(this narrative began from when I first landed in London on September 3, 2016)
Monday
September 12, 2016 (PART A):
Last night, we checked into the Granville Hotel in
Waterford, Ireland after having docked in Fishguard, Ireland earlier in the
evening.
The ferry boat ride was three and a half hours long,
as John Hood, our tour director, had told us.
My small purse conveniently broke just as we were boarding the ferry and
I had to buy a new one in a hurry.
Fortunately, I could - on the boat.
This Stena Line boat is built to carry cars, buses, trucks, and
people. Our bus just drove right on and
parked on deck three. The boat that
crosses St. George’s Channel from Wales to Ireland is eight decks high! It is, by far, the biggest boat I’ve ever
been on, so far.
In the Stena Line shop, besides a new small purse, I
bought a map of Britain and Ireland (so that John could mark the path of our
progress on it), a new novel called “The Girl on the Train”, and a jar of face
cream.
I also bought a fish-and-chip lunch on board and,
while eating it, I met a very cute and sexy Irishman who was maybe
forty-something named Richard and we chatted for a while. He was sitting with his two buddies next to
my table. He told me that he competes
internationally in shooting events. I
thought to myself, why can’t I meet a man
like him at home? I never have any luck
romantically. Finally, he and his
buddies left. He told me he gets seasick
when the ship is in motion, and the ship was just about to leave the port of
Newport. He needed to sleep in order to
cope with his seasickness.
Three and a half hours later, we docked at
Fishguard, Ireland and then proceeded to Waterford, Ireland where we were to
spend the night. We docked at 6:00 pm
and didn’t check into our hotel until almost 8:00 pm. Everything was fine at the hotel until a
security guard at the hotel knocked discreetly at my door around midnight and
asked me to turn my TV’s volume down, so of course, I did. I’d been watching the Rio 2016 Paralympics
like I had since September 7th and I guess I assumed other people
were too. But, I could’ve been
mistaken. Actually, I was so busy
writing postcards that I wasn’t paying much attention to the TV. At about 1:00 am, I went to bed and slept
like a baby through the night.
Monday
September 12, 2016 (PART B):
This morning, we visited the Waterford Crystal
factory and got the tour they offer. I
had no idea that so many different things could be created (blown or sculpted)
from glass!
After that, we drove to Blarney, Ireland and were on
our own for two hours there. I took lots
of pics of Blarney Castle and Gardens.
However, I did not climb the one hundred and twenty seven steps to the
top, so I did not kiss the Kissing Stone, a stone which apparently gives you
verbal courage (a gift of the gab, so to speak). Something tells me I wouldn’t have made it up
all those steps to kiss that stone!
Plus, I think I already have enough of a gift of the gab due to having
been a teacher!
After we left Blarney, we headed for Killarney,
Ireland where we’ll spend the next three nights! Hurray and thank God! We all need a break from daily
travelling! So, we’ve now checked into
the Scotts Hotel in Killarney. Tomorrow
morning, excursion # 3 will happen – the Lakes of Killarney and the Muckross
House adventure. I think it involves a
cruise, which is why I picked this excursion.
We will leave at 10:00 am after breakfast at 8:30 am and return to our
hotel by about 3:30 pm.
This what my itinerary tells me (and everyone else
on our tour) about this excursion: “A
full day to relax and join our optional excursion that includes a horse-drawn
jaunting car ride through Killarney National Park to Ross Castle, and a boat
ride to Innisfallen Abbey and across the lakes to Muckross House. After lunch on your own, the excursion
continues with a visit to the house and gardens, returning to your hotel
mid-afternoon. Later, walk to Scruffy’s
pub for DINNER and join the locals in an evening full of live, traditional
Irish music.”
Tuesday
September 13, 2016:
You wouldn’t believe what this excursion was
like! There were thirty-one of us
altogether. First, we were picked up
near the hotel by a series of horse and buggies (the jaunting cars) and taken
for a ride to Killarney National Park.
This park is huge – some twenty-five thousand acres! The first thing we saw was Muckross Castle – the
outside of it. Then, we were taken in a
series of motorboats for a ride on the Lakes of Killarney. Apparently, there are actually three fresh
water lakes that are linked. They are
fed by springs from the mountains surrounding them. We visited two of these lakes. This cruise lasted maybe half an hour, but it
seemed longer – what I mean is, time seemed to stand still. The weather was perfect out today and that
fact just enhanced our experience of this naturally beautiful wilderness in
Ireland. It was breathtaking.
After the cruise of the lakes, we visited Muckross
House, a house that used to belong to a rich family called Herbert during the
reign of Queen Victoria. We saw the
whole house from top to bottom. The tour
took maybe an hour. It was very
interesting to us that rich people lived so well and the poor working class
lived so poorly in those times. We
started to appreciate just how much work the servants had to do in that house
to please their master and mistress in order to keep their jobs and support
their families.
Tonight, we are going for dinner and drink(s) at a
nearby pub, and then we have the rest of the evening off. Tomorrow is excursion # 4 in Killarney, but I
am not participating in that one. We are
still at the Scotts Hotel for two more nights before we have to leave again.
One more thing – I found out that the hotel will get
my laundry done if I pay them fifteen Euro-dollars for the service. I jumped at the chance and turned in my very
full bag of dirty laundry as soon as we got back from our Lakes of Killarney
and Muckross House excursion. I will get
my clean laundry back tomorrow evening.
copyright 2016 - Anne Shier
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