Nearing the finishing line

That old Irish blessing about the road rising up to meet you was uppermost in my mind as we set out from Waterford this morning.  It was overcast and slightly drizzly and we hoped it would dry up soon.

Our journey took us directly past the village of Avoca, which Lesley will recognise, I’m sure!  We thought we’d take a break there and maybe take a look around the factory.

Sadly, we timed our arrival at the same time as several coach parties – aaaagh!

We sweet talked a member of staff to take us around though and she did a great job at giving us a personal tour.  Oh, the colour!

She showed us the range of different fibres used in the mill, plus a couple which are no longer in production.

Next came the weaving shed.  This chap was weaving nine scarves at once, the warp separated by a plain thread which could be removed later.

This huge roll of warping thread was being taken to the power looms, which was our next stop.

Oh….I was hoping for something colourful.  Brown?

Well, this was better…

Aha…that was best of all!  Oooh, love that waste coming off the edges

Throughout the tour, we spotted small cards on the walls – we love the spirit; the design ethos here.

Someone here has a great eye and a sense of humour!

We’ve visited several Avoca locations already of course, so the shop wasn’t our main focus, but we took a quick look before moving on and leaving all those coach party people in the queue for the loo.

Our next stop was the Powerscourt Estate, where we looked forward to visiting the gardens.  By lunchtime, the sun had come out and we had a glorious blue-sky afternoon.  Perfect.

The house is nothing special but the gardens are remarkable.  What’s more, although there were many people here, there was still space to lose them all!

I really liked the Japanese garden, which was reminiscent of the garden Jane and Allan took us to in Florida last year, though this was definitely an “English” Japanese Garden.

Some creatures were buzzier than others.

I also loved the wet and drippy moss garden, where the water just dripped through the plants in a cool, shady corner.

There was a rather more energetic flow of water at the Powerscourt Falls, just up the road, where some were picnicking and others simply seeing how near the water they could get.

Feeling a little weary by now, we decided it was time to find what was to be the last hotel of our trip; to go and settle in and put our feet up for an hour so so before dinner.  Sadly, rather than the comfortable country house hotel we’d expected, we found ourselves at a rather faded wedding venue, with a view of what looks like a housing project rather than the lush green scenery we’d imagined.  I won’t identify it now – we are still here – but suffice to say we have cancelled tomorrow night and will head back into Dublin for the last night of our trip, where we can look forward to a last evening of craic and a fully functional bathroom.

Not only that, we read in tonight’s paper that Avoca will be sold to a US food giant.  We feel rather sad about that.

Waterford Treasures

We chose to have a car free day today and planned to explore the historic part of Waterford and the three museums which are so highly recommended.

We began at Reginalds Tower where the story of Waterford begins.  Here, we received a warm welcome and the same happy news we’ve heard here and there throughout our trip – English Heritage cards allow for free admission.  What a bargain!  Except that for some reason, the reciprocal arrangement doesn’t work – the Irish Heritage members have to pay as normal when visiting English Heritage properties, which doesn’t seem right somehow.  Perhaps I need to write a letter…

Anyway, here, we climbed another steep spiral staircase to the top, where we watched a good, clearly told video story of the beginnings of the city.  A few remaining Viking treasures are displayed here in a really well crafted display.

One of the most important is this Kite Brooch from the twelfth century.  Not much more than an inch or so across, I’d have liked to have taken a closer look at the construction – I’m wondering if it’s hinged in some way, to operate like a clasp?  Or perhaps there’s just some kind of pin on the underside.

All three of the Museums are within a small triangle of the city so it was only  short walk from the tower to our next stop in the chronology, the Medieval Museum.

Here, a guided tour was available on the hour, so we joined half a dozen others and set off with Teresa, who gave us a great overview of the main exhibits in this modern structure.

