Today's post is taking you to Thomas's favorite Irish City: Kilkenny!! and in all honesty, no trip to Ireland would be complete without a stop in Dublin. It's hard to believe that we're nearly done with the Ireland leg of our trip but we had the absolute best time!
We were the first to arrive in Kilkenny at our B&B, Pinecrest BnB, there was a little bit of a confusion for getting in but once it all got sorted out we really did have a fantastic time. We were able to get the Family Suite which was perfect! We had a King size bed and then an extra room with bunk beds and a bathroom! Very spacious accommodations indeed. Thomas, Séamus, and I took the King bed while the girls slept in the bunk beds (all night long all by themselves 👏 for both nights we were there). Liam, our host was just fantastic, extremely personable, and so knowledgeable about the whole area.
Once we got all settled in we went out to dinner at Matt the Millers Bar & Restaurant, we took up three tables, Séamus wouldn't sit still, and someone broke a glass that shattered everywhere. Just about everyone ordered a burger, which was so delicious with the red onion marmalade 😋, I couldn't get enough of it.
When we were all finished with dinner we went our separate ways and our family of five made a beeline for Kilkenny Castle. It was at Kilkenny Castle where I remember standing back in 2014, looking out
over the castle grounds and telling Thomas that I wanted to come back
here to Ireland with all our kids to see them running around and
playing. I honestly had no idea that we would actually be returning to
this same place just 5 years later! My heart is so incredibly full and
grateful for this life we have! So please enjoy the following photos, where my dream was realized and so much better than I had imagined. The playground was under renovation while we were there and wasn't set to be completed until after we left Ireland, while it was a bummer we still made the most of it and explored more of the grounds. And truthfully...we still aren't done with Kilkenny and still have it on our list for our next visit to Ireland.
I can't wait for Séamus to be in these pictures next time 👆
In the morning we got all set up for another yummy breakfast, and yep you guessed it I had the Full Irish 😉 can't stop, won't stop. Ellie managed to get my phone and took this photo of me getting Séamus into his high chair. Thomas and his dad were the first one's served because Thomas had lined up a fly fishing excursion for the two of them.
The rest of the group were off to Waterford and other sightseeing, so it was just me and my three kids for the day...without a car because I just wasn't ready to try out a stick shift (for the first time in 12 years) on the other side of the car/road, especially in Kilkenny with their narrow roads. So we were set to do all of our activities by way of walking.
Our first stop on our Kilkenny exploration was to drop off laundry to get washed, I was able to wear Séamus, carry the laundry in the stroller, and managed to convince Ellie to walk the whole way, Finnley is our walker and I got zero complaints out of her. Once the laundry was dropped off, Ellie couldn't get into the stroller fast enough! I was able to find a park nearby and so we walked there. On our way we walked past the MacDonagh Junction Shopping Centre, that had lots of stores and a Starbuck. I commented that there was a Starbucks and the girls were stuck on the idea of a cake pop...the would not let it go. I promised them we would stop by after the park. We made it to the park and it was just lovely. I did my best to keep Séamus in the shade (as I had forgotten to apply and bring our sunscreen #momfail) since he is so fair but he was bound and determined to practice walking and crawled all over trying to climb on all the things. I had texted my SIL that we were at this park and if it worked in their schedule to drop by...turns out they were close by and all the girls had a great time playing together.
Once we had spent enough time at the park and Séamus's face was turning a bit pink we parted ways. I took the kids to the mall so we could stop at Starbucks for a cake pop. Of course they wanted to ride on all the toys we passed by, I let them climb on them but just for sitting and imagining. We found the Starbucks, which didn't carry cake pops so Ellie got a Marshmallow Stick and Finnley chose the most delicious Chocolate Chunk Cookie, while I got a refresher. We were right next to the play area so the kids all got to do some more playing for a bit. Then we started making our walk back to our B&B to meet up with Thomas to drive into town to get lunch.
We ate at the Marble City Bar & Tea Rooms. I got the Chicken Ceasar Salad, Thomas and Ellie shared a Pizza, and Finnley had my fries. It was scrumptious and we are for sure going back to eat here on our next visit!! So good!
Finnley found a piece of paper that she ripped up and it resembled a gun, she had fun making the pew pew sound with it. After lunch we walked around town and went into a few shops and found a toy store, as promised, for the girls exemplary behaviour with all the walking we had to do that morning. We stopped by the Smithwick's Experience and Thomas got to pop his head in, a tour he looks forward to doing in the future. We stopped by the Rothe House, but it had closed for the day so we're putting it on our list for next time (see I told you we weren't done here yet!!). We walked down the alley to the Market Cross Shopping Centre because I was drawn in by the colorful umbrellas, and then finally made our way to the Toy Shop. The girls chose My Little Pony's and insisted that they open them up right away! Some more walking brought us to another Kids Shop and they all had fun playing with the ride-ons and doll houses. It happened to be right next to the Waffle Bar, which I had checked out on FB before our trip and was so excited that we happened upon it! A fresh made bubble waffle cone with cold ice cream and toppings galore! It did NOT disappoint and I so wish I knew where there was one nearby us here in the PNW.
