I finished up work on Christmas Eve 2014, said goodbye to my workmates for the foreseeable future and headed to the pub to catch up with mates who were all back in town. After spending Christmas by the beach with the family Boxing Day came around and would be the start of my travels. First stop was the long solo flight (Sydney → Singapore → London → Dublin) over to Ireland for Bec and Liam’s wedding along with just over a week to enjoy my first time in Ireland.

Kilkenny

Located in the south-east part of Ireland, Kilkenny is everything I imagined Ireland to be. Green countryside, castles, Irish pubs, cobblestone streets. It is also the hometown of Lauren’s dad Jim and the rest of their extended family (of which there are many!). A quick first few days were spent meeting the family and exploring around town as well as experiencing my first proper pint of Guinness and endless servings of potatoes. A definite highlight of Kilkenny was my crash course in the game of Hurling with Lauren’s uncle and cousin in their backyard.

The leadup to the wedding was quite relaxed, at least for me, and I was happy to have the couple of days beforehand to settle in, get some rest from the long flights, adjust to the timezone, and get a grasp of the Irish accents as best I could.

Next stop will be driving up to Newbridge in Kildare for the wedding.

Morning walk through Kilkenny

Morning light on Kilkenny Castle

Town of Kilkenny