We started in the cellar and worked our way up, learning a little about the most treasured items in the collection as we went.  Here, amidst the stories of Kings and Queens lay the long Waterford Charter Roll.  I was struck by the way in which the pictures and text “pages” were sewn together in a kind of free form way and thought it really creative to combine so many pieces in this way.  Nothing new under the sun, eh?

Glass surfaces and bright spotlights don’t make for the best photos, but it’s better than nothing!

The other lovely thing here was this ring, a 13th century piece of gold with four glass stones set in it, to be worn as a brooch and said to be the oldest such piece in Europe.

 

Actually, I almost forgot another of the treasures (what a good thing I take pictures!)  This was Henry VIII’s hat!  Embroidered with Marguerite daisies, it’s beautifully preserved if a little faded (it was red) and a really great shape for wearing with a crown (as you do). 

Perhaps the greatest of the treasures were downstairs, however.  A set of cloth of gold embroidered vestments donated to the church in the late 15th century and the only full surviving set, we were told.   Remarkably well preserved, they had been hidden during a time of disturbance, each one placed carefully in a metal chest and buried underneath the cathedral.  Only found over a hundred years later when the church was reconstructed, the air and water tight chests had preserved the vestments perfectly.

The colours were still surprisingly bright.

The detail upon each one incredible.  I was also pleased to see them so well displayed, well lit and able to be seen from all directions.  What treasures.

Close by was the chest in which one had been found.  Having completed the tour, we returned to our favourite things to take photos before noticing that it was raining pretty hard outside.  A good job we’d brought our raincoats and umbrellas, then.  We looked forward to visiting the last of the three museums, but even though we had enjoyed a terrific Irish breakfast this morning, complete with porridge served with a slug of Muldoon’s and a pouring of cream over it (!) we were getting a little peckish and in need of a sit down. 

So we went over to the Bishops Palace and enjoyed a spot of lunch before the first afternoon tour began.

 

We were greeted by Mr Whatwhy in the hall of the palace.  A charming man with a distinct Irish twinkle in his voice, he gave us some of the background to the building before introducing us to Mrs Rickard, the housekeeper.  What a delightful pair they were!

I think I’ve said before how awkward I find interacting with re-enactors, but these two were incredible.  Between them, they told the story of the house and the contents in lovely lilting Irish voices. 

Of course, there was plenty of Waterford Crystal to be seen, including a full dinner service set out on the dining table.

Leaning casually on the case containing the world’s oldest surviving piece, Mr Whatwhy entertained us all with his stories and a wealth of information.

My favourite piece had been the front door lock, which is a work of art in itself, don’t you think?

So that just about wraps it up for the city of Waterford.  It has proved to be the surprise of the trip – we had no idea there were quite so many riches to be found in such a small area and have loved finding out about them all.  Tomorrow, we’ll drive to our last stop of the trip and hope the weather will improve for us to enjoy the countryside and small towns of Wicklow.

Keep your fingers crossed for us please.

I think it’s Wednesday

But really, I’m not quite sure.

We set out from Cork this morning to drive the short distance to Blarney Castle.

We were there in no time at all and as we parked the car, we spotted the first of several coaches coming through the gates.  We lost no time in getting to the ticket office then, aiming to reach the entrance before the hordes.  Whilst we stood in the queue however, they all sailed through a different gate and our hearts sank as we imagined the wait…

I’m sure you’ll already have guessed where we were headed?

High up on the ramparts of the castle was the Blarney Stone, accessed by means of the narrowest of spiral staircases, from where the queue started for a chance to kiss it.

We hurried through the gardens to the castle, spotting the very first “no drones” sign along the way.  Interesting, that! We climbed the steep stone steps, realising as we went that most of the coach party wouldn’t have been able to make it up there, to the least accessible of places.  Sure enough, when we reached the top, there were just twenty people in front of us. It wasn’t that we were in a rush, simply that we didn’t want to waste our whole morning standing in a line.

At least it gave us a chance to see what was what, how it worked and what one needed to do.  More to the point, we could see how much help was offered – or not.

