Loving Kilkenny and Waterford

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5 hours ago

I didn’t stay in Kilkenny but everybody recommended I should go see the castle at least. The town seems to be fairly touristy but it looks to be pretty interesting and I could recommend staying there a couple days. You might find yourself loving Kilkenny especially because there is a famous beer that comes from here that is very delicious.

The entranceway to Kilkenny Castle. It is obvious it is a main attraction here. There is a lot of parking though it’s difficult to find a space.

There are still ancient things to find under this site

These are some of the original wallpapers

People waiting to see the Lord, one of the Butler descendants

This was a day room for relaxation. The lounge is actually a small bed for two people. The guides explained people at that time often slept sort of have sitting up for health reasons. I suspect since this is a cold and damp country there were a lot of potentials for respiratory issues. Setting up without allow the sinuses to drain properly and not into the lungs.

This is the Moorish staircase modeled after something from North Africa as you can see.

This was the waiting area for the main public who wanted a few minutes with the Lord or some high authority

Waterford Crystal

even though a Waterford crystal company has a very long tradition, actually almost as old as the US constitution, the current company was actually established by a fellow from the Czech Republic, Havel. The Czech Republic is also very famous for Crystal. All of the crystal here is handmade and a lot of it is custom designed and made for special purposes. You have to pay for the tour, something less than US$20

The pieces are created using wooden moulds. Different types of wood are used for different creations.

This Behr was created using many different pieces.

Here you can see the moulds used to create the bear

All of the production is on display for visitors

The apprentices work for five years here and then they moved to design for three years. After that they become a craftsman.

He is putting the red heart crystal into the mould to shape it. To hollow it out he blows on the other end of the long pipe.

Checking the product for perfect perfection

If there are any flaws that can’t immediately be corrected they are put in this recycle bin. This crystal is then melted down and used again.

They use these pens to draw the design on the product

The product in different stages of finishing

This is where they etch the final design

One piece created when Obama visited the factory

Interesting assortment of designed pieces

Waterford

My new favorite whiskey made at the same distillery as Jamison. This is an amazing league flavorful whiskey

This is obviously an England royal building

Reginald‘s tower originally created by the Vikings

Waterford city at the inception. On the lower left you can see the tower at the corner of the two inlets. This is a good place to protect incoming traffic

This is an interesting name for a Turkish restaurant

I did not know this famous poet also sold water

Ormonde Castle