You break it and you buy it!

Priceless

The Mall in Waterford City (pronounced water-ferd) in the Republic of Ireland, is the home to some of the most brilliant and expensive crystal creations in the world. Each work is lovingly hand-crafted by expert glass blowers which can be seen in the main retail store in Waterford. Just be careful of what you touch.

J and L felt privileged to walk through the security process, yes, when there are pieces of crystal worth over one hundred thousand dollars, everyone goes through a screening. These are the same people who created the 2,668 little crystals which make the famous ball that drops each New Year's Eve in New York City's Times Square.

Ireland's Harp

This is serious money and a proud piece of Irish heritage.

The Man Who Would Be King

J an L wandered up and down aisles looking at this and that wondering what art work they should purchase with their precious Euros hoping the crystal would make it back to the good ole United States in the same shape as when we bought it.

A Thing of Beauty

The history of Waterford dates back to 1783 when a pair of brothers, William and George Penrose, started producing extremely fine flint glass. The brother's work became world renowned and very expensive.

The company closed its doors in 1851.

Five decades later the company reopened. However, as a result of  the large amount of talent which had left Ireland (fallout from the famine and much more) expert glass cutters were brought in from all over the European continent. The company struggled to remain afloat with the struggling Irish economy in the tank in the 1950's and was taken over as a subsidiary of the Irish Glass Bottle Company.

Yep, Waterford crystal was now made by the same people who put out soda bottles.

"Bottle of bubbling lime aide and crystal chandelier?" That could be more than one could afford.

In 1999 Jasper Conran started designing his own famous signature brand of Waterford. A very talented man that Conran was since it evolved into four unique lines of crystal as well as the fine bone china tableware for Wedgwood in 2001.

Cinderella's Crystal Carriage

Back on top - Waterford was!


Sadly, to this writer and explorer, most of the Waterford crystal is made outside of the Republic of Ireland, in Eastern Europe. Not that J and L have anything against that part of the world and plan to visit soon but the term Waterford means Ireland to us.

Oh yes, the little issue of the seahorse as the mascot for Waterford. Legend has it, and how we love legends and myths, that the factory manager planned it like that. Back in 1947,  Mr. Bill Dolfin believed there needed to be a trademark that would encompass what Waterford represented. Since Waterford had once been one of Ireland's busiest sea ports during the Middle Ages, the graceful and sculptured little equestrian of the sea seemed perfect.

We agreed so much that we dropped a princely sum for a twelve inch tall flower vase to sit and collect dust on our piano back home.


Houseguests - you break it and you buy it!

Another Mystery - ah, not so much!

While conducting the research for one of our previous blog entries (Conspiracies), we came upon some strange and other worldly markings on the hard packed dirt roads the fabulous Toyota FJ were taking us.

For hours the questions were thus:
Who had created such markings?
Where did they come from?
What did they mean?
How could they be there and no one has mentioned them?



Baffling to say the least.

Thoughts of Nazca came to mind from the trip to Peru years back when J and L, with daughters in tow, wondered if the natives had simply had an itch to scrape lines in the rocky surface so future generations would scratch their heads and ponder - huh? Or was it something more tantalizing from
space aliens that allowed them to have directions from the heavens above so they could land safely in their fire ships?

Conversations occurred. Answers pooh-pooed. More conversations happened and more answers that didn't pan out.

Nothing.

And one had to remember this was in range of Area 51. Anything was possible. What is the government hiding beneath our noses or at least our tire treads?

Suddenly the world awoke and there in front of us was the resolution of our verbal quest.

Yes, these wild burros like to follow each other nose to the other end of the head leaving a solid and distinctive path no matter the surface they traverse.These trails are followed religiously, though we're not sure what religion burros follow, day in and day out, leaving discernible markings.

What a let down for us wanna-be conspiracy hunters. But anyway - the truth was out there.



The burro (the Spanish word for donkey) did not come over from Europe until 1495 when Christopher Columbus brought a handful (rather large hand) to Hispaniola from whence they were transported here and there across the ever expanding empire until finally these beasts of burden ended up crossing the Rio Grande in 1598 with explorer Juan de Onate. They were then used for many purposes and some escaped (like all enslaved animals ultimately do) and bred in the wild. Thus populations of wild burros (and horses too) roaming the deserts of Nevada and other states in the southwest is not uncommon.

Really - that was the solution to another possible conspiracy? Sadly yes, and that's no manure.

Caisleann Bhun Raithe

Beautiful Ruins

Another Castle Stop!

Stealing a peek

Castle walls

We had seen so many castles in the Irish countryside that even the dauntless explorers, J and L, had to think three or four times before stopping by one of Ireland's premier tourist attractions. Thousand year old structures in the middle of the rolling green hills we had crawled through on hands and knees, clambered to parapets over broken stone circular stairwells, and even walked through an underground mud pit to flash a light into what was once a dungeon.

Looking down the upstaircase

Why would we want to pay 15 Euros to follow lines of visitors traipsing through a restored 15th century castle by the 7th Viscount Gort in 1956? But, then again why wouldn't we?

So, as we drove along the N19 road between Limerick and Ennis a stop in the center of Bunratty Village looked like a good idea.

Ratty River, Shannon Estuary

One of the better decisions, and there were a lot of them, during our summer trip to the green island. A chance to wander the grounds of an area reported to be one of the first Viking settlement/trader camps in the County Clare. According to local legend the settlement was destroyed by Brian Boru in 977 CE. With this story though no evidence of the settlement has been found but then again there is always tomorrow and  a possible bonanza archaeological dig.




We'll stick with the local tradition for now, much more romantic and deadly.

Walking through history is a trip not all can take but going from the 21st to the 15th century by simply slipping past a turnstile was well worth it.

Bunratty Castle

The weather was perfect for a pair of travelers making their way from one exhibit to another with the sun making a strong showing every few moments between drops of rain. A lovely summer day in the middle of the Republic of Ireland.




Bunratty Castle (Caisleann Bhun Raithe) is located on a large open air Folk Park covering 26 acres and housing over thirty buildings which contain shops, ancient and more modern structures (the late 19th century showing what life in a small community was like through the centuries.


While walking through the village we came upon a thatched roofed cottage, rather large in comparison to the other ones we had viewed, with a peat fire in the hearth and met a woman in period clothing busily pounding dough on a large wood table.

"I'm making dumplings. The best in all of Ireland."

Ardcroney Church

And indeed they were as we learned while visiting the small pub next door. Though we didn't eat any more during visit to Ireland, so they were indeed the best we had had.


The rain fell softly and warm but did not deter two eager adventurers from exploring the small but delightful Rose Cottage to the Ardcroney Church of Ireland at the far end of the Folk Park.

Interior, Great Hall

Four hours and four tired legs later J and L had witnessed all the park had to offer including the magnificent castle.

Narrow and steep stone spiral staircases on all four corners of the interior allowed visitors to truly experience what life must have been like five centuries earlier in County Clare.

The Library,
a writer's favorite

Cold, wet, smelly (with peat burning all day and night), smelly (bathing usually was not a daily occurrence), often times hungry depending on a good or bad growing season. And was cold and wet mentioned already?

As we departed from our trip into the past both of us were glad to get into the comfort of our rented 21st century vehicle and heading to our hotel instead of having to live the reality of bunking down for the night inside an airy thatched roofed home.

J and L, Researching and Exploring in Ireland

Romantic? Maybe but still cold and wet most of the times. Or perhaps, that is what it makes it so charming.