A set of rubber car mats were laid out by the hole in the wall and the potential kisser needed to lie down upon them and allow the chap in the red anorak to push them backwards and under the stone, to enable them to do a kind of sit up and kiss the stone above them.  Having done so, Mr Red Anorak would pull them forwards again to get up quickly so the next person could take their turn.  All rather physical, not desperately comfortable and heaven knows what infections are shared in the process!

I decided to keep my lurgy to myself.  I didn’t fancy being pulled and shoved backwards through a hole in the wall high above the ground and my Hero had promised at least one friend that he wouldn’t do anything which might make him still more talkative.  But our two friends had come half way around the world to do this, so we supported, photographed and congratulated them before returning the way we’d come and reflecting what a rip off it is.  We stood and watched those in the queue behind us and discussed what they might have done differently had they but known…

On the way back down, we imagined we’d look at other parts of the castle…except there were none.  Basically, it’s simply a tower with a few empty “rooms”. So, we made our way back to the car park and over to the Blarney Woollen Mill which came highly recommended by the staff at our hotel a couple of nights ago.

Now, we’ve perused one or two “Irish” shops and are beginning to feel familiar with the kinds of items we’re likely to find there.

Sure enough, here were the woollen blankets.

Errrmmmm, the leprechauns…

The aran sweaters…and so on.  Exactly the same as we’ve seen everywhere else, just in greater quantity!  We decided we needed nothing more than a cup of coffee and having satisfied that need, we jumped in the car and headed off to our next destination.

We were heading to Waterford, about an hour and a half away.  A police roadblock aroused our curiosity but thankfully we sailed through that one and continued on our merry way.

If there’s anything we’ll remember from driving around this part of Ireland it will be the glorious views of distant hills.  Layer upon layer of hills in this case.

Oh, and wide stretches of water which we can never be sure are sea or lough.  And yes, those skies.  The skies with clouds.  Plenty of clouds at times!

Shortly after lunchtime we were there in Waterford.  Having checked into our hotel, it was time to take a look around.

The Medieval city centre is quite compact and our immediate impressions were good.  Here was a city with life and spirit, in better shape than we’d found Cork to be and with an instant charm and kerb appeal.

We walked a while, spotting interesting things on walls.  Who knew?

Fancy, Frederick Douglass came here too!  He was one of the ongoing themes of our Road Trip last year and has continued to pop up here and there in all kinds of surprising places.

We were heading across the road, hoping to get there before that big black cloud deposited a rain shower upon us.

It’s the Waterford Crystal Centre and though we’d read that production was no longer focused here in Ireland, there is still a strong presence here and we looked forward to taking a look around.

We spent half an hour or so in the showroom whilst waiting for our tour to begin, admiring some of the displays, confirming to ourselves that some of the things were simply not our style and making a small purchase!

I took a few photographs of cut glass patterns, imagining them as quilting designs.

Our tour began at the start of the manufacturing process, with the wooden moulds created for the one-off, special pieces.  These would be soaked in water before what is likely to be the one single use, because most were for commemorative pieces, trophies or awards and it’s these special pieces which appear to be the main product of the Waterford base.  So, we spotted the mould from the Irish Open Golf amongst others.

I always love the design process and the sight of drawings on the desk drew me over.  This design is for an American football trophy.

Every cut is calculated and drawn out on these one off, complex pieces and a custom made mould constucted.

Next, we were in the factory, watching craftsmen blow the glass into the mould to create the piece.

This piece is being moulded in a standard shape, so a metal mould is used.  It will then go into a temperature controlled oven and be cooled very slowly indeed to prevent it breaking.

Once cooled, it goes into the finishing process and the quality carefully checked.

This man is finishing the rim of the glass, inside and out.  It’s a slow and labour intensive process.

Anything with an air bubble or slight inconsistency is rejected.

The rest goes to be marked up.  Some of the more complex patterns are drawn freehand and the one off pieces have every single cut marked.

