Last day.... make it count

Another busy day. Our last chance to see things in Ireland. We headed out of Kilkenny towards the Wicklow Mts but then we took a slight detour back a little bit to see Jerpoint Abbey. It was well worth the backtrack! Stunning ruins. From 1169 it’s just astonishing that these massive and ornate structures were made without modern tools. After our wandering was complete, we got back on he road and back to our original plans. Our next stop was Glendalough. We saw a monastic city from the 6th century. There is a large crops there called St. Kevin’s Cross. A local legend surrounding St. Kevin’s Cross says that anyone who can wrap their arms around the entire width of the cross body and close the circle by touching fingertips will have their wishes granted. No wishes granted for me. Fingers couldn’t touch. Then we took a walk to see a lake. Last stop of the day was Powerscourt. We just bought a ticket to see their garden. The roses were gorgeous!  The yellow and white ones smelled soooo sweet. We walked around there before getting a small bite- including my beloved Carmel square. Then it was time to head to our hotel. Last night in Ireland- sleeping in a castle (well technically our room is  in a part added to the castle but.... still a castle). Early morning tomorrow to drop off car and get to the airport. Sad to leave the beautiful scenery of Ireland but looking forward to my bed..... and my feet are looking forward to doing nothing for awhile :)

Crystal, Vikings and ale

Almost done with the trip and we piled in as much as we could today. First we headed out to Waterford.  It was a short drive from Kilkenny. Seeing the Waterford factory was our main objective. They had a great tour, lots of background info. and we could see up close people working. It’s amazing the skills the people have to create such delicate art. It was great to get so close to see them do it. It ended in the show room where temptation lay waiting. Helped the economy a bit and then we went to the church and Reginald’s tower. We ended by doing ‘the Viking experience’. IT WAS AMAZING. You get virtual reality glasses and it takes you through the history of the Vikings in Waterford. The ‘viking’ who helped us must have a blast watching everyone’s reaction. I know I let out a few squeals,comments, and moved out of the way of incoming things. It wasn’t super long- maybe 18 mins or so?  The stop was an unexpected surprise. Really fantastic. Then we headed back to Killarney and we crammed in as much as we could. If I was an ale drinker I would have been excited because we went to Sullivan’s (I did enjoy their pizza). You can’t find Sullivan’s everywhere in Ireland so the ladies were happy to be there. We also went to Swithwick’s. We were too late for the ‘experience’ (tour) which was a bit of disappointment but the ladies were able to get a flight of their ales so it was an ok alternative. We also hit up the castle, some churches ate at an old bank now restaurant and did a ghost tour (that wasn’t so scary). Feet were definitely sour at the end of the day. Almost 20,000 steps for me. Twisted my foot on some cobblestone one too many times so it’s a bit sore and makes me hobbly. One more day then it’s homeward bound.