11/05: Just Missed Prince Charles
Category: General
Posted by: The Agnew Family
And tonight's beer is Costellos The Red, a craft beer brewed in Kilkenny. I opted for a half pint of Smithwick's Red that was brewed for in Kilkenny for hundreds of years. Unfortunately, it was bought by Guinness in 1965 and stopped being brewed in Kilkenny in 2012.
Happily the sun was shining this morning when we woke up. We went back to Glendalough so we could finish our visit of the display on St. Kevin. As the sun was shining so nicely we decided to do another visit of the grounds. The visit was shortened when we released just how many other people were visiting the site --- must have been more than 20 tourist buses and a bunch more filled with school children.
As we were leaving Glendalough the clouds arrived threatening rain. Luckily the rain didn't amount to more than a few sprinkles.
An ewe and her lamb grazing by the side of the road.
Kilkenny is our destination for today, about 100 km or 1 1/2 hours drive. Our B&B is located about a 15 minute walk to downtown so we landed in their parking lot and headed out on foot. The owner of the B&B informed us that we might not be able to see Kilkenny Castle today because Prince Charles and Camilla visited the castle this morning. Turned out she was correct. The visit was only an hour or so this morning but the castle remained closed for the day as cleanup was required. Oh well, tomorrows plans will have to be adjusted to fit a visit to the castle in. The amount of work created by a Royal visit is incredible. Streets are barricaded, some sewers are welded shut while other access plates are taped closed, parking machines and anything else that could be opened are taped closed. Even though I complained about the inconvenience the Royal visit caused me, I can’t image what it would be like to require an entourage and protection on every trip I took.
One of the taped access covers.
We spent the remainder of the afternoon wandering around the historic area of Kilkenny.
One of the bridges that cross the river.
Part of the old city wall and the gate leading into the city. Interesting view through an alley looking at the tower of one of the many historic buildings in town.
An end wall of St. Canice's Cathedral.
Inside Black Abby.
One of the impressive stained glass windows in Black Abbey.
The inside of St. Mary's Cathedral.
We even saw a few interesting birds today.
Jackdaw
I don't remember ever seeing a swan take off. This guy sure made it look hard. He seemed to be hopping on the water before he finally flew about 100 meters.
Happily the sun was shining this morning when we woke up. We went back to Glendalough so we could finish our visit of the display on St. Kevin. As the sun was shining so nicely we decided to do another visit of the grounds. The visit was shortened when we released just how many other people were visiting the site --- must have been more than 20 tourist buses and a bunch more filled with school children.
As we were leaving Glendalough the clouds arrived threatening rain. Luckily the rain didn't amount to more than a few sprinkles.
An ewe and her lamb grazing by the side of the road.
Kilkenny is our destination for today, about 100 km or 1 1/2 hours drive. Our B&B is located about a 15 minute walk to downtown so we landed in their parking lot and headed out on foot. The owner of the B&B informed us that we might not be able to see Kilkenny Castle today because Prince Charles and Camilla visited the castle this morning. Turned out she was correct. The visit was only an hour or so this morning but the castle remained closed for the day as cleanup was required. Oh well, tomorrows plans will have to be adjusted to fit a visit to the castle in. The amount of work created by a Royal visit is incredible. Streets are barricaded, some sewers are welded shut while other access plates are taped closed, parking machines and anything else that could be opened are taped closed. Even though I complained about the inconvenience the Royal visit caused me, I can’t image what it would be like to require an entourage and protection on every trip I took.
One of the taped access covers.
We spent the remainder of the afternoon wandering around the historic area of Kilkenny.
One of the bridges that cross the river.
Part of the old city wall and the gate leading into the city. Interesting view through an alley looking at the tower of one of the many historic buildings in town.
An end wall of St. Canice's Cathedral.
Inside Black Abby.
One of the impressive stained glass windows in Black Abbey.
The inside of St. Mary's Cathedral.
We even saw a few interesting birds today.
Jackdaw
I don't remember ever seeing a swan take off. This guy sure made it look hard. He seemed to be hopping on the water before he finally flew about 100 meters.