KEEPING UP WITH KATIE: Kilkenny and Dublin

So I found this Just now from about a little more then a week ago...

So, as we speak I am sitting very comfortably on a ferry headed for the British Isle. But before I get there,I will tell you about my last couple of days in Ireland.

I think where I left off, I was in Cork enjoying the good weather, well let me tell you, the weather stayed cloudless an warm, and is still amazing!!

So we headed up to a place called Mount Juliet, which is like an estate where people can stay or rent a house or even own a house, like a holiday house but with an amazing golf course, and other things that you can do on the property. It is about 15 minutes from Kilkenny and a beautiful part of the world.

I had a lovely time there, and finally had my first swim, not at the sea though, in their swimming pool on the estate, they even gave you your own towel when you got there, you didn't have to bring your own and take it home dripping wet. Imagine!

I also spent a day in Kilkenny, wandering around and seeing the sights. Kilkenny is a lovely town ( I feel like all I say on this blog is... I went here, it was lovely....then I went here, it was lovely too) so I apologise, my writing skills could improve and hopefully will have by the time I get back to the far away land of Oz (like the pun I did there?? I'm funny, aren't I??!!)

So, moving swiftly on I left Co. Kilkenny and headed for the Capital three days ago.

Can I just say, and I will try and be more descriptive in future, but Dublin is an awesome city. And sorry mum and friends, but I could definitly live/study here. Everyone is soooo nice and helpful, they drive like loons on loon tablets but on the plus side they have double-decker buses, so who's complaining.

I decided to get a tour bus ticket, a certain someone was adamant that I get one, and to be fair it was really good. It gave you the second day free, so I could use it for my whole time in Dublin and I got to see a lot more of the city then I would have if I'd been just walking around, cos I wouldn't have known where to go. And they also had really funny bus drivers, that commentated along the way. I had one that actually sung songs to us, which was quite honestly the funnest and best thing about the tour, you don't often get a bus driver that sings to their passengers as well as making jokes about his wife and giving the passengers the insight from a locals point of view, so in short, thank you certain someone 'cos I jolly well enjoyed it!
Bravo I say!

I went to Galleries, saw a Rembrandt, Caravaggio, Manet, Monet, Renoir, and heaps more, and again as usual when you are by yourself and see something that you'r excited about you try and hide it as best you can, so nobody knows what a art nerd you are, and how, you really get your kicks from going to galleries with old people and students to see paintings by people that are dead.

My way of expressing this excitement was, to casually grin at the paintings, and surreptitiously look around to make sure no one is watching you, and then to do a little squeal under my breath.

...Not abnormal at all.

I was going to go "out on the town," but seeing as I had no one to go with, and going to pubs in Melbourne wasn't something that I was really comfortable doing by my own anyway, to do it in another country was a little bit too out of my comfort zone. But I'm young, I can always come back and maybe next time I'll have people who can also come and pub crawl their way around the city with me.

Now that I am leaving the country, I feel like the only thing that I missed out on was getting to know some people my own age, because I think it would have been really cool to meet some Irish folk. The only thing I can think of is doing an exchange, but seeing as I'm not in school anymore, that's not really a possible option.

What I can say is that my time here has been an epic adventure and I look forward to coming back, as soon as my bank account allows it.

I would have loved to have seen the north of Ireland, and visited Belfast and Derry and the Giant's Causeway, but you can't do everything in one trip, so hopefully the things that I didn't get to see will pull me back here.