Weekend in Kilkenny

In December I won a weekend away at the Kilkenny Hotel in Kilkenny in the Athlone Institutes Christmas raffle.  I don't normally win any raffles or competitions, but this was the third prize in a row that I have won at work.  Previous prizes were a bottle of wine and a beauty treatment session for Melly.  The prize included a two night stay and a free evening meal, for two, at the four star hotel.  A night's bed & breakfast is normally €180.  The only stipulation was that we had to take the break before the end of March.

                                

We decided to take it on the weekend, during the half-term break, at the end of February.  Melly had the extra days and it gave me the opportunity to relax between two operations to fix my internal bleeding (see Internal Bleeding).  We arrived at the hotel in the late afternoon.  In the last few years we have stayed at about six four/five star hotels, but considered that this was the best.  In the early evening we briefly explored the town despite it raining heavily.  Afterwards we found a lovely restaurant and enjoyed home made cookery.  As it was still raining heavily we spent the rest of the night at the hotel.  In the morning we enjoyed a full Irish breakfast and we felt very bloated as we left the hotel for the shops.  The morning and early afternoon was spent shopping in the quaint shops. Most of the sightseeing attractions were closed or didn't appeal to us.  Kilkenny is supposed to be the number one tourist attraction outside of Dublin, but we couldn't see why!  We thought Galway had more to offer with quaint shops and even Roscommon has more touristic attractions!

                      

We spent the rest of the afternoon watching rugby.  Typical!!!  England has been so dominant in Rugby during the last thirty years, but since they won the rugby world cup they have been rubbish! and so Melly spent the remainder of the weekend reminding me who won and who also won the last two years!  In the evening we went for our free three course dinner - which was excellent.  After another big breakfast the following morning we travelled back to Roscommon - about a three hour drive.