By Stephanie
I need to back up and fill in a few fun moments Michael forgot to mention about our arrival in Kilkenny. First, our Airbnb host could not be nicer – Frank picked us up at the train station and gave us a driving tour around town before showing us to our flat. As we were walking up to the flat I could smell the most delicious steak, which prompted me to recall that we never found the restaurant that Paul and Gerrita (Karina and Ethan’s family, now ours as well!) recommended, “Butcher”. We thought they said it was in Galway, but we were wrong – turns out it’s in Kilkenny, and our Airbnb flat is literally above the restaurant. What are the odds! They were so right, the steak is amazing!
Frank helped us find a co-working space to use for the two weeks we were here, so the first 5 days in Kilkenny mostly consisted of working or exploring the beautiful old city between our place and the co-working space about a 5-minute walk away. Our flat is on “Butterslip”, the most adorable alley in the area, and near the oldest pub in Kilkenny.
The last two weekends were pretty packed, so we decided to stay “close to home” and explore Kilkenny for our first (and only) full weekend here. On Saturday, we walked all around town, including checking out the Black Abbey (see the picture of the amazing stained glass window) and exploring the ground of Kilkenny Castle. On Sunday, we went back for the full tour of the castle, and ended our evening with live music at a pub a few hundred feet from our place – I have been having fun getting to know Ireland via its whiskey! We also had some wonderful, dramatic rain in the afternoon, followed by the most beautiful rainbows.
We’re having fun, but we also miss you our family (“kids”!) very much (and Colby, we miss Colby – many thanks to Karina and Ethan for taking care of him for us for this month!)
