Road Trip in Ireland  Christmas/New Year's 1999 Road Trip Waterford - The Waterford Crystal Gallery The first stop on our trip was the city of Waterford. We stopped here to visit the Waterford Crystal Factory. We got to go for a guided tour of the entire factory, from where the crystal is blown into shapes, to where the final cutting and polishing is done to it. Along the way, we got to see some pieces in various stages of the production process. Interestingly, all of the workers in the factory who create the pieces are paid according to how many pieces they successfully produce. Road Trip Cork Off we went to the City of Cork to spend the night before heading out for further adventures. We needed the rest! It was a harrowing drive through the narrow lanes of the Irish roads and small towns. Thanks, Dad, for keeping us all alive! We realized, upon arrival, that we were famished! After looking through the local phone book, my brother managed to find a bistro not far from our hotel. Since we didn't want to hang out in the hotel, we decided to take a chance on this place.   Proby's Bistro This was where we decided to try our luck with local restaurants. It turns out that we were not disappointed. The food was the best we had in Ireland and the waiter eve smiled on occasion. :-) The bistro was two-stories and we were seated upstairs on a festively prepared table, complete with holiday crackers (had a paper crown and prize inside them). It was a welcome respite after a long trip through the rolling hills of Ireland. By the way, it was raining most of the day and we had to walk through the rain to get to this place.   Here, seated in the dry and warm bistro, is my family (I think that's them behind the masks!). We had just finished our meal. I had this great chicken dish that completely filled me up. We ordered tea (shown) and just relaxed for about a half-hour before finally heading back through the rain to our hotel room to rest in preparation for tomorrow's adventures. If the weather was cooperative, we were destined for Blarney to see the castle and to visit the woolen mills in that city. After a good night's sleep, we were off. Weather was good, so we were headed to Blarney!   Road Trip Blarney Castle We arrived at Blarney Castle about mid-morning. The weather was a bit chilly, but otherwise perfect. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. To the left, you see, the castle as we approached it from the grounds. It was really quite amazing. We had to walk next to and then cross over this swiftly moving stream to get to the castle. The grounds were gorgeous and I'm sure they would look stunning in the Summer. I also noticed that it was VERY quiet there since there were not many visitors during this time of year.  This is a view of one of the castle towers from where they kept prisoners. That was an interesting feature. There was a dark cave in front of me when I took this picture where, apparently, they kept prisoners. NO lights at all...no windows...no light penetrated this area. Good thing I'm not claustrophobic! Note the narrow windows. Their lack of width was handy in keeping archer's arrows out. That room that is in about the middle of the picture to the right is where the head of the castle lived. That room had windows facing three of the four directions, so it offered the most light and easiest view of the grounds.   This is the tower by the entrance. The red circle marks the location of the famous Blarney Stone. It's a smooth stone that you kiss for good luck and eloquence. (I'm still waiting for it to kick in! Maybe I should have been a little more aggressive in my kissing technique. [grin]) The way it worked was you sat down on a tarp and a castle worker held on to you as you slid backwards, on your back, holding on to some railings that were installed by the stone, until you were in position to give it a hearty smooch. You were supposed to tip the guy who held you. I gave him a pound and told him to hold on tight! I'm still alive.... :-) As we winded our way through the castle, we took these pics to show what the view was from the windows. The one on the left was taken from one of the narrow windows in the castle and the one on the right was taken from one of the larger windows in one of the interior rooms. As you can see, the grounds are very beautiful. It must be quite a sight in the spring when everything is blooming. The Main staircase for the castle - Take a look at this! It's a very narrow spiral staircase that we used to access the various levels and rooms in the castle. Look at the door and how narrow it is! I sure hope the inhabitants of this castle were small people. I couldn't imagine running up and down this thing when the castle was under siege. One sad thing...throughout the castle, people had carved their initials and other such graffiti into the walls. How sad that people don't have enough respect for a historical monument to leave it alone! The effect was that the place looked rather cheesy.   Yep! This is me in the castle's kitchen. There was really great ventilation here! Notice the groove in the floor. Hose everything down and let it run out of the window next to me. It was at this point that I decided that the national plant of Ireland simply had to be moss. As you can see from this picture, it was growing EVERYWHERE. No wonder the entire place is green. Still, I prefer my own kitchen with a modern range and refrigerator. Simply put: this is the top of the castle. I took this picture right after kissing the Stone. From this perspective, the Stone is to the left and back a little (not pictured). Notice the grooves in the walkway. When I looked over the railing to my left, I could see directly into the Great Hall of the castle. Somewhat small, but still the biggest room in the place. The view from up here was incredible! I still can't imagine what it was like to defend this castle during an attack...so much to trip over! And, finally....Me kissing the Blarney Stone! Woo Hoo! I gave the castle guide one Irish pound (called a punt) so that he would keep a good grip on me as I slid back into that hole to get to the stone. It is a very smooth stone; smoother than any other on that wall. Perhaps the whole castle. Why do people trek all this way to kiss a rock? Well, you're supposed to be blessed with linguistic eloquence. I'm still waiting for it to kick in. Road Trip Blarney Wollen Mills Next to the castle is the shop for the Blarney Wollen Mills. This was a wonderful little two story shop that sold all kinds of woollen products, Waterford Crystal, other souvenirs, pottery, books, and prints/artwork. We spent quite some time and quite some money there. I got some scarves, some jewelry, and some prints that I could frame when I got back home. I distributed the clothing to friends of mine to help keep them warm during Michigan's cold winters.