Ireland Road Trip, Day 4, September 25, 2013

Yesterdays sunshine has turned to fog this morning as we continue our journey south to Cork.

We were in and out of light rain but finally the drizzle stopped and the sun eventually came out. There are lots of ruins of castles and churches here in Ireland. They are kind of like Buffalo in Yellowstone National Park, the first one's a marvel, the next hundred are just there.

Our first stop was a place called Hook Head. Its claim to fame is the Hook Lighthouse. It is advertised as the oldest still  fully functional light.house in the world. It has been operational for 900 years. There you can see great views of the coast line.

 Leaving Hook Head, we make our way toward Waterford. To get there we had to take a short ferry ride over to Waterford County.

We came to the city of Waterford to visit the home of Waterford Crystal. We decided to not take the tour because most of the crystal is not produced here but at various places all over the EU. We did tour the adjacent display of Waterford at the headquarters where you can purchase all matters of crystal including a 42,000 Euro Cinderella's carriage or 30,000 Euro bear. There I learned that only Waterford crystal from the "Waterford Collection is actually made in Ireland and those pieces are identified with a red ribbon.

 

We will all have our memories of Waterford but I doubt that Jim will ever forget stepping in a big pile of dog dung which was on the sidewalk on the way to the showroom.

More narrow winding roads! I am really ready for roads back home. In addition to being narrow they are very rough. Our Opel van is built for space but not for comfort. The roads jar your teeth and break your neck. Thank fully some of the ride to Cork was on the equivalent of our four lane highways and a considerably smoother ride.


We arrived in Cork and checked into our B & B, the Garnish House. We were greeted by our host and asked to come into the dining room and relax before we headed to our rooms. We were served sweet breads, scones, and pastry, as  well as, coffee and tea. This has been our best reception yet. Our host then showed us to our rooms. When he departed he said breakfast would be the most memorable part of our stay.

We ate dinner at The Electric restaurant located in the heart of Cork. I had fish but everyone else had steak. My fish was good but steak was the way to go. The fillets melted in the mouth and Jason's Beef Wellington was the trophy winner!

Tomorrow we drive to Killarney..

Babs Says:The Irish have found a way of maximizing their Happy Hour..