Waterford – Avoca – Glendalough - Dublin

The Republic of Ireland is a country that is somewhere between West Virginia and South Carolina in size, has a population of 4 million people, and with no surprise to anyone has Patrick as its patron saint.  Ireland is the only country of the British Isles that is not part of the United Kingdom.  Ireland was separated from Northern Ireland by the Government of Ireland Act of 1920 and then the Republic of Ireland was officially declared in 1949. Dublin is the capital of the Republic of Ireland.

Crystal Grandfather that stands in the entry way.

Sample football as created for the NFL

Waterford is the home of the Waterford Crystal manufacturing plant.  It has recently been purchased by an American who has combined it with Wedgewood China and Royal Dalton China.  The trademark now is WWRD.

 A stop in Avoca allowed us to observe the hand weaving of some magnificent wool fabric.  I wanted so badly to purchase something, anything, but wondered what I would do with it when I got it home.

St. Kevin's Church

Glendalough (which means land of two lakes) gave us a look at what is left of an ancient religious community that dates back to St. Kevin of the 6^th century.  Who knew that these communities were built in concentric circles with the most sacred of the buildings in the center and that evidently there were many of them throughout Ireland?  What remains are mostly the ruins of 12^th century buildings:  a cathedral to Saints Peter and Paul, a church for the female members of the community to St. Mary, another church building to St. Kevin, a graveyard, and a tower.  The Irish name for this tower is "cloigtheach" which means bell house.

Book of Kells

The Old Library at Trinity College

The second day in Dublin was spent going to see the Book of Kells, which is an illustrated, hand written compilation of the gospels from the Bible: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  It is called The Book of Kells because the Columban Monks who created it were from County Kells, Ireland.

St. Patrick's Cathedral

And then there was St. Patrick’s Cathedral.  That was a must see for me since my children’s father is Patrick and since his father and grandmother were fond of their Irish roots.

Our first evening in Dublin included going to a restaurant that dated back to 1635, with a thatched roof, and interior walls that were covered with planks of unfinished wood or simply rocks piled upon each other.  The entertainment was wonderful; Irish singers and dancers and an elderly male comedian who was genuinely funny.  I don’t think I’ve laughed out loud as much in a very long time.  The second (and last) evening in Dublin (Saturday night) was a guided tour of the Guinness factory, with taste-testing and dinner. 

Newport – Cardiff – Pembroke Port – Rosslare Port, Ireland – Waterford

Wales has a population of 3 million people, 15% of whom still speak the Welsh language but most speak English.  It is a country about the size of New Jersey.  The patron saint of Wales is David and its highest mountain is 3,500 feet.  (That’s about the elevation of Billings, Montana.)    Wales has about 243 days per year with no sunlight – according to our guide (I don’t know if he was joking or not).  Wales has the distinction of having the town with the longest name – 58 letters – on the Island of Anglesay:  Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.  And, of course, you all know that Prince Charles bears the title of The Prince of Wales.  Cardiff is the capital of Wales.

 Castle of Cardiff

 John Patrick Crichton-Stuart 

was born in 1848.  When he was six months old his father died and he became

 the Third Marquess of Bute and the richest baby in the world. 

 He inherited 16 castles one of which was the one in Cardiff. 

The Millenium Stadium 

  is the national stadium of Wales and is the home of the Wales national rugby union team and also frequently stages games of the Wales national football (think soccer) team.

After leaving Cardiff we drove to the Port of Pembroke, put the bus (coach) on a ferry and sailed across the Irish Sea to the Port of Rosslare, (which took four hours)  then drove to Waterford, Ireland, where we spent the night.  

London - Stonehenge - Salisbury - Bath - Newport, Wales

We left London this morning (Wednesday) about 8:00 – but not before I had a major crisis.  We were to have our bags outside our hotel door by 6:45 a.m., so being the efficient person that I am, I took out what I needed for the next day and put the bag out before I went to bed.  The next morning, after noticing that the bags had already been picked up and taken to the bus, I discovered that I had no pants (trousers) to wear.  What I thought was a pair of pants was actually a sweatshirt – but no pants.  YIKES!  I called the hotel desk in a panic and they asked me to come down to identify my bag.  I wondered (out loud) how they thought that was possible with nothing to wear.  It got worked out very nicely, but not without some very concerning moments on my part.  Can you believe I would do anything that foolish????

First stop was Stonehenge.  It is believed that this monument evolved between 3,000 B.C. and 1,600 B.C.  Some of the theories for its existence are:  religious rituals; research on movements of the sun, moon, and stars; a calendar; or simply a show of power to whomever that was important for 

.Next stop was Salisbury, England - cute little town of about 85,000 people with another wonderful cathedral.  It has the tallest spire in Britain at 404 feet, it has the world’s oldest mechanical working clock dating from 1386, and it has the earliest surviving complete choir stalls in Britain (1236).

Next stop was in Bath, England, where the Roman baths (hence the name of the town) were built in the early part of the first century.  They were built around a natural hot springs.  Unfortunately after listening to much of the recording we were given for the self guided tour, I don’t remember anything else.  J

Final stop (for the night) was in Newport, Wales.  We crossed over the Severn River and Wales was on the other side.  Within a few hundred yards there was a toll booth with a sign that read, “Offensive behavior toward tolling staff will lead to prosecution.”  How about that?  The toll for our bus was 18 English pounds which would be approximately $27.00.

London, England

So as one tour ends another begins.  I will now be traveling by Globus Coach

 And here is the map of the tour.

