July 27 Dublin, Ireland

This was our last day and it was a good one.  First thing after breakfast at our hotel, the Fitzwilton, some of us met with Jack, a local who gave us an hour's walking tour of Waterford.  He had a very good delivery of the history making it fun.  I loved his comment that the difference between blackmail and leverage is your income bracket. The local bishop used leverage when he commissioned a cathedral but didn't want any stained glass windows. He said that if anyone tried to pay privately for them, he would withdraw the church financing for the project.   For someone of a low income, that tactic might be called blackmail.

Next was an interesting tour of the Waterford Crystal factory.  So much goes into each piece and the training for the cutters and polishes is very intense over several years.  Beautiful but, alas, nothing I need at this point in our lives.

Then we were off to New Ross and a tour of the Dunbrody, a ship built as a cargo ship but then put to use as a passenger transport beginning in 1845 as a "famine ship".    This was a replica but it was very moving to hear about the horrid conditions those poor people endured to get to America or Canada.  Up to eight weeks below decks in the dark with not much to eat but hard tack, 1/2 hour a day on deck if the weather was good, 6 or 8 people in a bunk six feet square and of course no lavatories, just 18 buckets for 313 people.  Many landlords paid passage for their tenants because it was  cheaper to be rid of them and then sell the land or raise cattle instead.

As our last stop before Dublin, we had an early dinner at Catherine Flavio's place.  She is a local chef who runs a cooking school, has a Netflix show, and does dinners for tour groups a few times per week.  We ate in her barn which was very clean and sweetly decorated.  She has a lot of energy and I would have liked to spend more time there.

So now we are in our airport hotel, the Clayton.  Our flight tomorrow isn't until 1:00 pm, but since we go through American Customs and Immigration here,  they want us there 3 hours ahead. No worries, that gives us plenty of time in the morning for a nice breakfast before our last bus ride with Trafalgar Tours to the terminal.

We really enjoyed this tour.  They are very well organized and Liam was a great guide.  Fortunately the group was always prompt and very friendly.  Liam had us move seats every day so you sat near different people and weren't always in the same good or bad seat.  We feel as though we got to see a lot in a short time and didn't have to waste time looking for everything and getting lost.  We had enough free time for shopping, but only once stopped at a recommended place.  The hotels were all very nice - quirky local places that were clean but had real charm.  None were air conditioned, but normally that wouldn't be an issue.  We just happened to hit a warm weather patch.  We also had almost no rain, which was great for us, but not so good for Ireland.

Off to Portland tomorrow for an overnight, then driving home on Sunday.  What a wonderful trip it's been.