Today, we had a change in scenery when we took a day trip to Kilkenny, Wicklow, and a sheep farm. It was probably my favorite day out of all them. However, the bus started out rough, but I fell asleep and felt like a new person. Our first stop was Kilkenny and we went to a cafe for lunch which was ok, but the cool part was people watching outside the cafe. It’s a cute small town feel where people get coffee and hang out, and they see their friends across the street and have a conversation. It is defiantly a community there. That is much different compared to Dublin because it is a major city, so it seems rare to walk into someone that you know. We came on the perfect day too because there was a farmer’s market with this yummy smoothie and nice souvenirs which were perfect for Mother’s Day. We finished that stop with a visit to the castle. It was gorgeous and much different than the Dublin castle where it used to be a castle. The Kilkenny castle is a true old fashion castle where princes and princesses lived. It was surrounded by a big green lawn where me, Hazel, and Kathryn attempted cartwheels.
From a business and industries point of view, Dublin and the rural areas of Ireland are much different. In Dublin, there are business headquarters that we saw like Google, Microsoft, and Docusign. It’s a hub for multinational and larger companies. Meanwhile, in the rural part of Ireland there are more like small owned family businesses. For example, it seemed like where stand we walked by in Kilkenny and Wicklow there were family members working it. The sheep farm is another example and also an example of entrepreneurship in the rural area. They develop their own business model to help the business and that even includes doing these types of tours around 361 days out of the year.
The sheep farm was beautiful, you could see the mountains from there too. It is a fourth generation farm and his brother has a farm across from his. The lamb were the cutest things. Their fur reminded me of my dogs’. I was nervous to hold one because they’re big and I wasn’t sure how to, but it was so cool holding one. Now I can check that off my backlist!
Tonight we are seeing how the Ireland McDonald’s compares to America and enjoying our last Saturday night here. It’s crazy how fast this trip is going!