The cutters serve a long apprenticeship and are very skilled in cutting the patterns.  Working on a glass appeared intricate, but not as difficult as…

cutting a larger piece! 

Other pieces were cut by a computer controlled cutter, in a cabinet.

Finally, we were able to see some examples of the finished work, following engraving, sandblasting and polishing.

It was really interesting and with one last look at the craftsman putting the finishing touches to the Barclays golf trophy, we gathered our things and took one last look around the showroom.  (Hope the trophy holds together this year )

Just across the road we found the Church of Ireland cathedral so popped our heads around the door for a look around.  It was a beautiful space with a lovely, peaceful atmosphere and sure enough, a set of exquisite Waterford Crystal chandeliers.

From there, we wandered back to the hotel, spotting another interesting wall plaque along the way.

Finally, we popped into the Catholic cathedral, the roof of which we can see from our room.  Another lovely, peaceful space.

Sure enough, there too was a fine set of chandeliers to admire.

We plan to explore a little more of Waterford tomorrow, when I anticipate sight of a few more bits of crystal.  For now, we’ll make the most of our last few days in Ireland and hope the sunshine will hold out.

Oíche Mhaith!

Moving on

Sure enough, we woke to sunshine and blue sky this morning.  Wow.

We enjoyed our breakfast watching the ever changing clouds, looking forward to driving over the mountains just once more on our way to Cork this morning.  Since Padraig had delivered such terrific advice yesterday, it was he to whom we turned when deciding which way to go.

So rather than take the quickest route, we chose to meander a little, to see the scenery and a few small towns.  First of all, though, we encountered exactly the same parade of horses on our way into Killarney as we had yesterday.  Almost like being at home!

Up on the road towards Molls Gap, we stopped at the Ladies’ View again but this time without the tour coaches and the hordes of people.  This morning, we had the view almost to ourselves and oh my, was it a stunner.

Our first stop was Avoca, where we knew we’d find some yummy bits for our picnic lunch.  We can’t seem to pass one of these stores by without taking another look, petting another blanket and yes, making a purchase or two.

I took special note of the pansy pinny, Lesley, to see if the brand label on the front was removable but no, it’s printed on the fabric and like you, I thought it was way too prominent and spoiled the effect.

We continued beyond Kenmare to Bonane, where we spotted a sign to a stone circle.  Shall we go and see it?  Yes!  Why not?

We parked the car and prepared to walk when the chap in the ticket office opened the gate and suggested we drive up the hill to the stones. It wasn’t an easy drive but we made it and jumped out to take a look.

Errrrm…where might the stones be, then?

(up another pathway, around the corner, actually!)

Well, it wasn’t quite Stonehenge but it was interesting and the views from this hillside location were stunning.

Across the way was the cooking area with information about how it would have looked in use.

Just as well, really, because my imagination doesn’t stretch so far.  But having seen the illustration, I could see the earthworks clearly.

One last thing up here remained: A famine ruin.  This would have been a cottage, home to a family of 8 but abandoned when the potato famine struck in the middle of the 19th century.  This area was especially hard hit and we read that there are several similar such ruins in the area.  Dreadful.

As we drove back down to the entrance to the site, we passed several people walking up the hill, having parked their car at the bottom.   What had we done to deserve special treatment we wondered?  But whatever it was, we appreciated it and as we approached the now closed gate, the custodian, Andrew, leapt to his feet and opened it up for us, offering a friendly wave as we went on our way, once he’d persuaded me to go and write a comment in his visitors’ book, that is!

Maybe Andrew was having the last laugh as he watched us turn left out of the site and not return the way we’d come, to the right?  Whatever. In a short time we were climbing a steep, single track gravel road up the hill towards the Priest’s Leap summit.