England is equivalent in size to Louisiana and has a population of 53 million people.  It is the largest and most populous of the countries in the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland).  Their current monarch is Elizabeth II who recently celebrated her Diamond Jubilee meaning that she has been on the throne for 60 years.  London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom.

After getting a good night’s sleep, I started off this morning to do a little sightseeing.  While looking for where to pick up my local tour, who should appear but my traveling companion for this British Isles Tour.  She had just arrived from her home in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, so was very tired and not at all interested in heading out with me.  Therefore, she went to bed and I went on by myself.

Meet Sue Durant 

who I worked with MANY years ago (actually 35) at the 

San Ramon Valley Unified School District Offices in Danville, CA..

St. Paul’s Cathedral

Statue of St. Paul in front of the Cathedral

Buckingham Palace

 Just me and one of the palace guards on his beautiful black horse.

Entrance to Westminster Abbey

There was a sign by this door saying it is the oldest door in Great Britain,
probably constructed for the Abbey in 1034.

The Tower Bridge

There are 37 bridges on the Thames River.

This one is the most famous and the beautiful - at least at night.

Windsor Castle

The Baltic Sea Cruise has come to an end.  My final tour was on the way back to Heathrow Airport we made a stop at the Windsor Castle.  As always the objects I wished to picture were much too large for my camera's capacity, but I have given you a few here.

This bronze statue of Queen Victoria stands on the street leading to the castle.

One view of the castle

The portion in which Queen Elizabeth II resides.

St. George's Chapel

Since it was Sunday today they were having services and 

we could not get inside to see it.

As this is being completed, I am in the Grosvenor Victoria Hotel in London, England.  I am very tired, but also very excited about what is yet to come.  And one more aside - it is so wonderful to be back where the internet connection is  workable.  I have now completed 3 posts in less than an hour when it took be several hours, and about $240 to post what you have seen up until now.  So vey, very frustrating.  Don't know what it will be from here, but will do my best to keep up with the events. 

Oslo, Norway

We left Poland around 6:00 p.m. heading for our last port of call – Norway.  That meant that we sailed that evening, the entire next day (Thursday) and arrived in Oslo the next morning.  However, now is the time to confess that I don’t always know of what I speak.  Remember that bridge between Denmark and Sweden that I said this ship could not sail under?  Well, we did – with at least an inch and a half to spare.

Norway is a country slightly larger than New Mexico with a population of 4.6 million people.  The current monarch is King Harold IV.  Their history is complicated, just like all these other countries I have visited, but they seem to have a particular disdain for the Swedes – at least if you go by the tone of voice of our guide today.  I was the most excited about visiting Norway and am now the most disappointed by the tour of the day that didn’t cover any of the points of interest I would have chosen.  I will simply have to add Norway to the other country that I would like to re-visit, which at this point is Germany and now Norway.

Holmenkollen is the cradle of Olympic ski jumping

and the site of the 1952 Olympics.

(Pictured is the area where all the people are seated watching the event.

As with all these pictures it's very difficult to get the entire thing when they are so big.

Another project for Google Images when I get home.)

Vigeland Sculpture Park

 – is home to the stone, iron and bronze sculptures by Gustav Vigeland, 

one of Norway’s finest.

An example of the type of sculptures seen in the 80 acre park.
Vigeland's goal was to depict human beings in all their emotions from birth to death.

Edvard Munch Museum

 – houses many of his works, including  “The Scream” which is certainly his most famous painting.  (We were not allowed to take any pictures here, which I find a little humorous since they are allowed at the Louve in Paris.

United States Embassy in Oslo

(Taken through the bus window - before you criticize the quality of the picture.

But, more importantly our tour guide said that it looks like a prison to them.  Yuk!)

Gdansk, Poland

After a very brief stay in Estonia (we pulled away from the dock about 1:00 p.m.) the ship headed for Poland, arriving there about 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday.  Poland is a country about the size of Arizona.  Its only language is Polish, and it is 95% Roman Catholic.  The sunflower is the symbol of Poland, Toyota is the most popular car (gas is $8.00/gallon), dumplings and sausage are their favorite food, and 70% of their young people have advanced degrees.  The capital is Warsaw. 

We docked in Gdynia but our visit included Gdansk (the Gd at the beginning of the names means a very wet place) and Sopot, which is one of Europe’s favorite summer vacation places.  It does have beautiful, sandy beaches and a magnificent appearing (didn’t see the inside) Hotel Sofitel, formerly The Grand Hotel.

It’s hard to decide what to write about Poland as it has such a complicated history.   From the 10^th through the 18^th centuries they were ruled by kings.  From the mid 18^th century to 1800 something (another one of those things I have to Google when I get home) they did not exist as a country at all, having been taken over by Russia and Germany.   They celebrate November 11, 1918, as their Independence Day.  World War II began when the German Navy bombarded the Polish harbor.  During the course of the war 90% of Gdansk was destroyed, so it’s amazing to see the condition of the city today having been reduced to rubble in 1944.  It’s so hard to understand and appreciate the conflicted histories of these countries when I have only lived in a United States with no wars on its soil my entire life.  What a blessing that has been.

Oliwa Cathedral

Organ in Oliwa has 7,876 pipes.

St. Mary’s Church

 is the largest brick church in the world, with a seating capacity of 25,000 people.

Amber Dome
is the new "football" stadium (that means soccer) that reflects the fact that
Poland is the amber capital of the world.

Solidarity Square

Solidarity Movement was by
Lech Welesa who lives in Gdansk.
They were talking about celebrating his 70th birthday on Friday.