It is so sad to leave Malcolm and June this morning. The worst part of this trip has been saying goodbye to precious friends! We drive to Dublin to our accommodation in the new Days Hotel West Park and leave the car there. We catch the bus then to the Guinness Brewery. On the way we have to change buses but waiting at the bus stop is a pleasant experience. A local chats away to us and asks, “What do you call a woman who knows where her husband is 24 hours a day?” “A widow” he says laughing as though it’s the first time he’s heard the punch line! The Irish really do seem to be happy and love to talk. Continue reading →

We visit Waterford crystal this morning.  Waterford crystal is of course famous the world over and yes, it comes from Waterford in Ireland. We didn’t tour the factory but watched a video they present and explored the huge gift shop. Wow! There are some beautiful pieces, too fragile and expensive to bring home, even grandfather clocks in the beautiful carved and etched crystal. Waterford crystal is 35% lead. Continue reading →

Tonight is meeting night and we’ve necessary washing and shopping to do today. The meeting is very up building. Continue reading →

We drive to Cork today. It is the second largest city in Ireland (Dublin being the largest).It is showery and cool, however nice to look around some shops, something we haven’t really done on the whole trip. Our only visit to the famous Marks and Spencer department store is here in Cork and we make the enormous purchase of sandwiches and salad for lunch from their gourmet food section. Continue reading →