Looking Back At the Halfway Point

We want to look back and mention some of our favorite places and events so far.

(John) Dublin, Kilkenny, and Kinsale rank at the top of my list. I haven't really mentioned much about these last two places. Kilkenny was an incredibly charming town - perhaps about 10,000 people.

Our hosts at Butler Court were wonderful, helpful, and welcoming. We could see Kilkenny Castle from the balcony outside our room. The interior of the castle was very beautiful, especially the family art gallery - a huge gothic hall complete with gargoyles, an impressive timber ceiling, about thirty feet high, and filled from top to bottom with paintings and tapestries.

In Kinsale, I enjoyed a special guided walk. It was called the Ghost Walk, but it wasn't scary. Most of the walk through the seaside village was one long comedy sketch wrapped around historical facts and legends. Some of the jokes were groaners, but the guys were so earnest, I couldn't resist their energy.

At one point during the evening, I became part of the show. I was "volunteered" to become a red headed girl, complete with a nasty looking wig. It was claimed that only a red headed girl (Named Shelia. She represented a lost love) could conjure an ancient seafaring ghost. Needless to say, I was set up for extreme silliness, and I did my best to get into the part - much to Gene's embarrassment.

(Gene) Waterford Retrospective

Waterford is one stop on our journey in which I wish we had spent more time. It wasn't because of the crystal factory - it was because of our lodging. We stayed in The Coach House, part of the historical Butlerstown Castle, five miles north of Waterford. The castle keep stands in
ruins dating back to the early sixteenth century.

The Coach House interior was completely rebuilt in the 1990's and transformed into a beautiful B&B. It was my favorite place to stay so far. The décor was formal yet comfortable. The breakfast was terrific and the owner extremely helpful. He even set up a laptop to help John with ferry schedules.

I enjoyed the casual atmosphere of the entire place, especially when John and I wandered through the ruins of the castle. This B&B is far from the normal tourist stop and I felt very fortunate to witness this rarely seen historic site. I felt special to be one of the few people to see and touch the fallen roof tiles, see and smell the vines as they climbed the walls, and watch the play of the light and shadow through the ancient empty windows. Even more, from our window we watched fireworks and hot air balloons (part of a large tall ships festival). I hope to travel back there when we return to Ireland.

As for the crystal factory, the tour was very educational about the process of blowing, marking, and cutting crystal. The cost of doing business in the booming Irish economy has required them to raise their prices. The next step they are considering is to take the manufacture of Waterford crystal off shore. I don't me an to sound bigoted, but I can't image buying Waterford Irish crystal made in Indonesia. We bought a fine piece of crystal to help us recall our wonderful but short stay in Waterford.