Holiday Diary - Day 28

The end of the 4th week of our holiday and we're in Waterford, where they make some very fine crystal. We would buy some if we could afford it but the best we can do is get our picture taken with some.

On the way from Cork we managed to take a few photos. We found some friendly cows for for the "cow of the day" photo we're doing for a friend that likes cows. We didn't realise how friendly they were until Sue got out to take their photo. First one came over to get a closer look, then another, and soon we had quite a group. We think they may have been coming over to see what Sue was laughing about.

We also saw an old church with some well groomed bushes out the front.

We crossed a very wide river.

Looked out over a bay.

Or two.

Saw an anchor in the middle of a roundabout.

On arriving at Waterford, we saw a clock.

A round building.

A statue.

Another church.

And some ruins.

We also visited a few yarn shops. I still haven't found a 0.5mm hook for Bruce. The smallest I can find is a 0.6mm and I know he already  has one of those.

Tomorrow we head up to Dublin, and who knows what we will find on the way.

Richard.

Holiday Diary - Day 27

Today we visited Blarney Castle, Kilarney and Tralee. There were a lot of people at Blarney Castle, which is probably normal, and many went to the trouble of kissing the Blarney Stone, but we didn't. Here are some of the photos we took of Blarney Castle and the surrounding grounds.

Our first view of the castle

We were greeted by the sound of a babbling brook

A rather imposing sight

Three entrances from right to left are a kennel, sentry and dungeon

The watch-tower

Another side of the castle

We were being watched, but not by these eyes, there were plenty of cctv cameras around

Another side of the castle and the Blarney Stone

The hole that you can see is where people lie on their backs, hold on to a couple of grab rails, tilt their head back and kiss the stone. It used to be quite dangerous as there was nothing to stop your fall if you should lose your grip, but now there are bars below the opening to catch you. Just thinking about these contortions make my itises ache and my head spin.

Anyone hungry?

I'm not sure what this represented

Of all the plants here I found this the most surprising. Apple and Rhubarb pie anyone?

The remains of the Battlements which are adjacent to the garden

They even have a waterfall

Another unusual sculpture

After visiting the castle we went for a bit of a drive to admire the country side. Here are some of the things we saw.

I managed to get the address of at least one wool shop that we could visit on this trip so I was able to check out one of the local yarns. It was quite course and only really suitable for a jumper or cardigan to be worn as an outer garment and I didn't want to buy that much yarn. I have every intention of buying some yarn while I'm over here but I only want a small quantity suitable for making a beanie and/or scarf, just so that I can say it was made with Irish wool.

I think I must have been quite tired when I wrote yesterday's blog as it appears that I didn't hit the "Publish" button, so you get a double helping tonight.

Tomorrow we're going to Waterford where we're hoping to buy some crystal. I'm not sure what we're going to get and I probably won't tell you about it anyway as we might want to surprise some people with it.

Richard.

Holiday Diary - Day 26

Today we travelled from Galway to Cork, a trip that would normally take around 3 hours, but we took the scenic route via The Burren and Cliffs of Moher. On the way around we saw a range of different scenic views, some watch-towers and other items of interest. Unfortunately, we didn't get photos of everything and some of the photos we did get don't really do the scenery justice.

Here are some of the photos we took.

Three thatched roof cottages.

We found a castle somewhere near Kinvarra and when we eventually found the car park we also found the above cottages.

The castle we found

The Burren

The remains of a watch-tower we found a little further on.

The sea-ward side of the watch tower

The Burren from just north of Doolin

Looking across Galway Bay from the same location

Cliffs of Moher looking south west

Hags Head with its watch-tower

O'Brien's Tower

A waterfall as seen from a bridge in Ennistymon

Statue in the middle of Rocky Road Roundabout in Ennis

Holiday Diary - Day 25

This morning we decided to do a little backtracking as we had been told that "Horseshoe Valley" was quite good. It was just as spectacular as other places we've been on this trip. Here are some of the photos we took.

Looking to the southwest we see the north side of Benbulbin

The view looking back down the valley towards the sea

Looking east

The southern end of the valley

A closer look at the north side of Benbulbin

The seem to be quite a few of these around the valley

After leaving the valley and heading for the highway we came across a sign that indicated that there was a castle on the other side so we headed towards it. Unfortunately, we ran out of road without finding it.

The view at the end of the road

After getting back of the highway we saw a sign indicating car and coach parking ahead and then saw the church but didn't really connect the two until we found something in the churchyard that made this place somewhat tourist worthy.

Beneath bald Benbulbin's head

in a Drumcliff churchyard

Yeats is laid

The words were taken from a sign in the coffee shop nearby.

They have a different breed of busker around here

This was just across the road from the entry to the car park

We are now in Galway in one of 8 B&Bs that are in a street of about 13 houses, and they were all full last week.

Tomorrow we head for Cork, and, if the pamphlets in the foyer are anything to go by, there is plenty to see between here and there. I'm not sure how much of it we're going to see but I'm sure we will have plenty of photos.

Richard.