Speaker 1: 0:02

Welcome to the Z Michelson Travel Podcast, where every journey is a story waiting to be told. I'm your host, z Michelson, and I'm so excited to take you on a ride through the world's most incredible destinations, hidden gems and unforgettable experiences. Whether you're a seasoned traveler or just starting to plan your next getaway, you're in the right place. Each episode, we'll be diving into everything from must-see landmarks to off-the-beaten-path treasures, speaking with locals and travel experts and sharing stories that will inspire your next adventure. So sit back, relax and let's wander the world together, one destination at a time. Are you ready? Let's get started.

Speaker 2: 0:54

Hi and welcome to this episode of Zee Michelson with Diana of Celtic Tours. She is talking all about her trip to Ireland. This is going to be her day two over in Ireland, which I'm very excited about because she's moved on from Dublin to Kilkenny. Diana, welcome and talk about this new day for you.

Speaker 3: 1:18

Thank you, I'm very excited about this day. And how are you excited? Oh, kilkenny was just so beautiful. Oh, it was just so beautiful. Kilkenny was just so beautiful, so it's green. Yeah, oh, it was not at all what I expected it to be. First of all, we did stop at an estate. It was called La Rath Estate. Spell that L-Y-P-A, excuse me, l-y-r-t-h. La Rath. The H is silent. Yeah, believe me, I had to double check full time, not La Rath, la Rath, la Rath Estate, and it is a five-star hotel and it is, and that's where you stayed. No, we actually just did a stop there where we did an afternoon tea.

Speaker 3: 2:08

They showed us around the grounds and, oh my goodness, it is about 10 minutes from kilkenny, so, um, this would be for high-end clients because it is a spa resort it's really really high end just Just a beautiful, beautiful place.

Speaker 3: 2:26

However, there are things that you can do there without having to stay there. Oh, the grounds are about 170 acres. That's a lot Irish countryside. Yeah, that's a lot Beautiful, beautiful countryside and they have lakes and historical gardens and woodlands and the history is a 17th century estate house, and what they did is they started with the house and then, of course, went into more of a modern day extension of the hotel.

Speaker 3: 2:57

So it kind of has both you know the old, old farmhouse with the modern day Now. Was this part of your tour? It was actually part of our tour. This was something that we, everything that we do from this point on, was part of our tour yes.

Speaker 3: 3:11

Everything that we do. Yep, the first day was, you know, kind of exploring on my own, getting acclimated to the time, exactly, exactly. So they actually did preserve the old house and it's very. They keep it very clean. They have pictures of the original owners. And then they went ahead, of course, and went from there. So they grew it from there and now it has 141 unique bedrooms.

Speaker 2: 3:34

Wow, 140. And even though you folks did not stay there on this tour, it is possible that if somebody wants to Celtic Tours can make that plan for you.

Speaker 3: 3:44

I like that so let me tell you, besides the award-winning spa that they have, let me tell you what else they have. They have falconry oh really, Archery, oh nice that you can actually do. And these are things that you can actually book without having to stay there. Right, so we can actually do that. So if they're staying in Kilkenny and they don't want to stay at the estate, we can actually book the falconry where they can actually go see the power works. And John and his wife I can't remember his wife's name, unfortunately, but they are actually the inners of the falconry there oh, okay, and he has owls and falcons. He actually even has an eagle oh an eagle, oh an eagle Eagle. I think it was a Parisian eagle that he pretty much got all of these from babies and raised them himself.

Speaker 2: 4:33

Oh, and this is all on this property.

Speaker 3: 4:36

It was all on the estate. Wow, yeah, that you can do there on the estate Wow. It was just amazing to see all the birds and to listen to what he had to say about them, and he knows them all by name and knows their different demeanors and their attitudes. It was really really interesting. Unfortunately, the winds were so strong that day that we were there we couldn't fly the birds, but he told us a story about when the birds did fly and when they get lost and he has to go track them. So it was just really really amazing experience. However, I was able to hold an owl.

Speaker 3: 5:13

Oh, wow, an owl, actually, you know where they give you the glove and the owl actually came and I was able to pet the owl. Was it a big owl it was a small little baby. It was a blue, blue owl. I'm sorry I don't know the name, but it was so cute, cute little owl. Cute little owl. Oh, just such a great, great experience.

Speaker 2: 5:34

And this was on the tour this was on the tour, and did you also get to do the archery? I did, and I believe I'm pretty good at it.

Speaker 3: 5:41

So the archery they had all fed up so they did take us out to the archery and we went out there and he taught us how to pull the bow, showed us the bows and was actually able to shoot a couple of arrows.

Speaker 1: 5:54

I did pretty good, I hit the target, very cool.

