For the most part I am not one to blog about places I stay. Usually they are hotels (a bit boring) or if I'm with a group of friends, we will rent an apartment. I stayed at an amazing farmhouse in the Champagne region of France back in February (I know, I never blogged about it - sorry). But this place was the best ever.
This was the cottage we rented in the village of Kells, about 10k outside of Kilkenny. Thatched roof!! The living room had a huge and beautiful fireplace.
Our host was a very nice Irish couple, but we had most contact with the husband, Dave. There are almost no words to describe this man and how nice he was! It was as though we were his long-lost friends the moment we pulled into the drive and he wanted to get to know us and tell us all about the cottage and the village and Kilkenny and Ireland. Seriously, the guy could have talked all day long and he was lovely to listen to!
He maintains the cottage, which sits just next door to their home. There is a large shared garden space in the back. Dave left us fresh eggs from their chickens and some local bread for our breakfast.
Chickens in the back yard!
Here is a little view of part of the yard.
Dave told us there were apple trees and to help ourselves to picking them if they looked ripe. Yes, thank you, we will!
Dave is a musician and he invited us to come hear him play at a pub that evening. One of the cool things they do at their home is a music festival every summer and they will have several traditional Irish bands come to play and they house them all in their home and in the cottage. We definitely wanted to hear Dave, so we found the pub in town. It was just Dave playing the bodhran and another guy on a violin. But then Dave also switched to a guitar and even some singing. He was very talented! That's Dave in the hat, holding the drum.
The best part of this was that Dave was SO happy we came to listen! The next morning while we were having breakfast at the cottage (the eggs and bread of course), he stopped by and brought us CD's he had burned of his music and his band. How nice is that?!
The Village of Kells was really tiny, just a little bunching of houses. But they did have one tiny craft shop. And nearby is the Kells Priory, which is the ruins of a medieval priory. We visited but didn't get any photos as it was once again raining!
Check out their adorable little "library" outside the craft shop!
I cannot overstate how much we enjoyed our time at the cottage in Kells - the location was wonderful, the cottage was wonderful and the hosts were wonderful. Several of the places we went in Kilkenny were at Dave's recommendations. A lovely tapas place for dinner, the local cheese shop in the next village and the pub in Kilkenny. Win win win!!