I was a bit slow moving the morning after hanging out with our new Irish friends so we leisurely strolled the streets of Kilkenny checking out the shops, grabbing food, etc. Well by the afternoon I was back in shape so we decided to tour the Smithwicks Brewery.(one of my favorites..in fact i'm having one while writing this) As I mentioned earlier it wasn't high tourist season so the tour we went on had only two other people. Our guide for this journey was Rowan who had been with the company for many years. He had great pride in the company and informed us on the history of the town and brewery. After viewing the remains of the monastery on site (from the 14th century!) we were shown where the beer is brewed. If you've even been on a brewery tour before you know what comes next...the tasting.(which was of course delicious) After the tour we headed to dinner and one last bar and called it an early night.I enjoyed all the places in Ireland we visited but i felt most comfortable in Kilkenny. It kind of had a blue collar feel to it and you could tell the people were proud of their town.(and their Hurling team)
One thing we noticed about Ireland was that they seemed to love cover songs. When we checked into our hotel the song below was being played in the lobby. One of my favorite singers singing one of my favorite Dylan songs. My wife and I heard Jeff Tweedy play this live during the Solid Sound Festival. WE both had a smile on our faces as we reminisced about our special trip to the Berkshires. We also felt very lucky of the amazing things we've seen and were extremely grateful to be in Ireland. It felt like that song was played just for us during that moment.
Simple Twist of Fate - Jeff Tweedy