Speaker 3: 5:56

I hit the target. That's what it matters. Or you hit the target That'll work Now.

Speaker 2: 6:01

Did you have the tea before or after your adventure?

Speaker 3: 6:03

Some tea. After that we had a high tea.

Speaker 1: 6:06

High tea yes.

Speaker 3: 6:09

And with lovely little sandwiches. And, of course, you know you get teas. I got an herbal wild berry tea, which was amazing, and we got to sit and learn more about the estate.

Speaker 2: 6:20

So first they bring you around to all the different things that we can experience and then you sit down and relax and have the high tea, yep, which is nice. So high tea was about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, actually it was probably around 2 o'clock.

Speaker 3: 6:32

Yeah, okay, a little early, a little early, we had to be on our way.

Speaker 2: 6:37

So, yeah, we had to be on our way.

Speaker 3: 6:40

So where did you stay? To Kilkenny Castle, and we were able to see the castle itself and we learned all about the Butler family who owned the castle for so many years. And did you know? That's how we got the word Butler. Yeah, so again the history at.

Speaker 2: 7:03

Kilkenny. It was just spectacular.

Speaker 3: 7:04

And this was.

Speaker 2: 7:04

Kilkenny Castle that you were at. This was Kilkenny Castle, so you know, and this was Kilkenny Castle that you were at. This was Kilkenny Castle, so you know, my experience with castles is they're not that small.

Speaker 3: 7:10

Nope, they're not. There is a little bit of walking. There is a little bit of walking. Yeah, now this entire castle has been re-renovated, so they have some of the original things in there and then they have a little bit more modern, because they had to bring in a little up, right, oh yeah, but do people still live there? Is it just a tourist? No, no, it's just a tourist attraction right now.

Speaker 3: 7:35

Yeah, so again, you have a lot of stairs, so a lot of climbing where you're doing stairs and they have a nice little cafe as you're exiting. So you know you can again exit and have more to drink or more tea. So it was a a very, very beautiful castle, but the history of the Butler family was just really amazing.

Speaker 2: 7:52

So much history that you're learning on your journey there. Yep Day one you've seen a lot of history. Day two now you're learning about all these different places and learning history behind these places, and it's amazing to see that they are keeping these buildings.

Speaker 3: 8:10

Yeah, history is very, very important to the Irish. They really love their history and they want to maintain that as much as possible. So a lot of these old castles that are being refurbished is because of the Irish government. They want them to keep these so that people will come and experience the history and learn the history of the Irish.

Speaker 3: 8:32

Now, how long did that tour take? It was probably about two hours total. Yeah, Of course we had a tour guide. He walked us through the entire thing and gave us all of the history, and in each room and talked about the main dining room and, of course, the family dining room, and then they had a giant hall. Every castle has a dance hall, of course you everybody was dancing, yeah, yep. So he took us through and then we got a little time for ourselves.

Speaker 2: 9:00

Where you can, it can just walk around a little bit more. Yeah, yeah, so I mean, and you did that after the other, so yeah so. So now it's getting late in the day.

Speaker 3: 9:11

It's getting a little late, yeah, so it's probably about 4.30, 5 o'clock in the afternoon, and then we went ahead and went to our hotel. And we stayed at the Pembroke Hotel.

Speaker 2: 9:21

Pembroke.

Speaker 3: 9:22

Yeah, and it was right there in Kilkenny, right in the heart of. Kilkenny, yeah right in the heart and I think my favorite part of the entire experience at the Pembroke Hotel was my Nespresso machine in my room. Nespresso, nespresso in my room. Yeah, the rooms were very spacious, beautiful Again, just a beautiful hotel. I think it's a four-star hotel. But also we had dinner that evening and chef Ken, who is an actual Michelin award winning chef, is the chef for this hotel, at the at the Pembroke.

Speaker 2: 9:59

Yeah, so when did you have that?

Speaker 3: 10:00

I actually had a fish and chips that day. I didn't want to miss my fish and chips, but the way he made it it was more of flash fried.

Speaker 1: 10:10

It wasn't deep fried and it was a very large piece of fish.

Speaker 3: 10:15

It was an entire fish and he kind of flash fried it and then set it on a beautiful bed, of course, of potatoes. So I had to have my fish and chips. But it was amazing and other people. There was a Guinness stew. Somebody had Amazing, and this was included. This was amazing. And other people there were other. There was a Guinness stew.

Speaker 2: 10:31

Somebody had Amazing and this was included this was included, yep, okay, so people need to know that they can eat very well.

Speaker 3: 10:39

Yeah, While they're not. Yeah, he's very, very health conscious. He's a very health conscious chef. A lot of his meals he like he flash fries.

