A lot going on today. In fact, I'm going to split this into two posts.
After dealing with the strange French bathroom again this morning, I headed out with the folks to visit Kilkenny Castle, built in 1195, making it about 809 years old. Only roughly 3/5 of it is open, but there was still a lot to see and take in. I won't bore you with too many details. There's a lot if information online for that. But I will say that I'm impressed with their art collection and castle grounds. At one time the Butler Family (including William Butler) had Europe's largest personal art collection. And they built a wing just to show it off. Ah, money. What to do with it all?
The family sold most of the furnishings in the late 30's and then sold the castle to the local authorities for £50. They had other castles they needed to focus on.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilkenny_Castle
The front lawn is really big. I know everyone says that's for hunting an whatnot back then, but I think it's so you could see your enemies coming way off and have time to prepare. It felt like the lawn was a mile long. Some old Irish guy asked me if we had anything like that in the States. I told him about the Biltmore House. It's a little bigger, but its only 125 years old.
The artwork is larger than life as is the room in which they are shown. The wing built to show off the lion's share of the art has a fantastic ceiling reminiscent of a Viking Longboat.
After the castle, we stopped in a local thrift store in which I bought an old Peter Rabbit dish set from England, we ate pizza, and headed to Kilkenny Cathedral, also known as St. Canice's Cathedral. They were closed for lunch, but we walked around the grounds and took some good shots. They also have a round 100 ft. tower that you can climb.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Canice%27s_Cathedral
We left Kilkenny, and headed for Waterford to take a tour of the Waterford Crystal plant and see how all the crystal is made. First off, Waterford Crystal is not cheap. Secondly, they make a lot of it. We were able to watch master glass blowers, etchers, carvers, and so on. Most of the master craftsmen have been there at least 30 years.
The company started way back in 1759, and has had somewhat of a rocky history, but is still a worldwide recognized luxury brand. They even make the People's Choice Award, among other championship trophies.
We left empty handed (too expensive), and started our trek to see the Rock of Cashel. Long story short, they were closed when we arrived. Bummer. But we walked the grounds and took some cool pictures.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_of_Cashel
Since that was closed, we didn't want to leave empty handed, and spotted and old ruined monastery nearby and decided to check it out. It's called Hore Abbey. I know, right? Anyway, I only spent about 20 minutes there, but got some great pictures.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hore_Abbey
It was getting late, so we hightailed it to our next hotel destination, the Lake Hotel near Killarney. There is far too much about this hotel to cover in this post, so I will put all of it in the next one. Suffice to say that this hotel is incredible.
Funny moment today: Mom declared that she didn't need a laxative after spending time in the front seat watching my dad drive through the back streets of Ireland.
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