Christmas shopping in the threes, diesel heaters and revisiting some old favourites

Christmas is a busy time for us as we both work over the holiday. But we try our best to get into the Christmas mood with the full Christmas Day dinner with all the trimmings being a hi-light in our house with most of the leg work being done by the lovely Polly in-spite of the fact that she works a full shift on the Christmas day (some women) , in my defence I do the washing up .Another tradition is the Christmas shopping trip this also seconds as our final Motorhome trip of the year. We tend to take a wee brake from our motorhome trips around this time of year until there is a bit more of a stretch in the days.

A friend had mentioned that Beyond the trees in Avondale House in Rathdrum Co Wicklow were doing a Christmas lights display so we decide to check it out , cost is €15pp plus €5 for parking for the guided tour of the house with entry to the tree top tower included. The tour of Avondale House was very interesting giving a feel of what it was like to live in a big house in Victorian times plus an insight into how the house changed hands and involved over the years. The tree top night lights is one of those attractions that looks a lot better from the outside than it did when you were up there, the fact that it was cold and wet didn't help, the slide which is €2 extra pre ride was closed. It is a very impressive structure with a nice restaurant and children's play area it is well worth a visit, there are a also number of way marked walks and cycle routes in the park, we didn't have time to check them out so will definitely return in the spring to spend a day in the park. The car park is massive with a toilet block and would be a perfect over night spot but when we inquired would it be possible to stay we were informed that the gates closed at 9pm and Coillet did not allow over night parking another missed opportunity its like banging your head off a wall trying to get thought to theses people, I have popped a mail to Coillet but doubt I will even get a reply. 

So then it was on to real business of the trip "Christmas shopping" and where we might go. Even at this stage we hadn't got a firm plan. The two places we were thinking about were the City Lime Works in Kilkenny or Ferry Bank in Wexford we have visited both places before both are within in walking distance of a good shopping town were a similar distance from Rathdrum , we did toy with the idea of staying in Rathdrum but this would mean travelling the next day eating into our shopping time so that was ruled out . After some deliberation the Cats got the nod. The Lime Works in Kilkenny is right in the city centre so is ideal for a shopping trip.... we found ourselves winging our way towards Kilkenny . As I mentioned in a previous Blog you don't tend to drive a motorhome in the dark but I was about to get a good dose of it as we made our way to Kilkenny on a dirty old night , But I soon got into the swing of it and made good time landing in the carpark about 8pm. 

We cook in the van a lot when we're out but as this was a last trip of 23 and it was for only two nights the plan was to treat ourselves to dinner out on both nights . As time was getting on we were a bit concerned that we had left it a bit late to find a nice restaurant so we just parked the van and headed straight out the door, the town was quite enough as it was a Monday night our first choice of restaurant was closed but we need not have worried we fond the very nice Aroi Asian Fusion where we were treated to some excellent Asian food . As we were leaving the restaurant we ran into one of my cycling buddies who was visiting Kilkenny with his family for a few days also ... tis a small world ! We had a good nights sleep the only thing note was one of our neighbours was running a diesel heater it had a definite hum not much but just enough that you could hear it but I but this down to me parking to close.

Kilkenny is a fantastic town to visit any time of year it has the castle and some really good pubs and restaurants if we are in the area we try to spend a night or two there with the City Lime Works car park providing an excellent Aire in the town centre for €10 pre night with services. I hear that there is a planning application gone in to make some improvements to the Lime Works parking lets hope we don't lose this facility in name of progress. There are two shopping centres McDonagh Junction and Market Cross plus lots of Independent stores there was also a Christmas market but it wasn't open on the Monday and Tuesday when we were there so I can't comment on it . We had a hectic day browsing the shops we did manage to get most of our bits . After a bit of a brake back at the van it was on to the hi light of the trip for me of the trip to Petronalla restaurant one of the top rated eateries in Kilkenny. I can only agree with the reviews on this place it has top food and service , look no further if looking for a really nice spot to eat in Kilkenny. 

After another quite night we done a quick run about in the morning to pick up a final few bits, just as we were leaving we got chatting to the owners of a lovely Hymer tramp who were parked beside us for the two day's they were a really nice couple from Cork, they were telling us that this was there first motorhome and there enthusiasm was lovely to see we had a nice chat with them. 

That's a wrap for 23 I hope you all had a good Christmas and have a happy new year, the van is now in storage for a few weeks, but planning is well underway for 24 so let's see there the road will take us

Until next time happy camping and don't forget to wave