Speaker 1: 10:47

Right.

Speaker 2: 10:52

So he's very fries, and so he's very, very health conscious when he's making his a lot of his boots there at the pembroke. So at the pembroke you had a beautiful womb. Now a lot of people aren't aware that when you travel overseas it's not like our hotels. Here. You know where you'll have king-sized beds in every room.

Speaker 3: 11:07

So what size bed did you have? I actually had a king size bed. Well, I did. However, they're kings, so they call their kings super king, super kings, and then we call our king a king, and then our queens are their king. Oh so they don't have a queen size bed, right? They have king beds and then they have super king beds, right? So, if you want a very large bed, it would be a super king, and if you want a queen bed, then it would be a king bed.

Speaker 2: 11:37

Now, a lot of people do ask me what if I'm traveling by myself? Is there solo?

Speaker 3: 11:42

pricing. There is solo pricing. There's typically a single supplement, and that is because the hotels do require single supplement supplement, and that is because the hotels do require single supplement.

Speaker 2: 11:51

Pricing is typically based on double occupancy Right or if somebody wants you know, says I need to go. Nobody wants to come with me, I'm going.

Speaker 3: 11:57

I'm going. Yeah, I was a single, I went all by myself. Let's have a mini with me. But and it was really, really nice when I got to this particular place of course it never shortens the food, ever. They give you a little petite in your room and you get there as a welcome. So and of course, like I said, the Nespresso machine had to have a Nespresso.

Speaker 2: 12:17

Well, we're talking a lot about dinners. What's for breakfast?

Speaker 3: 12:22

So breakfast, typically at all of the actually of all the hotels that we went to, it was a open breakfast, like a continental breakfast where you can go. They had, of course, pastries, they had cheeses with meats, they had yogurts and fruit cereals. But you could also order. You could have somebody come up to you and say would you like to have some eggs or would you like to have a typical Irish? This would be your bangers. And right, you're black, my own eating. You can also order that as well.

Speaker 3: 12:55

And again, breakfast is included in our tours yeah, all of our tours, breakfast is included so breakfast is always there.

Speaker 2: 13:01

so, yeah, eat hearty before you go to the store. You guys do a lot of walking. People do need to know that. Can people that have some restrictions go on some of these tours?

Speaker 3: 13:11

Yes, yeah, without a doubt, we were a little fast paced because I took 30 travel agents with me, so we were a little bit fast paced and travel agents want to see the next thing yeah they want to see the next thing, exactly, exactly so. But yes, they can move at their own pace If they'd like to, if they'd like to sit one out, or if they just want to sit in gardeners instead of doing an entire tour.

Speaker 3: 13:31

They can do anything that they'd like. It's not necessary for them to do every single thing if they feel like they'd make it. If they need to take a break, they can take a break.

Speaker 2: 13:39

Exactly Well that people want to know. That you know, because there are more and more people that are a little bit older, yeah, that are traveling, when they might be a little more restricted, maybe walking with a cane or a little bit slower type of thing.

Speaker 3: 13:51

And that's good. Yeah, so there is one more thing that we did that evening.

Speaker 2: 13:56

What did you do that night?

Speaker 3: 13:57

After everything was said and done, we went to dinner. I said let's go explore. So I took everybody, almost the entire gang, and I found this, of course, irish pub called Hitler's, hitler's Hitler's bar, yep, and they had live music and bartenders. It's a small little place. So when I walked in with 20 people they kind of dropped their jaw a little bit Right. And you do it again. I walked in with the gang and kind of dropped their jaw a little bit Right, and you do it again. I walked in with a gang and kind of dropped their jaw a little bit. Of course everybody was just like what is this? It was great, it was wonderful.

Speaker 2: 14:30

It's always good to do that, to get out in the public and away from stuff, and you learn so much more. People talk to you. You have such great time yeah.

Speaker 3: 14:40

That's part of traveling, yeah, and traveling, yeah. And then I found out talking to the bartender that down in the basement was haunted. So I said can we get a tour? And he said yes, so he's down to the basement. Did you see any ghosts while you were there? I did not, but a couple people swear they did. Okay, I did not, but a couple people swear they, but they. It was a haunted story about a woman who actually lived there and how she was accused of witchery and witchcraft.

Speaker 1: 15:09

And she was taken.

Speaker 3: 15:10

And then she was not beheaded or anything like that, but her housemaid. What they took her housemaid and they had to, they wanted to make, they wanted to say, okay, we can't have this. So, they didn't want to kill the woman who lived there, who was a very well-known woman, so they ended up killing her housemaid, and apparently it's haunted by her and her housemaid. Oh, so they're both together. Yeah, they're both together there, so yeah.

