Photos
We had an early start on our first complete day without any rain since London! Breakfast must have been unremarkable because I have no notes or photos about it. We started our drive out of Killarney by skirting the city of Limerick. Then later we drove along the south coast of Ireland.
We had an early start on our first complete day without any rain since London! Breakfast must have been unremarkable because I have no notes or photos about it. We started our drive out of Killarney by skirting the city of Limerick. Then later we drove along the south coast of Ireland.
By 9:30am we were at Blarney Castle and
Blarney Woolen Mills. We were there until 11:30am. We went up over 100 stone
steps in tiny circular stairways to get to the top of the tower and the Blarney Stone. You have to lie on your back and stick out over a hole from the waist up
to get your lips to the stone to kiss it for the gift of eloquence. Clay and I
decided to let Bob be our proxy and I gave Bob to the old guy whose job it is
to hold on to people while they do this. He held Bob in front of the stone and
I said no Bob has to kiss it. So, he turned Bob upside down and put his nose to
the stone without actually touching. Close enough, mission accomplished.
Back
down and a little tour through the grounds back to the coach parking lot at Blarney
Woolen Mills which was a hotel/restaurant/shopping center. It was a 3 story mini-mall
basically. We only wandered the 1st floor and found mostly stuff we
had seen elsewhere and mostly at lower prices. We went to one of the
restaurants and had drinks while waiting for 11:30am.
We were back on the road for our next stop in Cobh, County Cork. We went to the Cobh Heritage Center. This is the last port for the
Lusitania and the Titanic. It was the main port of emigration from Ireland with
over 2.5 million departing from here. It was a small interesting museum in an
old train depot on the waterfront. Our busload had to split up and half were asked to
eat lunch at the little counter service while the other half went through the exhibit and
then switch. We had lunch first with 2 toasties. I had cheese and Clay had ham
and cheese. They were good, but we prefer lunch to offer more selection of
places to eat.
I had a broken thread on the front seam of my black blazer
and it finally all came apart here. I knew the blazer was on its last legs when
I brought it, but, well now it is in the trash. I couldn’t fix it. I got my
money’s worth out of it. It replaced the 2000 blazer Clay left in an overhead
bin on a flight from Milan. So, I figure I used it well from 2001 to now. It’s
been around the world a couple of times and that it earned a final resting place in
Waterford, Ireland instead of the thrift shop. It’s a good thing it’s finally
warming up some here!
In the afternoon we had a stop at a place on the highway
seemingly in the middle of nowhere called the Marine Bar. There we had
Irish coffee or whatever other drink you wanted and a ½ hour of live music by
some almost famous musician/singer, a man named Christy. People loved it.
Then we drove on into Waterford for a walking tour with a
local historian/guide. We learned that it is a very historic place, with the oldest continuously occupied building in Ireland, Reginald's Tower built by a Viking. It is the birthplace of Thomas Francis Meagher, who gave Ireland their tri-color flag and later was Governor of Montana. We met our local guide at a coffee shop/gift shop, Hibernian Gifts and then walked to the
Granville Hotel right at the center of the waterfront. It is a very nice and
very, very busy hotel. They were having first communion celebrations here when
we arrived and the place was a madhouse of screaming children. Our guide had
informed us that he had strict guidelines to get us to dinner by 6pm at the
hotel because a famous Irish sports figure had died and they were holding funeral
events here for him and we had to be in and out on time. Hopefully, we were.
We are in room 327. It is on the 3rd floor, but
then we had to go up and down stairs, ramps through doors and around corners.
It is almost like we are in another building. Our view tonight is the roofs and
walls of other parts of the hotel. We are in a large pretty room with one
double bed and one single, 2 chairs and a table, a desk and chair, 2
nightstands and a large closet. No pants press. A small bathroom with a shower
over tub and a towel warmer.
Clay had been after a meal of traditional Irish stew since it was recommended in Dublin by the 2 guys at the Kildare Street Hotel and he
finally got it at dinner. He started with salmon and prawn salad and finished
with a trio of ice cream. I had pureed vegetable soup (not), roast pork and
mashed potatoes followed by profiteroles.
Clay went for a walk after dinner. We went to bed early
since we had a long day and a late night yesterday followed by an early start
this morning. We have another early morning tomorrow, our last touring day.
Bags out at 6:50am, breakfast at 7am and bus leaves at 8am.
We are to start by touring the Waterford Crystal Center. Waterford Crystal
evidently shut down its manufacturing here very badly about 5-6 years ago. Our
bus driver, Martin, was a cutter for them for a decade. Anyway, they are still
selling crystal here but it is all made in Eastern Europe now. In the
afternoon, we are to visit some horse stud center and then a last night in
Dublin before a ride to the airport.
Honestly we’re ready. We are on charming overload.
Everything is so picture perfect it is hard to believe it can all be real. It
is like some kind of Disney World overload at this point. I keep thinking that
the Scottish Highlands would have been similarly scenic but since in 5 days we
had next to zero visibility, we’ll never know. The Irish though have been
overwhelmingly friendly and welcoming and it is a beautiful country in a period
of peace that has been unprecedented in their long history. So, come on over!
Photos
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