Cardiff to Killarney

April 24-25

We had a bus tour of Cardiff. We saw the water front area which used to be the largest coal shipping port in the world. Now they are revitalizing it as a tourist and business area.

Then it was off to Fishguard, Wales to get the ferry to Ireland.

A three plus hour ride later and we arrived in Rosslare, Ireland. The bus then continued on through Wexford to Waterford where we spent the night at Faithllegg Golf and Country Club, an old manor house which is now a fine hotel. We had a nice group dinner and retired for the night.

The next morning we were up early as the bus departed at 8:00. We drove into Waterford and had a tour of the Waterford Crystal factory. We got to see the whole process except for the final acid wash which takes place in a separate facility outside of town. This factory was started in 1947 but the making of crystal in the area dates back to ancient times. They had a very special piece commemorating 911. We also bought Coleen a pair of earrings for our anniversary.

 

After the tour we boarded the bus and continued to Cork. The Blarney Castle is located on the outskirts of town and that was our next stop. We walked up to the ruins and climbed to the top via a narrow circular stairway. The view from the top was breath taking. We declined the option of kissing the Blarney Stone as we were not sure we could manage getting down on our backs and then up again. 

When we came down it was starting to rain so we made our way to the nearby Old Woolen Mill Factory Shop which is now a store and eatery. We had a sandwich and looked around. Once again we boarded the bus and continued our trip tp Killarney. We checked into our hotel and went for dinner in town. We all decided to eat at Treyvard's. On the way back we had an unplanned stop at Ross Castle which sits on the shore of the lake. It was very pretty in the setting sunlight.