It might have been a bit hair raising for both driver and passengers at times, but once up there, we couldn’t believe the view!  We were lucky to pass just one vehicle on the way up and were thankful to be near a passing place when we spotted it coming towards us – Mary, the Weston Prayer continues to work wonders

Of course, some of us were distracted from the main event by other interesting things, like this chunk of layered rock covered in little star shaped plants and mosses and looking like a rather hefty mille-feuille.

But of course, it was the view which predominated.  This had been a lucky detour, even if it was accidental. 

Leaving the sheep (and their mess) behind, we began the way down, hardly believing our eyes as a lone cyclist came huffing and puffing to the summit.  We waved and expressed our admiration and encouragement as he carried on, not even stopping to admire the view at all!

 

By the time we reached the end of the road, we’d had enough – or perhaps, more accurately, my Hero was ready for a little stress-free driving for a while.

We found the charming Mannings Emporium before too long and with a fresh chorizo and mozzarella tortilla just out of the oven decided that it would be the perfect addition to our picnic.

A short time later, we found a picnic spot, so with the most elegant of tablecloths (today’s Irish Examiner) we unpacked the goodies and tucked in.

We had a great view from here too and judging from the pair of sandals left on the wall, were not the first to enjoy the outlook.

From there, it was an easy drive into Cork and feeling safe in the capable hands of my hero and Ellis the co-pilot, the back seat passengers might have taken the opportunity to take a few winks  

Perhaps discovering a new city for the first time in the late afternoon isn’t the best idea, for Cork didn’t immediately endear itself to us.

Though there were plenty of people around, there simply didn’t appear to be the same wealth of interesting buildings and atmosphere we’ve come across everywhere else.  We were all pretty pleased we’d stayed the extra night in Killarney, I can tell you!

By the time we did come across some interesting places, they were closed.  Shame.

I did admire these graffiti portraits though, because on closer inspection, they were done in a very clever style.

Very original, very skilful, I thought.

There was one other interesting feature we spotted whilst walking.  Though the street consisted of a simple row of shops, between each was a doorway and on the pavement, a sign bearing the name of a lane.  Perhaps there still was a lane behind those doorways or maybe the sign is just indicative of how it used to be?

This evening, we dropped into The Oliver Plunkett for supper and a bit of craic.

The live music was great, full of spirit!

The dancers were a bonus, too!  We had front row seats here in the pub and had another opportunity to marvel at their skill over a pint of Murphys tonight – well, we are in Cork, after all.

Out on a jaunt

I’m glad to report that the Road Trip reserve supplies are holding up well here in Killarney. The huge bag of assorted mint humbugs are is steadily emptying, the bag of wires and cables has so far proved totally useless in connecting Ellis’ ipod to either of the cars though.  The Benylin was replenished today, which hopefully means my presence won’t be heard from quite so much of a distance.  Yes, my “holiday cough” is proving pretty resistant to all efforts right now.

For this, our “bonus day” here, we’d sought the advice of Padraig, the concierge for the best way to see some of the area.  He laid out a framework for the day which we followed almost to the letter, starting at Ross Castle, just up the lake from our hotel.

Now, Padraig had recommended we hire a boat for ourselves rather than take one of the larger, scheduled services but looking at the motley assortment of leaky tubs moored along the riverside, we began to question his judgement.  Surely not?

Thankfully, as soon as we turned the corner our fears were dispelled.  Charlie, avid Liverpool FC supporter and owner of The Otter introduced himself and offered to take us up the lake taking exactly the route Padraig had suggested.  It could all have been planned!

In a short time, having donned life jackets and settled ourselves into the spacious Otter, we were passing by our hotel, sending positive and appreciative vibes to Padraig for such a brilliant suggestion.  Another overcast day, but no matter, we were out in the open and enjoying the brisk lake breezes.

 

Here and there, we spotted folks out and about around the lake too.  We’re in the Killarney National Park and there are pathways and tracks all over.

Enjoying Charlie’s lively chatter about life, Liverpool and the Lake Leane, we were soon approaching the Bricin Bridge.

