Waterford to St. Patrick's Cathedral to Brazen Head Pub

Beautiful place, the Waterford glass factory. We took a tour of how Waterford Crystal was produced from start to finish. The artists were amazing. They are apprentices for many years before they can work on their own. Sandy and I bought some crystal because....."we thought we should say hello". We stopped at an old pub for lunch, Munster bar. Then we drove back to Dublin to dump the car. The guys were so happy to get rid of it. No scrapes or accidents but very scary at times. City driving is very scary, especially when everything is on the wrong side. Sandy needs to be acknowledged for all her skills with reading the map. She was a huge help. We also had Vanessa, our GPS which gave us heartache many a times but did pull us through some sticky areas. We returned to the Brook's Hotel which was a welcoming site and felt like we were coming home. If you ever go to Dublin, try the Brook's Hotel. It is centrally located in the Temple Bar area and they were so helpful taking care of us. I can't say enough about this hotel. The doorman is named Connor and he was in his 50's and talked to everyone in the hotel. He got a kick out of pronouncing Izdebski. Then, we went on foot to St Patrick's Cathedral which was beautiful. We went to a service that was just starting that was 1/2 hr. The men's choir sang through the entire service and their voices were stunning. Then we walked a bit of a way to the Brazen Head Pub where we had a night if, "Food, Fairies, and Folklore. There was an Irish woman who told about the history of the Irish, their beliefs, why the grew potatoes, potato famine and all about fairies. She had a beautiful voice with an Irish lilt that you could listen to for hours. One thing she said was, "promise me when you get home, you'll turn off your TV, cell phones, computers, I-pads and sit with those you love and tell stories". That is what they do in Ireland because in the 1900's the country was so poor, they could not afford the arts so the sat around and told stories. It was a wonderful night and a wonderful end our trip to Ireland.

Molds that the glass is made from

Blowing glass

Trimming the rim of the glass

Marking the pattern on the glass

Cutting the glass

Waterford Crystal Showroom

Tribute of 9/11 made of crystal

Munster Pub we ate lunch in Waterford

Lobby of Brook's Hotel in Dublin

Breakfast area off the lobby of the Brook's Hotel....excellent. I can't say enough about this place

Waterford Castle.

The pictures speak for themselves. We are leaving in the next hour to Waterford Glass Factory and back to Dublin which is approximately 100 miles from here. Back to the Brooks Hotel. We have an Irish Folklore meal tonight but otherwise it is a free day

Lobby of the Castle

Sandy and Mike's room

Rick and my sitting area

Rick and my room

Our bathroom

Sandy and Mike's separate hallway leading to their room

Public bathroom by the bar in the castle

Castle Bar

Blarney Castle and Rock of Cashel

Wonderful day. As we were leaving the B&B we met 3 girls leaving. They were from Ohio and on holiday to Ireland. We told them we were from Michigan. They have had a couple bad scrapes along the side of their rental car. We have been lucky. Sometimes we are so close to the brush that our left mirror (passenger side) gets pushed in. We look for scrapes every day but have been lucky so far. We started out today, Monday, at Blarney Castle. Amazing. We climbed super narrow stairs and door openings. Rick had to duck his head many times, but, so did I at times. We made it to the top of the castle and we all leaned back to kiss the Blarney Stone. Why go if you don't. The grounds are beautiful. Then we went to Cashel, by Tipperary, and saw the rock of Cashel. We went on a 50 minute tour which was wonderful, but very, very, cold and very, very, windy. Then we shopped in an Irish woolen store and ate in a pub for late lunch, about 3:30pm. The weather is very overcast but did not rain. Now we are at Waterford Castle Hotel. We have an old suite in the castle with 2 sitting areas and bathroom. We are pretty content. The castle in around 1600's with these beautiful gothic wavy, multi-pain windows. Wonderful feeling sheets and duvet on the bed. Not sure I mentioned this, but I think it is worth repeating, the bedding over here is wonderful. You usually have your choice of down,feather,polyester pillows. The sheets feel wonderful. The are like the percale, soft but crisp, all ironed. The duvet's are the same. It has been in all our hotels, B&B's, and castles. Nice way to end the day.

Rock of Cashel

Fireplace at Blarney Castle. There used to be a floor under the fireplace

All of us taking turns kissing the Blarney Stone

Pub in Kenmare, Sunday Night

Had a wonderful meal last night with an Irish waiter who made the entire meal fun. We gave him a Kennedy half dollar and he really enjoyed it, said he would put it in his coin collection. Then we found a pub with old Gaelic singers. There was an accordion player and a singer. It was difficult to understand their dialect, but you would swear we were watching the Lawrence Welk show. There were many older couples ballroom dancing to the music. There was an 80 year old gentleman, who was quite spry and could dance rather well traveling throughout the room asking different women to dance. As you are probably aware of, pubs are meeting places as well as bars. If you don't want to sit in your hotel at night, you go to the pub to hear music and talk with the people. Perhaps a drink or two also. Fun, fun, night. Really, a good example of Gaelic traditional life and music. We have just left Sea Shore Farms where we have stayed the past few days in Kenmare. Mary Pat and Owen O'Sullivan are the owners. They bent over backwards to do whatever we needed. Always telling us where to travel, traditional Irish breakfasts. We gave them both a half dollar when we left and they went on about our generosity. I hope you are enjoying the trip. 2 days left. We are now heading to Cork to Blarney Castle, then Rock of Cashel, then to Waterford. Weather dark, rainy.