Tour of Ireland

It has been a great week visiting Ireland these past few days. We began the tour on Sunday in the city of Dublin visiting Dublin Castle, O'Connell Street ( looks like Market Stree in San Francisco), with all the shops, restaurants, pubs, and loads of buses and street cars. We visited Phoenix Park and Guinness - a top attraction here in the city. On Monday, we went South to the Wicklow Mountains; one of my favorite place was Glendalough, a sixth century monastery that St. Kevin founded in the valley of the Wicklow mountains. To prepare myself for this trip I began reading a book by Edward Rutherford called The Princes of Dublin - tracing the early history of Dublin and it's vicinities. Glendalough metioned in the novel which added an excitement for me having read and seen the place. Another exciting place was a visit to Waterford cyrstal factory; famous for its unique crystals. One of the crystals is given to the winner of the golf British Open. The Ryder Cup which is held this year in Dublin next Sunday on September 24 will bestow the winning Crystal trophy either to the United States team or the European team; Go USA all the way this year. Another aside - watch for a guy with a golf cap with a sign - USA HAWAII on Sunday during the Ryder Cup. You may recognize him. Another fascinating place for me was Blarney Castle where tourists and locals kiss the Blarney Stone located at the top of the castle. Yes, I did manage to climb to the top of the castle and kiss the Blarney stone - locals say that if you kiss the stone you will be endowed with the gift of eloquence - "time will tell". Another interesting place was the Cliffs of Moher, rising 700 feet above the ocean. This place attracts one million visitors each year. Dinner at a Castle was a highlight too with Medieval songs and poems.
Galway bay was another fascinating area to visit- remember the song? The Rings of Kerry was an interesting place too; mountainous and ruggged terrain along with steep slopes and beautiful vistas. Coming back to Dublin on Friday we passed fertile lands with lots of sheep and cattle too. That evening we were treated with dinner at a Cabaret restaurant with song and dance. So far I have enjoyed the sights and sounds of Ireland. An added bonus was the beautiful weather that we all experienced during our trip during this time of the year.