Waterford and Blarney

Our first stop on the bus tour was at the Waterford Crystal Factory. Unfortunately, a few years ago, the company went into bankruptcy. The factory still makes some specialty goods but most of the glassware is now made in Eastern Europe. What remains are items like the People’s Choice Award.

We walked along watching the step-by-step process from firing the glass through etching the finished product.

This cutter showed such pleasure in his work that he claimed he would do it for free.

The etcher let Anna Lee lift a piece and she found it quite heavy.

This was the third glass blowing experience for us in five weeks, Museum of Glass in Tacoma, a small but very good operation in Auburn, and now Waterford. It’s a good thing we really enjoy glass art. Speaking of Tacoma, Waterford has a piece with a refracted finish created by Dale Chihuly on his visit a few years ago.

Our browsing through the store made our charge cards tingle but we resisted temptation.

We walked about Waterford for a bit taking pictures of historical objects like the statue of Meagher who created the Irish flag and lost one of the brief battles with the British.

Then it was on to Blarney where Jerry improved his gift of gab by kissing the stone. The castle is a fascinating relic well worth the climb.

We were fortunate to have blue skies making the views spectacular.

After settling in in Killarney we walked into town where a couple on the street recommended Stonechat, an excellent restaurant with delicious lamb shanks and seafood dishes.