Kilkenny - Day 3: Castles & Beer
We made it! So after departing our AirBnB in Dublin we made out way back to the airport to pick up our rental car. Since we're eventually going to end up at the Dublin Airport to fly back to the States, we decided to save a little money and rent the car from the airport center so it started/ended at the same location (cheaper that way!). If you're ever planning a trip out here do not under any circumstances rent via Sixt....nightmare...kind staff, but nightmare.
Also, time for a...
Pro Tip: Check with your credit card company (we have Chase and they're amazing) as to whether or not you have world-wide car insurance coverage. We do so we were able to waive the entire insurance policy on the rental and saved hundreds.
After finally getting the car (airport terminal for paperwork, shuttle to the lot, the pick up center in the lot, and then finally the car) we hit the highway and were in Kilkenny within an hour and thirty minutes! There were a few stressful minutes in Kilkenny when it came to driving around the town to find the hotel, but teamwork prevailed and we managed to find the hotel and the parking lot (free parking is a major bonus here as it turns out). Once parked we checked into the Pembroke Kilkenny Hotel, dropped our bags and started exploring the town. In a few short hours we managed to:
Tour Kilkenny Castle
Tour the Butler Gallery
Visit the Kilkenny Design Center
Tour the Smithwick's Brewery
AND! Found a whole in the wall restaurant with an entire vegetarian menu: Petronellas!
The Kilkenny Castle is this great monument in essence, that has been restored by the Office of Public Works, here in Ireland. The restoration group that it was given over too couldn't handle the job, so the State essentially took it over and now provides the ability to tour to the public. Part of the castle is access to the "Long Gallery," which was a private gallery that the Butler Family had build as an addition to the castle - the space consists of family portraits of the former inhabitants. Down below in the basement of the castle is also the Butler Gallery, which is a contemporary art gallery that you can visit free of charge! And directly across the street from all of this is the Kilkenny Design Center, which is a collection of shops and artists - you can purchase vastly Irish-products and then go visit or watch the artist work in one of the studio spaces at the center (which is this huge medieval-esk, circular building with a green in the center.
So after culture and shopping we wandered the streets looking for a snack - turns out all of the cafes and whatnot lose at 5 for the evening, so instead we decided to wander over to Smithwick's to see if we could purchase tickets for the next morning's tour. Turns out the 5pm hadn't left yet, so we jumped on! While Guinness was a great tour, this was an amazing one - it was guided by a real live human, and was incredibly interactive the entire way. At the end we purchased a paddle/sampler of three of their beers (this satiated me until dinner). As we wandered back to the hotel to drop bags we decided to walk up one of the alley ways that looked as picturesque as possible (this one was known as "Butter Slip Lane." And while on Butter Slip Lane we found Petronella's, which was hands down one of the best meals we've had so far.
Not bad for 1/2 a day in the city, if I do say so myself. So stay tuned, I'll post about our journey to Cork next!
