The week before we went away May 25-28 was super boring,  gym, work, lots of working on my goals and tasks.  I was sick on the Tuesday and stayed home and slept. Friday May 29th We got a free breakfast from work which was a nice start, and we got an early mark at the end of the day to head out in to the hot gorgeous weather ready to start the Long Weekend away.  Jan and I drove to Kilkenny which wasn't much drama really.  We made it with plenty of time to rest and eat some salads in our room in the B&B. We walked into the center of town, along the river and walked around the city too.  We really liked Kilkenny the little alley ways.  There seemed to be a pub every half block.  Plenty of shops and shopping centers.  It looked like a great place to live.   With a population of around  8,500.... this was pretty impressive.  I guess it's a hot spot for the neighboring towns as well. Tonight our first show was four comedians. The MC was  John Colleary who introduced each of the acts and had us in stitches plenty of times.   First up was Shane Mauss who apparently won some competition in the states, but he wasn't popular in this Irish  crowd. you could feel how uncomfortable the whole audience was throughout the act, which I found pretty funny even if not many of his jokes worked this night.  Second was Jon Richardson who was quite a cranky young man from england.  Finally Des Bishop who was the most famous person to me atleast. We'd watched his series in the name of the Fada and I'd been wanting to see him some day.   Des talked about his years after he moved to Ireland.  He seems so passionate about the Irish language and Ireland itself.  I felt Des had a political agenda that he tries to push through with his comedy and that's very interesting to watch and experience. Afterwards we enjoyed our walk home through the busy streets.  It was a warm evening and Jan enjoyed an icecream as we wandered along discussing what we thought was funny or not. Saturday May 30th We enjoyed our hot breakfast, then we headed out for a run.  We decided to go out for 30 minutes then turn around.  The sun was quite hot but we made it the whole way just fine.  Later we measured it and we went over four miles. We spent the early afternoon wandering around Kilkenny, again a hot gorgeous day.  We walked alongthe rivers edge watching kids leap off the bridge into the water.   We went up some stairs into some pretty forest growth and realised we actually were in the grounds of Kilkenny castle.    Many families were relaxing on the huge lawns having picnics and enjoying the sun. We also explored the gardens of the area across the road too.  Back on the streets of Kilkenny we did some window shopping.    There were a few performances on the streets worth stopping to listen to I had to use all my might to get out of this candy store without buying anything.   We ended up buying a picnic lunch from the supermarket instead.  Mini cheeses, crackers, coconut rum,  ham and salad.   We spiked our drinks for the concerts that night. First up we were at Langtons to see PJ Gallagher, Alonzo Bodden, Adam Hills, Bernard O Shea.   The acts were just fantastic and for some reason this was the perfect mix as well.  We laughed so hard.  Next up was  Ross Noble, Lewis Black, Karl Spain, Fred MacAulay.   Again an amazing show. (Wish I didn't leave it so long to blog so I could comment on each)Anyway tonights performers were all top class and got the room going, fantastic. Our final show for the night was across town at the watergate theatre.  It was an improv show, I was a little warey but it was funny over all.  I enjoy watching improv once in a while as it's fun to see how the guys really try and muck each other up. For example in one scene the crowd set the location as maternity ward.  Three of the larger guys stuck out their stomachs obviously intending to be pregnant women.   Then a fourth man walks over and says 'excuse me doctors'.  Making them all doctors with huge bulging bellies instead :). We walked a back way back to our B&B again enjoying the atmosphere and the live music flooding out of the bars. Sunday May 31st Just as we were waking up this morning Jan got the call that his Grandmother Umma had passed away.  So this was a sad day for us.   We were on the road though but had most of the day to get where were going.   We took country roads west of Kilkenny, the radio station was set to some classical music and we mostly had the small dirt roads to ourselves, except if there were some cows, or a tractor or whatnot.  It actually took us a long time to make it half way to our destination but we enjoyed the journey. Around lunchtime we stopped under the rock of Cashel and ate some fruit and grainy bars.  Jan called Australia to chat with his family a while.  I walked through a field of buttercups and enjoyed getting some sunlight. We arrived early in Bunratty and had enough time to relax the afternoon away and watch the final of Britains got talent on TV.  We really liked the winning group Diversity so were happy they won. That night we'd booked into the Medieval Banquette at Bunratty castle.     The actors were all fantastic, plenty of singing and playing along.  We got messy eating with our hands and only a knife.  The food was so delicious.  I'd go back tomorrow. We drank far too much mead then wine with our meal. What a blast. We've been having a rough time of it in Ireland lately with the tax increases and everything just being rediculously priced.  It has been hard to see why we bother living here at all.   Well this night was amazing.   We stopped at Durty Nellys to have a cider and enjoy the late night sunshine.   There was a live band playing and local families were there with their kids and their dogs out on the grass infront of the castle by the river.   Jan even met a guy who had gotten married that morning and he and his new bride were leaving on honeymoon in the morning.   We stayed up late drinking and dancing to live Irish music with the Bunratty Locals.  It really was a memorable and amazing night. Monday June 1st Monday was tragic.  My head hurt.  So hungover.   I kept waking up on our very hot drive home as we wooshed around round abouts.   We stopped a couple of times in the shade including once at McDonalds, so much for the healthy weekend!  Anyway it was worth it :) Sun burnt, exhausted and hungover but a head full of memories of another adventure in Ireland.