 |
| Sunday April 29th |
| It truly was a short night for sleeping but Bob and dad got up early to meet Brian at the airport at 7:30 in the morning. Smuggled Brian in for the chloresteral breakfast and then took him for a quick walking tour . We left the Portobello at noon on our way to Tramore, stopping in Enniscorthy for lunch. Once in Tramore, we stayed at the Cliffhouse Bed and Breakfast, with a beautiful view of St. George's Channel. After check-in, the proprietress, Hillary, asked us if we were going on a hooley I don't think anyone figured out the real meaning of this word, but we are pretty sure it has something to do with drinking a lot of Guinness. |
 |
| Cliffhouse |
| At this point, having heard all of Ken's jokes, we decided to number them so he wouldn't have to go through his entire repertoire - he would then just have to say the number of the joke he wanted to tell. Number 22 always got big laughs, but who could forget number 35? Had a great pub dinner at the Sea Horse Pub. After dinner we all walked down to the quay and had a great conversation with the local fishermen. |
 |
| Monday April 30th |
| We left the Cliffhouse this morning and began our way to find the Waterford crystal factory. We were just starting to feel the difficulty of having 2 cars and keeping each one in tune with the other as we got lost. Bob had thought of this back in Pennsylvania and purchased 2 walkie talkies. These were to come in very handy throughout our excursions. Anyway after many wrong turns and radio corrections we finally found our way. We took a tour of the plant and watched the artisans make the glass, from the hand blowing to the etching. At the end of the tour, a great deal of Albin money was left in Waterford. |
 |
 |
| Next stop was Blarney Castle, Northwest of the city of Cork. After kissing the stone I had to wonder why they put it in such an awkward spot. Then we left for Kinsale where we would spend the night at Hillside B&;B. The town of Kinsale was about 1 km down a beautiful country road. We walked each way under a bright silvery moon. The first beers of the evening were had at the Mad Monk Pub. Then we had an excellent dinner at Jim Edwards. A few more pints, a cigar and then we called it a night. |
 |
 |
| Mad Monk Pub |
| Saturday April 28th |
| Waking up at the Portobello Hotel, we had the big, greasy all-the-meat-you-can-eat breakfast. What a way to get the arteries pumping!! After leaving the hotel, we walked thorough St. Stephen's Green, where all the tulips were in bloom. On walking through the Green, we came upon the National Art Museum and went in for a look. Then, it was time to find "a good cup of coffee and a nice piece of cake". |
 |
| Once we replenished ourselves, some with Guinness, some with caffeine, we went to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells, an 8th century manuscript of the four gospels, inscribed in Latin on vellum parchment. The books of Matthew and Luke were on display along with two smaller bibles. Just upstairs from the Book of Kells, is the old library of Trinity College called The Long Room, which we walked through. |
 |
| That night, we had dinner at the Knight's Bridge Pub located along the Liffey. We listened to a great three piece band that performed many traditional Irish songs and watched three Celtic dancers. From there we went to O'Shea's Pub. There, we saw an Irish band playing American Country music! The last stop of the night was the Brazen Head, Ireland's oldest pub, established in 1198. Hard to believe we got all that done in one day!! |
 |
 |
| At about 1:30 AM the fire alarm went off throughout the hotel. You talk about a chinese fire drill, we experienced it. people were coming out of their rooms trying to find out what is going on and the hotel staff don't know what to tell us. Turns out it had something to do with the gas lines. Fire trucks, Guarda et all. Back to bed at 2:30. |
 |
| Brian kissing stone |
 |
| Tramore Fisherman |
| After Dinner at the Sea Horse |