The Ham Nomads

20 May 2014. <IE> Kilkenny, Co. Kilkenny —

Another Country Lane

Today is our van solution day! Put in the nearest address we had found, in Garryhill, Bagenalstown. The Garmin had great fun taking us over unsealed country lanes, but we found the town — but not the dealer! So we decided to push on to the second, in Kilkenny. More country lanes, but we easily found the Michael Lyng car dealership — they couldn't help us themselves, but pointed us to Gerard Murphy, an auto electrician just next door, who couldn't have been nicer or more cooperative. Even though he was obviously busy, managed to fit our van into his workday, and by 5pm we were ready to roll!

Pubs in John Street

Barber Shop!

Kilkenny Castle
and the River Nore

In the meantime we had gone to McDonald's to catch up on the internet, and wandered the 1km into the heart of Kilkenny to look around. The High Streets are just magic. On John Street and Rose Inn Street, on the way in, every second doorway is a pub! Apparently the town rocks at night, with live music in every pub! Found a hairdresser's with an intriguing name - see photo! Wandered the streets and up to the castle. Susie did a bit of clothing shopping on the way back to the van. We did our van housekeeping at Murphy's, and they invited us to stay the night in their yard if we wished — but we decided to go down right into the heart of town and park in the car park at Dunne's stores — free between 6pm and 9am. We will then pay to stay while we become true tourists tomorrow!

Distance driven — today, 32 miles ( 52 km ); to date, 1,340 miles ( 2,157 km )