Through the other side, we spotted Dinis Cottage and we were glad that Charlie steered The Otter to the jetty so that we could go and take a closer look.

Whilst he enjoyed “a coffee and a valium”, we went inside and spent a delightful ten minutes chatting to the three women running the coffee shop there.  They pointed out the window panes, autographed by generations of visitors to the cottage since the 18th century and sent us off again armed with hot drinks and a smile on our faces.

“The Meeting of the Waters” is a small network of water channels which join the three lakes.  Rather shallower than the lake itself, we needed to spread ourselves about a bit in order to get through.  Though I noticed a pole in the bottom of the boat, I hardly thought Charlie would be quite so eager to get out and push as our boatman in Burma had been a few months ago!

The water was so still, the air so peaceful as we chugged our way though, past another heritage bridge and a heron standing so still, it would have been easy to mistake it for a garden ornament.

Our cameras were working hard!

Back out on the lake, though, things were getting a little squally.  We were glad that we were nearly back at Ross Castle and not just setting out on our adventure!  We were also glad we’d had the boat (and Charlie) to ourselves, to do exactly as we wished.

Back at the Castle, Charlie probably needed to go and have a lie down and having thanked him for a great trip, we thought we’d take a look inside.  Sadly, we’d just missed a tour and with the next one not scheduled for almost an hour, we decided to give it a miss and continue straight on to our next venue.

We’d seen Muckross House from the lake and Charlie had told us the story of the owners and their troubles, following a visit from Queen Victoria.  No expense had been spared in planning and preparation for her visit in the six years preceding her arrival though Prince Albert’s untimely death shortly afterwards meant that the poor Herbert Family were soon forgotten and all their efforts to curry favour with the Royal family came to nought.  Bankruptcy soon followed.

We learned more about the house as we toured inside with Horatio, our eloquent and very energetic guide.  No photos allowed, unfortunately, and sadly, none on the website either, so you will simply have to imagine the Victorian country house interiors until you can visit to see for yourself!

After a quick cuppa, we thought we’d make our way to the Jaunting Cars to sort out the last part of our adventure.  As we walked in front of the house, though, a soft Irish voice asked “Would you be interested in a ride to the falls?”  Patrick led us to his Jaunting Car and introduced us to the second Charlie of the day – his horse – before helping us into the car and offering us warm, woollen knee blankets.  So comfortable and cosy!

Off we set, through the woods towards the waterfall, along a well travelled path which was thankfully smooth and comfortable to ride.  We chatted to Patrick as we travelled, enjoying his gentle Irish humour in the same way as we had enjoyed Charlie’s this morning.

When there was a clearing in the trees, something worth noting or photographing, Patrick would bring the car to a stop and give us chance to get the cameras going.  The lake was looking particularly lovely in the late afternoon.

A little further, we joined another jaunting car and passengers to snap this red deer enjoying an afternoon snack.

We stopped for long enough to spot the female deer (and sing the song) too.

But it was himself who captured the attention, needless to say.

Arriving at the falls, Patrick suggested we go and take a closer look, issuing the Irish advice of “Take your time…but don’t be long”!!

On the return journey, we looked for the deer once more but they were gone.

We simply sat back and enjoyed the ride.  What fun!

We were soon back at Muckross and once Charlie had had a drink, Patrick jumped down and took photos for us.  As he did, a small boy came along to ask about “this stinky horse” (!) and we smiled as we listened to the conversation between the two of them. 

Last stop of the day then was Killarney town centre,  where we pottered around a little.

The streets are clogged with traffic

and souvenir shops…

so we went and ate ice cream.  Gin flavoured ice cream, to be exact!  Delish.

This evening, we ate in the Brasserie again before returning to our room to watch the Rose of Tralee competition on the TV.

The view from our room this evening is lovely and I hope that it bodes well for tomorrow, when we’ll leave Killarney and County Kerry to drive to Cork, our next stop.

See you there!