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(L) It was nearly 1am when we got to bed so both of us managed to have a good sleep in and we wandered down to breakfast around 9.30. Eimer, our wonderful hostess, once again cooked us a big breakfast to sustain us through another day of sightseeing so all full we headed out to check out the town.
The rough plan was St Canice's Cathedral, climbing the Tower and the Castle so we headed off up High St into Parliament Street and soon found our way to St Canice's following the brown signs. Entry was €6 for combined Cathedral and Tower or if you do separately they're €4 & €3 respectively which we reckon is a pretty reasonable contribution for the upkeep of such amazing historical buildings. The cathedral itself is very impressive and we spent some time in there taking a ridiculous amount of photos. I really wanted to climb the tower so we headed out there next. Deb took one look and decided she'd sit this one out as I would be better off without all my bag and coat etc and she very kindly offered to hold them for me.
The climb up was rather interesting and thank goodness they have put wooden floorboards in so that you don't have 100ft of air between you and the bottom of the tower! There was 121 steps or really ladder rungs as that's what I had to climb up with nothing to hold onto on one side and a thin metal handrail that was cold and wet on the other ... I had to grip onto the back of the wooden step with one hand and try not to let the other hand slip. It's a long way to the top but well worth the climb as you are rewarded with a fabulous 360 degree view and apparently on a clear day (which it was) you can see 5 counties!! I will copy and paste below a tiny bit of the history from Wikipedia:
The present building dates from the 13th century and is the second longest cathedral in Ireland, after St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin. Beside the cathedral stands a 100 ft 9th-century round tower. St Canice's tower is an example of a well-preserved 9th-century "Celtic Christian" round tower. It is dedicated to St Canice. It is one of only two such medieval round towers in Ireland that can be climbed to the top.
Next we backtracked towards town and made a side track to see the old city walls, after which we thought perhaps we should try to find another street to walk back to the Castle on. There was definitely shades of Dimitsana (you have to have read our Greece blog to understand that reference) as we'd come to a T intersection in the pathways/roads and have to make a decision on which direction to take. I tell you Irish signposting is rather unique!
We made a brief stop at the supermarket to stock up on nibbles and wine and as it happened Eimer walked past as we were going through the checkout... she immediately said "you're not stocking up on booze now are you" to which we very sheepishly replied "well yes, we are actually".... busted!! Quick stop at the B & B to drop it all off (one of the advantages of staying right in town) and then off to the castle.
Both of us were feeling a little weary by now so we made a mutual decision to just wander around the outside of the castle, take some photos and be done with it.... and that's the aftermath of too much Craic!!
Feeling hungry we spent the next 10 minutes or so playing the "where do we want to eat" game - here looks good, hmmm yep, and here looks good, FFS would somebody make a decision!! We're both tired and can't plan our way out of a paper bag!! We did, finally, decide on Bollards which proved an excellent choice, Deb managed a G & T but I stuck with a cup of tea ( I'm getting too old to be out until midnight!!). Deb had a very tasty vegetable soup and I had the Vegetarian Special of the day (yes, that is a thing!!) Stir Fried Veg and Noodles. I did think it a bit strange that the waiter asked if I wanted fries and noodles with it cos really .. one carb on a plate is enough!! Lunch and drinks was €23
We were back in the room by 2 (considering we hadn't left until 10ish we think we're very bad tourists)!
I slept, or really dozed until 4 but I think Deb sat up going through photos and trying to select the best for the blog... we take sooooo many photos each all day so the culling process can be rather difficult, not to mention time consuming.
Last night I had pinkie promised Eimer that we would go to Matt the Miller pub however the time she wanted to meet was 10pm... really?? We need to be in bed way before then..... we did however make it up there at 8 for a lovely dinner whilst listening to 2 blokes sing traditional Irish songs but by 10 we were ready to head on home to bed. Dinner was €48 which included 4 drinks so pretty reasonable. The staff were excellent, when I mentioned I am a vegetarian they checked with the kitchen to make sure there was absolutely no meat products in the dishes I chose.
One thing I must mention, and Deb took a photo/video of, is in both Matt the Miller and Kyteler's there was, what looked like, a painting of an Irish Gentleman but every now and then he would start to move and do a little "skit". We think it may be a Smithwicks Brewery thing but we never did ask anyone. Needless to say, the first time we saw it move we were totally freaked out!!
Tomorrow we are westward bound!!
(D) I just want to add that when Liane mentioned the amount of photos we took in St Canice I personally took about 50 photos just of the floor - sounds ridiculous but I just LOVED the tiles!!! And when it came to the tower I did actually start to climb with full intentions of giving it a go..... but I only managed the external ladder and even then I didn't get all the way up to the entrance of the actual tower.... which wasn't even all that high as you'll see in the photos!
- comments
Rodd Keep the blogs coming ladies, what an amazing read, a lot of fun times already!!!
Rodd Very Cool Liane.....
Rodd and is it....yes it is.....more
Rodd really!!!!! lol
Rodd now now!!
Rodd geez....that's a lot of steps
Rodd what a view
Rodd and yes.....do you see it????
Rodd what no goggle maps???
Rodd too gorgeous to comment!!
Rodd So green....
Rodd GT....must be for Debra!!
Debbie. Wow that floor is beautiful.
Debbie. Love it ??????
Debbie. Another beautiful graveyard. I'm loving this blog and especially the photos. Maybe Ireland will have to go onto the itinerary.
diana murphy making me very homesick
Lyndal I'm with Deb - love the tiles :-) in fact known to have bumped into people looking down or up in all the beautiful buildings...