Speaker 2: 15:37

I remember talking I believe it was to you a while ago where somebody actually wanted to do like a haunted tour of Ireland. Was that you? Somebody actually wanted to do like a haunted tour of Ireland, was that you? Yes, so Celtic tours can do that. Yes, I love that.

Speaker 3: 15:50

We did a Halloween tour last year and then incorporated for some of our clients.

Speaker 2: 15:56

The hauntings.

Speaker 3: 15:57

Yeah, how fun. Yeah, it was a great experience. Of course, derry has an amazing Halloween spectacular. It's like four days celebration for Halloween. Halloween, that's where Halloween started, right?

Speaker 2: 16:09

that's the start of Halloween. How cool is that? That if somebody wants to find all the local hauntings literally yeah, they can actually say, okay, I want to do the local hauntings, and their travel agents can contact Celtic Tours and say put things together for us and they will put it together. Yep, even the travel agents can get you know. Okay, tell me what I can need to do and Celtic Tours helps and guides them through that. Yeah.

Speaker 3: 16:37

Our team is just amazing. They are so well-versed in everything that we offer and so well-educated Some of them have been over there and most of our team has been one boss for quite some time we can put together almost anything that the client. That's nice.

Speaker 2: 16:52

Yeah, that's really nice. Now you have a website, we do, and the website is, it's teltictourscom.

Speaker 3: 16:59

Wwwteltictourscom.

Speaker 2: 17:01

Very, very easy and they can explore a lot of the different things that are already on there. Yeah, and if they have questions, they can contact Hilted Tours or they can contact their travel advisors. Yep, and the travel advisors can say okay, what do you need, what do you want, what can I put together for you and get you on these amazing tours? Now, this is just day two, I know, and Kilkenny that's not a big city.

Speaker 3: 17:23

It too, I know. And Kilkenny, that's not a big city. It's not a big city.

Speaker 1: 17:26

Yeah, it really isn't.

Speaker 3: 17:27

No, not at all. But there was again so much to see and again, by day two, I was exhausted. Right, you keep running, I keep going. But you know it always helps when you end your day in an Irish pub with a good Guinness, black and black, Black and black, which you said is Black currant Right and Guinness and Guinness yes, and all yeah.

Speaker 2: 17:50

I haven't tried it yet. I haven't tried it. One day. I asked one of the local pubs about that and they looked at me like I had 12 head. I'm going to have to go to Ireland to get it.

Speaker 3: 18:09

It's really funny because I would did the same thing, because that's all I drank the entire time. Sometimes I would go in and ask for a black and black and they'd look at me and, uh, I'm like black, oh oh, black in black. I'm like okay, maybe I'm saying it wrong, so it might be a black in black.

Speaker 3: 18:14

Yeah, like that of the black carmine yeah so, and a couple of places did put it on the side for me, which was very nice, um, because then you can make it as sweet as you want, and I don't like it real sweet, I just. I like it take the bitterness out of the goodness. So now this is week two.

Speaker 2: 18:30

Yeah, I'm seeing my travel podcast and following Diana from Celtic Tours around Ireland. Can you give us a kind of a hint on day three for next week?

Speaker 3: 18:40

Well, a little hint, let me see. Well, we went to Waterford. Oh, little hints, let me see. Well, we went to Waterford. Oh, everybody knows what's in Waterford, yep, so I'll be sharing a little bit about that. We also went to Coe, coe, coe, yep, yep, and Corf, oh and Corf, yeah.

Speaker 2: 19:00

All in one day, wow, wow.

Speaker 3: 19:06

And I'll tell you that in Coe it is actually called Cove now. However, it used to be called Queenstown, and if anybody knows what Queenstown is, it's where all of the ships from the immigrants departed from, including the.

Speaker 2: 19:22

Titanic, including the Titanic, that's where it started from. Okay, so I can't wait to next week, when we'll talk to you again for day three of your Ireland tour. Diana from Celtic Tours, thank you very much for joining me, and now I'm going to have to go. That's all there is to it, thank you so much for having me again.

Speaker 1: 19:48

Well, that's it for today's episode of the Z Michelson Travel Podcast. I hope you enjoyed our journey and found some new inspiration for your next adventure. Remember, the world is full of stories and sometimes all it takes is a plane ticket to start your own adventure. If you loved today's episode, be sure to tune in every week and don't forget to share your favorite travel moments with me on social media. I'd really love to hear about where you're headed to next. So, until next time, keep exploring, keep discovering and, as always, keep traveling with your heart wide open. I'm Zee Michelson and I'll see you on the next adventure.