Day 5 - "Now we know what killed Kenny!"

The combination of socializing with Helen and Emma and using the Internet at Waterford Castle led to a late night for us. What do you think that meant in terms of the time we got started? It wasn't our earliest day, to say the least. Grandma and Helen made it to the 11:30 mass, while some of us went back to the Castle for more Internet. (It seems like we used the Internet a lot, but it wasn't the speediest connection, so things took a long time.) After mass, Helen needed to head back toward Waterford, but we weren't quite ready to part ways, so we decided to schedule our day around their trip back. On our way out of town toward Mullingar (Helen's town), we stopped at an outdoor market. They had several little stands... crepes, Middle Eastern food, toys, wood carvings, fresh fish... quite a range of items for sale. We got a few crepes, but nothing else really piqued our interest.

Grandma in front of some of the wood carvings

Is my dad checking out the Middle Eastern food? Unprompted?

This, my friends, is a professional crepe maker. Expert in every sense of the word.

After our jaunt at the market, it was time to get some real lunch (rather than just crepes), so we headed out. We stopped at a random restaurant that was on the way to Mullingar. It was a traditional Irish carvery. My father got the carvery lunch (with lots of yummy beef and potatoes and Yorkshire pudding). I didn't know what Yorkshire pudding was, but Libby did. So, when we went up to the cafeteria-style serving area, Libby asked the gentleman working there if he would show me what it was. He thought that was hilarious, so he showed me and then insisted that I take it so that I didn't forever wonder what it tasted like. It wasn't what one would think of as "pudding." It's more like a roll... but it's kind of egg-y. Like a souflet, maybe? It was tasty.

My father with his carvery meal. And no, that's not a Guinness... this time.

Enjoying the Yorkshire pudding

But then it was time to part ways. Helen and Emma needed to get back home. It was Timmy's birthday! They missed more than half of it to spend time with us! Can you believe that? They're very generous with their time...

Saying goodbye for now

We drove on more windy narrow roads. Saw more sheep. And made our way, despite Grandma's protests, to Kilkenny.

Yet another attempt at a sheep picture

This was a two-way road, just so you know. I'm glad we were going the same direction as the bus

We briefly saw Kilkenny Castle but didn't go in. There were loads of people there hanging out on the lawn, having a good time. But we were still in the church frame-of-mind. We parked near the Castle, and the cathedral that were were looking for seemed to be just a couple blocks away, based on the map we had. Riiiiiiiggghhhtt....

Kilkenny Castle

The castle's not under construction... the road is.

We saw some spires off in the distance, and headed toward them. We made our way through town. It was a cute little town with lots of small shops, tons of people out and about. Lots of fun. Definitely would be a fun place to spend some time. We, however, were on a mission.

Me being a "man" outside the "Man's Shop"

Libby in front of a fun little street (one-way, I believe)

Funk THAT

Finally, after quite a bit more than a few blocks (and let's just say it wasn't downhill), we made it to the church. It was gorgeous. We wandered all around it, took some pictures of it... and then we realized it wasn't the church we had been looking for. It was an old church, but not a really old church. It was called St. Mary's. Here is a picture of our almost really cool church.

St. Mary's Cathedral. So cool, yet... not cool enough.

But then we re-consulted the map and realized our error, and we headed off in the right direction. I think Grandma was feeling the effects of the lighthouse, and she wasn't enjoying our little stroll. We made it to the church, and she was tuckered out. The last few blocks were all uphill, too, adding additional insult to the trip. About halfway up, Grandma exclaimed to us, "Now we know what killed Kenny! The hills!"

It was St. Canice's Cathedral. Very old and beautiful. That's about all we had time to learn about. We got there just before it closed, which sounds like a bad thing, but it really turned out quite nicely. The woman at the counter saw how much of an effort it had been to get there and let us in for a few minutes, free-of-charge. A few minutes was all we really needed to look around. There were lots of tombs in there from the 1500s. Gorgeous stained glass windows. A pipe organ, also from the 1500s. It was very pretty. Grandma, though, was content to just have a seat on her walker in the middle and look around. We decided to have her lift her feet and push her around for a brief tour.

The choir's seats... hand-carved wood

The altar. Note the amazing stained glass

Grandma checking out the sights

Is Grandma into older men? 16th century men, perhaps?

We wisened up and got the minivan to pick Grandma up, not making her walk any more for the day. We stopped off at a gift shop near the Castle where my father found a wonderful hat. He wasn't convinced it was wonderful, though, so he didn't get it. But look how good it looks! His birthday is December 9th. Christmas is December 25.

The Irish man in the Irish hat

We went to the Marble City Bar for dinner. It was good, but we had a heck of a time trying to figure out the small winding streets and getting to a place where Grandma could get dropped off and picked up at the curb, and then it was troublesome finding a place to park. In the end, we were successful and had a pretty good meal. And after a decently long drive back to our lodge, we all slept quite soundly.