Polish host, French movie, Swiss dinner guests and Northern Irish partiers! Yes, I am still in Ireland.

So my last day in Dublin was great. I went to the bus station and found that I could catch a bus to Kilkenny in 8 minutes or in two hours and 8 minutes. I was very hungry so I opted for the later bus. I followed part of the walking tour in Rick Steves' travel book and part way though, went into a church that he just mentions, St. Mary's Pro-Cathedral. It isn't technically a cathedral because the pope hasn't said it is yet- but St. Patrick's and Christ Church in Dublin both are- but St. Mary's is the largest church in Dublin. I went in and there were people in the pews and I sat down and a choir rehersal with the organ began in the balcony. I couldn't see the choir, but I could hear the director and it was definately a rehersal. It was a good way to spend time before the bus. I stayed maybe a half hour.

The bus to Kilkenny was good, but long. Maybe two and a half hours. When I got to Kilkenny, Nina, my host came to meet me. She is Polish- I haven't had an Irish host yet! She took me to her house and I met her son, Bart, and had homemade soup (yum!) and then worked on my computer. She and I then went to a pub for International Movie Night with her friends. They projected a movie onto a screen and played it for everyone in the pub. This week it was The Science Of Sleep, a French movie with the guy from Motorcycle Diaries. It was very good. We had a beer there (her favorite German beer) and then stopped for chips (French fries) at what she said was the best chip shop in town. They were too salty for both of us, so neither of us finished. But they were good.

Today I had my first excitement with bus transfers. Not all stops are at a station and even if they aren't at a station, they are still transfer points. I had two of them and tried to talk to people at the stops to be sure I was on the right bus. Most everyone here is very helpful and will tell you more than you'd ever want to know about something you didn't ask about at all.

I found my way to Clonmel for my first transfer, about 20 minute wait, then on to Cahil, where it was an hour wait so I went to the castle, just near my stop. It was free as I bought the Heritage Card which gets me into many sites for free. They told me to have fun exploring the castle and it really was exploring- like a big kid jungle gym. There were stair (steep and without rails) and you could walk along the top of the castle and up the towers, passing the jail cells, and up to the lookout towers. It was very good. And free is never a bad thing.

Arriving in Cashel, I found my way to the hostel (my first hostel of the trip!) and met a few American girls traveling after graduating and a few Swiss people who I had dinner with (pizza, soup, salad, cheese and 7-up finish off with Ferer Rocher... a feast). They have just gone to bed and there are a half dozen Northern Irish guys in the kitchen of the hostel listening to traditional Irish music and I saw a bottle of whiskey... or is it whisky... either Scottish or Irish add the "e" in whisky... can't remember. They sound like they're having fun. They offered me a drink, so I may take them up on it before going to bed.