We met up with the whole clan for dinner at Kyteler's Inn, probably one of the oldest pubs in all of Ireland est in 1324. Rumor has it that a witch once owned the pub and still haunts the place. We had live entertainment and music during our meal, the girls all got up and danced, won medals for their dancing, and the food was spot on, burgers, bangers & mash, irish stew, all of it was so so good.
After dinner we all walked over to Kilkenny Castle, got some family photos and then we stopped into Dunnes for some car snacks for our drive into Dublin in the morning before we headed back to our B&B for the night.
Dunnes stores saving customers from salmonella one shopping cart at a time. Friendly reminder, do NOT wash your raw chicken off in the sink as it splatters all over your kitchen contaminating all the things, chicken does not need to be washed before cooking.
After getting Séamus out of the luggage so we could load up our car, we had our last B&B breakfast and then hit the road. We stopped by the Hell fire Club on the way into Dublin, it was a hike to get up there and even though Finnley is in her coat (bless her) it was freaking hot up there! We had fun checking out the ruin, seeing the beautiful view of Dublin, and taking in this new experience for Ellie. She is obsessed with watching Ghost Adventures, and they actually did an episode here, it was so fun for her to experience it.
We finally made it to our hotel in Dublin, the Aloft, just across the street from the Teeling Whiskey Distillery. We got checked into our room and then drove to drop off our car which was just a short walk back to our hotel. Then we made our way through Dublin to find some lunch, and did we ever!! We ate at Bull & Castle and it was so freaking good!! We shared all of our plates and just couldn't get enough!
Roast Carrots and Parsnips
Onion Rings
Polenta Fries
Rump Steak Sandwich
Sauteed Chestnut Mushrooms
The bathrooms were pretty cool too!
Off we were to do some wandering. We got our tickets for the Hop on Hop off bus, *note do not attempt to get on the buses in the late afternoon. They do not come by often and if they are near the end of their shift they will take you to Trinity College and leave you there, we made our way to Stephens Green to the playground. Séamus practiced walking a bit more, climbed on the big toy, and went on the swings, the girls were attached to the whirly gig and Ellie got pretty dangerous climbing all over it. We then attempted to get on a bus, but came across the issue I mentioned above. A stop into the Disney Store and then finally made it back to our hotel and I ran to the corner store for ice cream bars, then it was lights out!
Day 2 in Dublin we were up and at 'em pretty early. Walked down the street to have breakfast at the Olive Cafe, which was theeee best breakfast we had in all of Ireland. The Full Irish came with Black & White Pudding, breakfast sausages, beans, back bacon, mushrooms, and toast. The girls got pastries and Séamus ate our sausages. We got to the Hop on Hop off bus stop just near our hotel with time to spare and finally got on! We were the only ones there so we got off at the Guinness Storehouse to wait for the rest of our clan. Some of our group took the Guinness tour but we decided to pass on it as we had already been. We got back on the bus and took it to Phoenix Park to go to the Dublin Zoo. It was absolutely amazing! The habitats that they had for all the animals were so well thought out. I think it was the best zoo I have ever been to.
the Dublin Zoo hosted at least 4 different playgrounds for the kids (all with sand 😳) and they were evenly placed throughout the zoo which was perfect for the kids to take a break and play a bit.
Breastfeeding at the Zoo, just like the animals 😆
As we left the Zoo we saw the bus coming up to its stop, we figured it wouldn't wait for us since we had quite the walk to do, but it just sat there and sat there, we picked up our pace and then Thomas ran off to try to get them to hold off while I jogged up with the kids...we made it!! Hallelujah! We rode until we got to Temple Bar and got off. We arrived a good hour before we had planned to meet at The Brazen Head (which actually is Ireland's oldest pub est 1198) for lunch with everyone so we walked over to our favorite bar, the VAT house, for a quick snack and beer before walking back over to meet everyone for lunch. Thomas's parents met up with us at the VAT house and we shared the baked brie appetizer 😍, I was so disappointed we couldn't just eat there because it's so good. We finally left to meet up with everyone, our party was too large so we had to split up into two different rooms for lunch. The food was great and we all had so much fun together, despite the ridiculous heat and lack of fans in the restaurant.
breastfeeding while walking, as I do.
Ellie ordered the Sausages
Finnley had the Chicken Nuggets
I had the Clonakilty Black Pudding Salad, which was good though the black pudding was a bit over cooked I could tell it was a great dish.
We got back onto the bus to finish out the ride, only it was having some mechanical issues so it dropped us off at Trinity College again and we waited for nearly an hour for the next bus to ride back to our hotel. While we waited we made friends with a family of 6 who were traveling for 2 months throughout Europe and had girls Ellie and Finnley's ages, so the wait wasn't too bad as they were able to "play" a bit. And of course with a name like Séamus, you won't see that plastered on signs many places so when you do, you photograph it!
After we settled in our hotel for a bit from our big day of sightseeing, we went back out on foot in search of dinner, Pizza was the meal of choice. On the way we came across a playground and let the kids loose! Then we walked on to dinner, except our first choice actually was closed down and no longer in business, so we checked the map again and found Sano Pizza nearby and decided to give it a try. Man that was the best meal to finish out our Ireland adventure. The girls loved their pizza, ours was delish, and Séamus ate his fill as well. They even had soft serve ice cream for dessert and it was all super affordable. I highly recommend going to Sano if you are craving pizza while in Dublin!
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