Sharon and I had mutually decided to take the 9:05AM bus to Kilkenny. There was a 7:05AM bus but we were much too exhausted to take it. So we headed out at 8AM. We checked out of Lancaster Lodge and went to the Mardyke bus stop. I had routed our journey through Google with the least amount of walking. We caught the 208 bus and asked the driver to take us to St. Patrick Quay (pronounced Key). I was following the route on my phone and after about 3 stops the driver said we should get out as this was our stop.

We walked across the bridge and several blocks later we spotted the unmistakeable green Dublin Coach bus. It was parked on a street away from its usual spot on St. Patrick’s Quay due to water pipe installations. Our driver was onboard but taking his time opening the doors. He did finally open his doors and we showed him our ticket on the phone. We had a slight panic moments before because I could not find the ticket PDF on my phone. But we were able to connect to the internet using one of the other bus’s wifi network, so no interruption of our trip.

We stopped at a couple of cities along the way, most notably Waterford which had a great seaside shopping area.

We arrived in Kilkenny at around 11AM. Thankfully our B&B was just a few 100 meters from the bus stop. We went into Butler Court and didn’t find anyone at the reception. Following the directions we buzzed the front gate and was greeted by Yvonne, our host. She showed us to our room which we remarked how grateful we were to have a refrigerator in our room….the first we’ve had since we arrived. She gave us a map and marked the places of interest. Our breakfast was already in the room ready to make. She said she would bring by soda bread later on.

We decided to eat lunch at The Fig Tree. I had a grilled ham and cheese while Sharon had a chicken and bacon panini. We both enjoyed our meals with bottled Sprite.

Next we went to St. Mary’s Cathedral. Surprisingly there was no entry fee. Inside the church were paintings of Jesus’ stations of the cross. There were stained glasses aplenty. I was apprehensive about taking photos with my digital camera because I felt it might make too much sound (I had noticed others there who were silently sitting…maybe praying.

Next we visited the Black Abbey – slightly smaller church but with stained glass (some more contemporary). I too saw a lady in there praying so I tried not to make too much noise.

Next was St. Canice, an Anglican cathedral. We couldn’t get very close because a wedding was going on there. So we headed down and found the Roth House, and sure enough a wedding was being held there too! But we were told that our tour would not be effected. Sharon decided to stay behind while I climbed the stairs to view costumes and the making of tapestry and a skeleton of a long extinct giant Irish deer.

We hung around thinking the walled garden was around somewhere and a employed said she would take us there. Unfortunately it was through the wedding reception making for some awkward moments.

The garden was beautiful with vegetables and flowers. Sharon took several pictures.

We decided we should go back to the room to rest. We made it back to the room and I went out to the Supervalue supermarket to get some drinks. While I was on my way it started raining a bit, but not too hard. At the market I got some apple juice and water and a lemon Fanta for myself.

We took a nap before heading out to Kyteler’s Inn, a restaurant and bar operating since medieval times. I had fish and chips while Sharon had Irish stew. They had a trio of musicians playing Irish music while we ate.

We returned back to Butler Court and saw “Bo” the B&B’s rescue dog. I made a new friend with Bo. At the room Sharon worked on her blog while I went out again to take photos of the castle.

Tomorrow we will finish up Kilkenny by visiting the castle and the museum and St. Canice before catching a bus to Dublin.