Kilkenny Castle, Rothe House, and Cork

You can meet cool people in hostels. For example, at Kilkenny's hostel, we met a nice middle-aged British couple while eating breakfast in the hostel's dining room. John and I had to stop by a grocery store to purchase breakfast to eat in our hostel, b/c none of the shops opened until 9 (and we were hungry at 8). We bought bread, fruit, and instant coffee, and were munching away in the hostel's dining room, when the British couple came in. They were on their holiday, having taken a ferry from England to Kerry County, where they spent about a week in a cottage on a lake. They were finishing up their trip, and they had lots of advice. They did suggest hiring a car rather than a bus when traveling both in Ireland and in England, as the car allows you to get off the beaten path. They also recommended booking your hostels via phone rather than Internet b/c of the service charges involved with Internet-booking. They used to do working holidays in England, which is where you pay a minimal price for room/board, and you do work like ditch-digging or gardening for a week, then you have a week's holiday. They said it was a great way to see the country and to meet people. I asked them where we should go if we visited England, and they pretty much named everywhere! They are from Devon and said it is really beautiful. They also recommended Northumberland, North Wales, Norfolk, and Scotland. So, I guess I just need to see all of the British Isles!

We said goodbye to the couple and headed next to Kilkenny Castle. The castle is really beautiful, large, and well-kept, with hand-painted wallpaper and impressive furnishings. The place has been carefully reconstructed based on old photographs taken of the rooms in the late 1800s. Overall, it is a good place to visit, but I'm not sure what else to say about it. The library contained, among other things, Shakespeare, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and gardening books.

More interesting, I think, was the Rothe House. This is a museum of a Tudor-era home. It was all wooden floors, beamed ceilings, fireplaces with iron pots, and wooden chests, chairs, and floors. The best part was the garden. It has been reconstructed, based on archeological evidence, just like the original garden. It actually consists of two walled gardens, the first containing vegetables and herbs, the second containing fruit trees and bushes and flowers. It smelled really good. Their honeysuckle is pink and fragrant! I'm going to post photos in Facebook.

A real Irish breakfast came next. It was our lunch. We stopped at a coffee shop and had the following:
Two eggs
1 potato cake
1 vegetarian sausage
Cooked tomatoes
Cooked mushrooms
Baked beans
Brown bread and butter
Tea
I can now say I have had a traditional Irish breakfast.

Kilkenny also has a craft center where artisans work and teach (and sell). I bought a beautiful blue stoneware bowl. Sliversmiths, potters, painters, and fabric-workers all create the most beautiful things here. I highly recommend the place.

The last thing we attempted to see in Kilkenny before catching the bus to Cork was the tower at St. Canice's Cathedral. It was, unhappily, closed. So was the cathedral (for lunch). Thus, we spent our last half hour in the hostel, relaxing. Then, caught the bus to Cork.

Next post: More on Cork and the Blarney Stone.