Friday, 1st August     CASHEL - GOLDEN - WATERFORD

Robyn writes: August? How can it be August already???? But August it is, and here in Ireland it's a Bank Holiday weekend. This means that there will be people everywhere and parking will be at a premium wherever we go! We've been very lucky with the weather once more today - the forecast was for a maximum of 18 and rain, but there's hardly been any rain at all, and it's been up around 22 for quite a bit of the day, so very pleasant.

Today is our last full day in Tipperary, so this morning (after the usual lovely breakfast) we headed out to make the most of it. Our first stop was back to the Thompson's ancestral village of Golden, where I wanted to go to the agricultural museum there. This turned out to be a real experience! The man we met (his wife, who usually runs it, was out) was definitely shades of my Great-Uncle Harry Labudda - a real collector. They have assembled a huge amount of old farming equipment and memorabilia from all around the Golden area, so I was especially interested in the type of tools the farmers such as my great-great-grandfather would have used on his farm. Most of the stuff they had was from the 1900s but it was still very interesting and Liam himself was such a character - we were invited in for a cuppa and a great chat and it was after midday before we left there! Unfortunately apparently the best of their old agricultural pieces are currently off at a local show being displayed there, but we still had a great time poking around it all.

Old farm machinery



Us at the musuem



I loved the collection of tractor seats up on the wall - all painted in the correct colours, Liam assured us!

Liam and Lex at the old 'bar'

From there, we were heading into Waterford, down near the coast. This was about an hour's drive away, so we got to see a lot of lovely new scenery along the way. We found parking in Waterford quite easily (it's quite a big city and there are heaps of big car parks stretching right along the river front there) and went to look for lunch. This was in a lovely little cafe nearby called Thirty Three The Mall, which is the very spot the Irish Tricolour was first raised in 1848 by Thomas Meagher. He was a real character - an Irish nationalist fighter who was sent to Tasmania as a convict, escaped from there to America and ended up becoming a US citizen, fighting for the North, leading a brigade of Irishmen and becoming a Civil War hero!



Cool bridge we went past heading into Waterford

Thirty-Three the Mall, where we had lunch

Following lunch, we went across to the famous Waterford Crystal Factory, and booked in for a tour (13 Euros each). This was really interesting to see how all of their products are still man-made. In this day and age it's nice to know that real craftsmen still exist. Even more exciting is that this month several new apprentices are starting so the craft will continue. We went right through the factory seeing all of the stages and watching the craftsmen blowing, moulding, cleaning and then cutting the crystal. They were very nice and happy to answer any questions too. When the tour had finished, we had a look around the shop at some of the amazingly expensive items you can buy (anyone for a crystal grizzly bear at 30 000 Euros?!) I was looking at their crystal vases about the same size of the one Mum and Dad gave me a few years ago, and they were about 600 Euros!!! Will take very good care of the one I have! We decided we needed a piece to remember the day, so chose the 'Edythe' bud vase, which is now being sent home to Emerald. It will be a lovely souvenir of our Irish visit!

"I'll just have one glass, thanks...."  -  the world's largest champagne flute!

They use wooden moulds for special orders (this one was for the Irish Open Trophy) and cast iron for the set items.

Shaping

Blowing it into the mould

Cutting the glass. This man was really nice and let me come into the area and hold the glass when he'd finished cutting the base.



An amazing array of special items

Our "Edythe" bud vase!

After our factory tour, we went for a walk around the city centre, which is often called "The Viking Triangle". There is a huge round Viking tower dating back to the 1100s and in front of that is a replica Viking boat (Vikings were big in Waterford!) and a Franciscan friary. We enjoyed a wander around the CBD and along the river front, then our parking was up, so we had to head back to the car at 5 o'clock.

By the Suir River

Old Franciscan Friary



 Reginald's Tower and the Viking replica boat

Seaside fun in 18 degrees at Dunmore East with a stiff breeze blowing. Brrr!



We went over the cool bridge coming back! Unfortunately it turned out to be a toll road, which our satnav hadn't told us - cost us 2 Euros for this photo....

Tea time in Carrick-on-Suir

We decided to drive down towards the sea to actually see the Irish Sea, so (after a while stuck in Friday afternoon traffic), we finally made it down to the little seaside town of Dunmore East, where, despite it being about 18 degrees with a wind blowing straight off the Arctic, there were families frolicking in the water and on the sand! Then we drove around to have a look at Tramore, and finally headed home. It was getting late by this stage, so we stopped in Carrick-on-Suir for tea - we had a lovely Chinese meal at the Far East there, then home to Cashel by about half past eight, just as the rain was setting in. It's now very overcast and drizzling/raining on and off, and once more it's very nice to be snug and warm inside! Tomorrow we are off to Ballydehob in Cork for a week - will be so good to be back self catering again, nice as our B&B has been.