Terry and Sooz's Travels: October 10, 2019

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.