24 - A Trip to Kilkenny

And it’s in Kilkenny that it is reported, they have marble stone there that are as black as ink. I think that it was CJ who first introduced the free travel pass for Irish citizens over the age of 65. Haughey was capable of brilliance once in a while and certainly, this tiny concession for people of a certain age was ingenious. Since the trains and buses are running anyway, allowing seniors to travel on them at no charge costs the state nothing and gives older people a well-deserved break. As a spinoff from this, I also suspect a reduction in depression and anxiety in the older population. The hospitality industry in Ireland, too, of course, benefits from this free travel for seniors. All in all, it is a win all round scheme. 

And yet there are people, lots of them, to my certain knowledge, who never avail of free travel and who never even apply for the pass. This level of stupidity is hard to fathom, but I suppose we should not judge, nor is for us to point out the error of their ways. They are missing a lot. 

Recently, the missus and I took the train from Heuston (Dublin) to Kilkenny. It’s a short enough trip during which I spotted a fox skulking along and not taking the slightest bit of notice of us, two cock pheasants in separate locations looking relieved that they had come through another a shooting season unscathed. And then I saw a man and a woman, and they out footing turf on this fine spring day, hands on hips, resting and looking at the train as we sped by. We and they, living life at our different paces. 

Kilkenny, I have to say, was a bit disappointing this time round. The hotel we chose was in a great location but not at all disability friendly with stairs all over the place and where you’d least expect them. Eating out too was difficult. Kilkenny, we know, is full of first-class restaurants; it's just that we couldn't come across them. Live Irish music, too, seemed scarce enough. I know, a lot of this was down to our not doing our pre-travel research properly. We will, God willing, visit the marble city again and have restaurant and live music sessions properly sussed out before we travel.