“Kilkenny—a glimpse at medieval Ireland…or in other words, Ireland 9 years ago.” – Monty, Pastor at Greystones Presbyterian Church
Driving through the Irish countryside is hard to describe in words and to do the varying landscape justice. We left Greystones at half eight going south to Kilkenny. As we crossed the Wicklow Mountains, the sun silhouetted the “peaks” to our left. The pass between the mountains brought us to boulder-ridden hills that look like there were straight out of the Lord of the Rings. According to our bus driver Brian, part of the film (pronounced fil-um) King Arthur was filmed there. Soon the hills became the picturesque green pastures with grazing sheep and divided by hedges and stone fences. A cloud of light mist gave this third scene a mysterious glow in the sunlight.
Our first stop was Jerpoint Abbey. We were all so ready to get off the bus after our nice naps (by nice, I mean absolutely horrible because we all got motion sickness to some degree, and I never get motion sick). Our tour guide was more than knowledgeable when it came to the abbey. Having been trapped on a bus for so long, however, it was very hard for most of us to pay attention because our minds were already doing the independent exploration we so desperately wanted. Being a biology major, the only thing I caught on the tour was her reference to the abbey as the nucleus of the surrounding countryside. All the other details kind of went in one ear and out the other as the tour seemed to never end. (Don’t worry, Mom and Dad, I bought a visitor’s guide for future reference on all things Jerpoint Abbey related.)
The pictures I took could not capture the wonderful smells of the countryside. It smelled absolutely foul, and there was no escape from the putrid stench of something that was far worse than your average manure. Despite the smell, the day was gorgeous, and once we were free from the tour we were able to explore and take pictures.
Well over an hour and a half later, we boarded the bus only to be roasted alive the rest of the way to Kilkenny. When we arrived in Kilkenny, we went to St. Canice’s Cathedral. We had a short tour (which was fantastic after the previous one), and then we climber the high tower.
It’s a little nerve-racking going up one ladder after another to reach the top. As you get closer to the top, the dust that coats the tops of each step becomes more scattered with pigeon poo. (Needless to say, we all scrubbed our hands when we got back down.) The view from the top of the tower was nothing spectacular, and having 10 people crowded around a place that is about 7 feet in diameter was nothing to write a memoir on. The adrenaline rush of the trip up was luckily not repeated in the descent, but the bird poo was still there.
Finally by 4:20 we checked into the Kilkenny Hibernian Hotel and were free to explore on our own. I walked around the quaint city streets, popping into the cute shops. I bought a couple of books and CDs (yeah, not very Irish souvenirs, I know). Then I went into a little hole-in-the-wall gift shop full of little Irish shirts and trinkets. I was the only person in the store, so I struck up a conversation with the owner—a nice elderly Irishman. (More so, I said hello and my American accent gave me away.) He was so nice and showed me on a map where Braveheart had been filmed in Wicklow County. I told him about the Irish Studies Program (people are always so interested in this and desire a full explanation) and how I was liking Ireland thus far. He also told me what pubs were good and what types of music they would have tonight.
We went to dinner at a restaurant that was incredibly delicious. I got breaded chicken with salad and chips. We all got desserts, of course. It was hard to bypass the chocolate desserts, but the apple tart with vanilla ice cream sounded so great. It was delectable.
After dinner, Aric and I walked around and met up with Emily, Heidi, and Kirstin at Ryan’s, one of the pubs the Irishman had recommended. The music was okay but nothing special. (I still need to go to a pub with authentic Irish music.)
Driving through the Irish countryside is hard to describe in words and to do the varying landscape justice. We left Greystones at half eight going south to Kilkenny. As we crossed the Wicklow Mountains, the sun silhouetted the “peaks” to our left. The pass between the mountains brought us to boulder-ridden hills that look like there were straight out of the Lord of the Rings. According to our bus driver Brian, part of the film (pronounced fil-um) King Arthur was filmed there. Soon the hills became the picturesque green pastures with grazing sheep and divided by hedges and stone fences. A cloud of light mist gave this third scene a mysterious glow in the sunlight.
Our first stop was Jerpoint Abbey. We were all so ready to get off the bus after our nice naps (by nice, I mean absolutely horrible because we all got motion sickness to some degree, and I never get motion sick). Our tour guide was more than knowledgeable when it came to the abbey. Having been trapped on a bus for so long, however, it was very hard for most of us to pay attention because our minds were already doing the independent exploration we so desperately wanted. Being a biology major, the only thing I caught on the tour was her reference to the abbey as the nucleus of the surrounding countryside. All the other details kind of went in one ear and out the other as the tour seemed to never end. (Don’t worry, Mom and Dad, I bought a visitor’s guide for future reference on all things Jerpoint Abbey related.)
The pictures I took could not capture the wonderful smells of the countryside. It smelled absolutely foul, and there was no escape from the putrid stench of something that was far worse than your average manure. Despite the smell, the day was gorgeous, and once we were free from the tour we were able to explore and take pictures.
Well over an hour and a half later, we boarded the bus only to be roasted alive the rest of the way to Kilkenny. When we arrived in Kilkenny, we went to St. Canice’s Cathedral. We had a short tour (which was fantastic after the previous one), and then we climber the high tower.
It’s a little nerve-racking going up one ladder after another to reach the top. As you get closer to the top, the dust that coats the tops of each step becomes more scattered with pigeon poo. (Needless to say, we all scrubbed our hands when we got back down.) The view from the top of the tower was nothing spectacular, and having 10 people crowded around a place that is about 7 feet in diameter was nothing to write a memoir on. The adrenaline rush of the trip up was luckily not repeated in the descent, but the bird poo was still there.
Finally by 4:20 we checked into the Kilkenny Hibernian Hotel and were free to explore on our own. I walked around the quaint city streets, popping into the cute shops. I bought a couple of books and CDs (yeah, not very Irish souvenirs, I know). Then I went into a little hole-in-the-wall gift shop full of little Irish shirts and trinkets. I was the only person in the store, so I struck up a conversation with the owner—a nice elderly Irishman. (More so, I said hello and my American accent gave me away.) He was so nice and showed me on a map where Braveheart had been filmed in Wicklow County. I told him about the Irish Studies Program (people are always so interested in this and desire a full explanation) and how I was liking Ireland thus far. He also told me what pubs were good and what types of music they would have tonight.
We went to dinner at a restaurant that was incredibly delicious. I got breaded chicken with salad and chips. We all got desserts, of course. It was hard to bypass the chocolate desserts, but the apple tart with vanilla ice cream sounded so great. It was delectable.
After dinner, Aric and I walked around and met up with Emily, Heidi, and Kirstin at Ryan’s, one of the pubs the Irishman had recommended. The music was okay but nothing special. (I still need to go to a pub with authentic Irish music.)
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