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| Ireland / Scotland March 2003 |
| March 15: Waterford Waterford Crystal Cobh Cork Blarney Castle |
| A mistake - I caught the joke. It took the rest of the tour group a while to catch on... |
| Crystal/glass making/blowing |
| Cobh (pronounced like the word "cove") Cobh was a last-minute itinerary addition - based upon recommendations from the Bertch family. We stopped here for lunch on our journey from Waterford to Blarney Castle. Cobh was the last port of call for the Titanic and Lucitania, serendiptious facts we found while we were in the town. Additionally, this was the last city many Irish saw prior to immigrating to the U.S. and Australia. There is a heritage museum here that we did not have time to visit. |
| We spent the night at a B&B (rosey hell - a long story) near the Waterford Crystal Factory. We took the tour and then made some gift purchases, etc. It was interesting to learn about the amount of time (usually decades) that the workers spend as apprentices to learn to make the glass, pattern cuts, etc.. |
| View from atop Blarney Castle |
| We made it to Blarney Castle late afternoon the same day. Michelle & I journeyed to the top, where she kissed the Blarney Stone. I kissed the stone on my visit in '01. I didn't want to jinx my supposed 7 years of eloquent speech... From the top of the castle to the ground is approx. 150 feet. |
| Blarney Castle |
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| Select button for addt'l photos |
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| Glass cutting |
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| Climbing Stairs in the Castle |
| Kissing the Stone - View from Ground |
| Photos from Blarney Castle |
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| I also enjoyed cracking a lot of really dumb jokes on the scene. I received a lot of dirty looks from others. Nevertheless, others laughed and got the jokes. The lighting was odd - my camera doesn't take good photos in late afternoon light. |
| 3/15 |
| 3/15 |
| Select Date for photo page. |
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| Glass cutting |
| This is one of the spots where we all dropped $ on gifts. |
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| Scenary en route to Cobh |
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| Another View from atop Blarney Castle - dark due to poor light conditions (late afternoon) |
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