Interesting

 We went through security - and then had to go through the US security AND customs all while in Ireland.  

Thank goodness for business class and global entry as it was a very short wait!

The flight was great - smooth landing

We are now in Philly with a 5 hour layover

Heading home

 It’s been a fun but long 25 days.  We are both ready to be home

I get a few days to recover, then driving to Louisiana and on to Florida.

Shan, on the other hand, arrives home, sleeps a few hours, then is up and driving to Belton, TX for a horse show. She won’t have down time till the 7th 

Interesting that our gate “number” here in Dublin is USPC.   

My fingers are crossed that this airport has a Krispy Kreme like Edinburgh!

Till our next trip, wherever that may be - Italy, France, Netherlands, Singapore, Tahiti, or maybe back to London with Tiffany.  

You’ll just have to wait to find out!

Trinity College - in the rain

 Today was our walking tour of Trinity College along with viewing the Book of Kells and the long room.

The college is undergoing renovations etc so there was a fair amount of scaffolding. 

This guy was the provost and said women could attend over his dead body. Interestingly enough, the year he died the college admitted the first woman. 

Our guide was a student with a focus on geology - so of course we visited the geology building. Which was gorgeous 

From here we viewed the book of kells - was not allowed to take any pictures - but we did see it and it was opened to the first new page in decades. It was beautifully done and the colors were so vivid!

Then came the amazing long room. 

We tried to eat lunch but it was too early so we wasted about an hour then went back to this little italian place

Then we took the worst hop on hop off bus tour ever.  We both were so happy when we got off of it!

Had drinks at the hotel and will head out for dinner soon as we couldn’t get reservations at the nice restaurant here well - 9:30 but that’s too late for us to eat 

Tomorrow is a relaxing day - breakfast at hotel then off to the airport hotel and re-packing for our trip home on Monday

Dublin!

 Had a wonderful breakfast at Butler House the pastries here were head and shoulders better than every other place we have stayed.

Then we were off to Dublin. 1st up was to return the rental car and as a side note - I did amazing at the driving - although Shan may tell a different story - but she does scare easy :)

2nd was to get a taxi from the airport to our hotel - Shelbourne Hotel.  Traffic was incredibly bad and congested a 25 minute trip actually took almost an hour!

We finally made it!

There was a series on Amazon about this place.  It was a fun watch and made me want to stay here

It is beautiful and regal.  Shan and I looked around just a bit then -to quote Sheldon - had a preventing dinner

Then we were off to explore around the hotel.

 We stumbled upon Grafton St. and it was a happening place - people everywhere, street musicians, flower stands and shops. Was really neat

Look at those mounds of gelato!

After a bit we went back to the hotel and decided to have dessert for dinner again.  We had crème brûlée 

But the coolest accidental thing was the bar manager came to the floor with a bottle of champagne and a sword to open the champagne as a start to the weekend. 

We saw this Viking tour and are considering doing it tomorrow 

This was a party bus - hooting and hollering and everyone had a Viking hat on.  Seemed like fun

Kilkenny

 Another town that is cute as a button! 

 we went to view Kilkinney castle and it was lovely. However it was lived in until the early 1900s and was displayed as a late 1800s home so it felt more Downton Abbey than medieval castle.  But it was still beautiful  

These are pre-historic and were Gianormous. It was fashionable to have one of these as a conversation starter.

This is the oldest part of the castle - dates back to the 1200’s.  The windows are for shooting arrows through and the walls were about 6 feet thick

This is the ceiling in the oldest part 

Table they used in 1800 and 1900’s to lay the dead for their wake.  It was also the room where guests entered. The table weighs close to a ton

We had dinner just down the street - really good meal - filet of beef and prawns   Shan enjoyed it so much she cleaned her plate!

We stayed at Butler house which is the dowager house for Kilkenny castle. It’s a lovely three story with the basement townhouses he typed the place with beautiful gardens in in the back that actually you can get to the castle from.

It’s a lovely three story with a basement town housing type a place with beautiful gardens in in the back that actually you can get to the castle from.

Breakfast this morning was really nice Shan and I sat there going wow could you imagine this being your dining room?.  It was a huge room with beautiful ceilings.  the breakfast was lovely and Missy actually ate a blueberry and didn’t die - ha ha

Our room - actually3 rooms with  a vestibule was great

Waterford

 What a cute little town! Stayed at a nice place on the river right in the middle of everything.  Checked in yesterday and started walking around.  We ended up at Waterford crystal - ya know - to check out the retail store before our tour today. It was glorious - so many beautiful things to see - 

Retail store

So we woke up and off we went to our tour of the Waterford factory.  The tour was amazing. The explanations and show and tell we’re top notch.  

Did you know that Waterford crystal shut down - dissolved - went kaput in 1851.  Something about a famine.   And it stayed closed until someone revived it in 1951 - that’s right no Waterford crystal for 100 years. 

Another tidbit is there is a US flag flying out front because the US is the largest customer. We buy more crystal than anyone else!

All pieces are hand blown.  The blob on the end of this will be cut off as it’s the part the holds the glass to the pole

These are schematics of designs the cutters use. It tells them what to do

This piece is called the apprentice bowl. It contains all the cuts Waterford uses.  Once a person finishes their apprenticeship - which takes 8 years - they have to create this bowl in 8 hours.  It’s their final exam. 

Watching a cutter cut in the design on a bowl.  The only designs that are made by a machine are circular - circles etc.  everything else down to a candlestick holder are crafted by hand

This shows how the “markers” put guidelines on pieces to help the cutters

And the piece de’ resistance - the NCAA championship crystal football !

The other videos are too long to post 

After this amazing experience we wandered over to the Silver museum.  

Shan with her crown on

From here we headed toward Kilkenny