Kilkenny

Breakfast was late and leisurely and our great host insisted on telling us everything we would ever want to know about Kilkenny, beginning in the 13th century. We finally got out of the house by 10:45am, late for us, and headed into town. First stop was the Kilkenny Castle and stables, then we walked down the street a bit further and did the Smithwicks Brewery Tour. After that we had lunch at Kyleters (thats wrong, I need to check the name) but it is a 13th century building and bar and it was great. Cindy had Irish stew and I had fish and chips. We walked back to move the car since we had to feed the machine. Did some further walking around and went back to Kyleters at 7pm because the music was starting at 7:30. Listening to traditional Irish music in a 13th century pub which drinking Guiness. I do not think it gets any better than that. It was a duo and they each played a variety of instruments. At 9:30 when the music ended we walked around some more looking for a place to get something to eat. No luck, so we got in the car to explore and finally found a pizzeria still serving food. Got back to the house at about 11:30. Kilkenny got relatively quiet after 7pm, and this town has a population of almost 25,000 people. The town we are going to next has a population of less than 3,000 and Dingle, in which we'll be spending three nights, has approximately 2,000 people. We should know then all by first name before our time is up. First impressions: Ireland is an absolute pleasure to be in. The people are friendly and talkative, helpful to a fault. The history is everywhere. By the way, sunny and much warmer today, and it didn't rain a bit.