On Monday we had one of our all-time miserable airline experiences with Aer Lingus.  For a 40 minute flight from Edinburgh to Dublin we were charged in excess of $600 to enable our four bags to make the journey (that does not include us) with over $360 of that being a surprise at check in.  We are facing the same fees to make the 50 minute flight to London next week.  Our total fare Edinburgh – Dublin – London will be more than round trip coach fare between Denver and London.

But now we are here after that contribution to the struggling Irish economy and had a pleasant day on Tuesday (this post is late because we had no internet service when we returned on Tuesday evening) with all of the day away from the beautiful Mount Juliet Hotel in Thomastown, Kilkenny County, Ireland being spent in the city of Kilkenny.

Kilkenny is a very active community of about 26,000 with many shops.  The highlights of our day were the Kilkenny Castle which was originally constructed in the late twelfth century and was occupied until 1935, mostly by the Butler family who lived in it for nearly 600 years.

At the opposite end of town we visited St. Canice’s Cathedral including a challenging climb to the top of its adjoining 100 foot round tower which was constructed in 849 as a place to escape the attacking Vikings.  The Cathedral was built in the 13th century and is surprisingly beautiful inside including extensive stained glass windows.  I attempted to capture some of the interesting interior in a couple of the pictures.

We had a great dinner in Kilkenny at Royal Spice Indian Restaurant.  Irish food is very unappealing and I am doing my best to avoid it’s incredibly high animal fat content.