabs and blobs of rock, mainly limestone. We entered The Burren area, a national park, with open and free access, just a few small parking areas along the road.
Next was a visit to the Cliffs of Moher. This attraction is about the opposite of The Burren in the sense that it is the number one tourist site in Ireland. It is a large area that has been developed to accommodate over one million visitors a year; large parking lot, a visitor center that is mainly a gift shop, coffee shop, walkways and walled viewing areas. Apparently for several years the Irish government purposely did not put up barriers near the Cliffs believing it was a form of natural selection of those who fell off the Cliffs. However as more and more people accidentally fell and committed suicide they put up rock barriers. The Cliffs at their highest are 700 feet above the ocean.
We had what was our best meal on the trip so far at Tubridy's Bar & Restaurant in Doobeg, County Clare. I had a lamb stew on mashed potatoes and Sooz had roast beef and mashed potatoes. I had it saved in my Google map before we left the States but I can't remember where I heard about it. When I asked the waitress where I may have heard about the place she mentioned that the Trump sons had been there a couple of months ago because their golf resort is very close. I told her I am sure I did not save it because of the Trump boys.
I started losing steam so we decided to head to our hotel in Ennis. It's a nice small town and I am going to try to catch up on posting pictures to the blog so if you want to see them go back a few days in the blog and check them out.
