We didn’t feel like paying for Corn Flakes in the morning, so we went into the city and found a cafe, where we each ordered a pastry. Then we were on our way to the Rock of Cashel in Co. Tipperary. We lucked out, because as it turns out, on the first Wednesday of the month (today), admission was free! Thanks, Office of Public Works! This is the place that we had been viewing pictures of online prior to our trip when we came across photos of Maher (as in Nathan Maher) tombstones. Parts of the building were under construction, so it wasn’t quite as picturesque, but we did find the tombstone we were looking for. We saw a mother that was struggling with 7 or so red-head Irish children to take a family photo, but the youngest boy didn’t want to stop watching us. We stood behind her so he would be looking at the camera, then offered to take a photo with her in it. They returned the favor, and we had a nice chat about our trip. They were excited to tell us about all of the places Obama visited on his last trip to Ireland. I was feeling a bit under the weather here–Sinus/breathing/coughing problems, so I didn’t enjoy it as much as I could have.
Afterwards, we found a small pub (Mikey Ryan’s) in Cashel that advertised a beer garden where we could eat some lunch. We walked through the tiny restaurant, and we were blown away by the garden! Aside from one woman who stayed for only 5 minutes, we were the only ones there. It looked like it was straight out of a fairy tale or The Secret Garden. It had flowers all over, including some purple and pink honeysuckle. The food was mediocre, but the setting was outstanding.
We excitedly found our way to Kilkenny, where we had a bit of trouble finding the Metropole Hostel, because we could only find an hotel of that name. We decided to ask them for directions, because undoubtedly, people confuse them often. It turned out that we were actually in the correct place! The bartender explained that they were undergoing some renovations and that they had recently been switched statuses from “hotel” to “hostel.” The lounge seemed fancy–Old, Victorian-type fancy, so it appeared that we had gotten a deal!
Wrong. So wrong. We arrived at our (unlocked) private room, and were completely disgusted by what we found. It smelled like mold. The trash had not been taken out. Everything felt dirty (I later found some old blood on the mattress under the pillow–The sheet didn’t cover the entire mattress). There was some sort of hole under the vinyl flooring right at the entrance to the bathroom, so we had to step-hop over it for fear of falling through the floor. I mentioned the smell–Well, it was especially bad in the bathroom. So much so that we had to keep the bathroom door closed, and I held my breath while inside. I was legitimately worried for our health. Needless to say, we got out of there as soon as possible to explore the beautiful, medieval city.
We weren’t thrilled that we had booked two nights at the Metropole, but ultimately decided not to pursue a refund. At least we had a private room. We walked to Kilkenny Castle, where we received another free tour! The castle was pretty, and dead-head free (I’m terrified of taxidermy)! Nathan really enjoyed it, but I was still kind of inwardly sour about our lodging situation. After the tour we were dreading returning to our hostel so we found a large stump on the castle grounds, where we napped for a while. On the way back to the hostel, we passed John Cleere’s pub, which advertised trad music that night. Of course we went back, and good thing we did! It was the most amazing trad music experience we could have had. The music was fantastic–A group of musicians who gathered over the span of a few hours and just began playing some Irish standards. We actually witnessed some of them walking in, meeting each other for the first time, then sitting down and playing. The energy was through the roof, and we were genuinely happy to be in Kilkenny for the first time that day. At some point, someone (the owner?) locked the door and closed the curtains. I guess pubs weren’t supposed to be open after that hour. However, all of the people inside (including us) were allowed to remain! It was so cool.
Would I recommend…
- The Rock of Cashel? √
- Mikey Ryan’s? √+
- The Metropole? X
- Kilkenny Castle? √
- John Cleere’s? √+
- Kilkenny? √+
GonnaGoTravel 