More Killkenny- Big heart in a small city

Killkenny has a lot to offer for being so small, it's literally tiny! But we were told that since it was a "cathedral" it is a "city" not a town, and apparently if you call it Killkenny Town, some of the locals get offended haha.

We started yesterday off pretty late- snoozed until about 9:30, drug ourselves downstairs for breakfast (potato cakes...Mmmmm!) and started to get ready for the day. We were still dizzy from the night before haha, so we moved a little slower than we have been the days prior. Both of us kept saying how every time we burped we tasted fish and chips. Ugh.  We didn't get our of the house until about 1 pm, but we knew that everything we wanted to see was fairly close since the CITY is so small ;)

We saw a beautiful church Called St. Canices- not a tourist destination but just gorgeous. We also saw The Rothe House- a recreation of an original town home of a wealthy killkenny resident, we saw the Black Abbey, a 17th century Catholic church. Words can't describe the feeling of staanding in thaat place, it is still used for Mass, so there were a few patrons praying in the pews. Nicole and I took a seat and had a little silent time, said a few prayers and thanks, and stared in wonder at the high ceilings and stained glass. Unbelievable.

Killkenny Castle- you are a dream come true.
Killkenny Castle is right our of a story book, Its been renovated of course, but everything is still specific to its former glory and original decor. Walking through stone tunnels is surreal, I felt like Robin Hood and the Prince of Thieves haha, waiting for Maid Marian to come out and assault me.
We adored the castle, It was all we dreamed  :)

Lunch/Nap time-  After the castle we decided to grab a bite to eat, we opted NOT to go to the restaurant across the street since i looked like a scrub and it was white linen table cloths.....Instead we went to "Left Bank" a bar for one of the Fancy shmancy hotels here, and got panini's and baileys cheesecake- Yummm!!!  I was exhausted after the 2.5 hours of walking all over town, and now I had had my lunch, and felt like a fat little puppy. i looked at Nicole, stuck out my lower lip and in a small voice said "Naptime??" she thankfully agreed. I got to talk to my love  :), and I laid down for a bit. Well 3 hours. We were feeling quite refreshed so we headed out to see some of the bands for the music festivaal. Our first stop was the Pumphouse- a large beautiful bar with Mahogany counters and booths, I heard Muse on the radio while the band was setting up and though of my mommy  :)  We talked to some locals, they were hysterical of course. They were explaining to us How Cork and Killkenny are like Oklahoma and Texas- alot of rivalry. They also were impersonating how people from Cork talk very high pitched and leprachaun like, whiule laughing we look p and notice that 3 guys we were talking to earlier were glaring at our table- of course They were from CORK. They felt the need to catch us on the way out and explain thaat theey guys we were talking to were "stupid f*%kers" hahaha

2nd pub was Kytlers Inn- hel-lo tourists. The music kept us here- alot of American, We heard Johnny Cash, The Eagles, Creedence Clearwater revival and even Jason Mraz  :)  we were there for about 1 hour, listened to The Acousticats- awesome band, and got a pint from a man from the UK.  We were told that saying "Smithwicks" how its spelled would get you laughed at, and its prnounced "Smitticks", we were also told that The Rock of Cashel is a wall on a hill- but we are going aanyways  :0)

3rd pub was Lanigans- next to a hostel, and the drinking age is 18 there were alot of kids. We were laughing at a bachelor party running around in sunglasses, the boys looked all of 19, and drinking vodka and sprite haha. They gave me a pair of sunglasses- told me I was "bloody gorgeous" and laughed about the fact that Jon's last name is McCracken. Everyone here finds that hilarious. Also makes them giggle when they hear my name is "Randi", usually these go hand in hand "Hi my name is Randi- ( man has eyebrow raise and smile) "That is nott an invitation, its my name and I have a boyfriend in the states named Jon McCracken- but we can be friends!" haha. to much fun. Grabbed a cab and some sandwiches and toffee cluters and hit the hay, Good bye Killkenny- hope we meet again at some point in my life  :)