DAY-26: Waterford & A Round Of Golf
Day – 26: Sunday, September 17, 2017
Starting Location: Kilkenny, Ireland
Ending Location: Waterford, Ireland
Following breakfast we departed Kilkenny and headed toward Waterford. The home of what else but Waterford Crystal.
Naturally we took the tour. It was one of the better industrial tours I've been on for some time. We were able to see molten glass as it came from the melt shop and began the formative stages including glass blowing and hand molding (with gloves of course).
The worker responsible for quality control of crystal basketballs closely resembled Greg. (NOTE: No dribbling allowed!).
In the cutting area there were both manual and CAD cutting processes.
One of the more interesting areas on the tour was the "hand design & crafting" area.
Here one-off designs are made on special commissions and for any variety of singular occasions such as sports championships and visits by
American presidents.
Like most tours this one ends in a gift shop but this is not your regular gift shop. here they have Waterford pieces with prices ranging from $50 to over $40,000.
We rode through a variety of city and country locations during the day but ended at our hotel the Faithlegg House a golf resort near Waterford around 1 PM for an early check-in.
Earlier in the day Greg and I had made golf arrangements at the Faithlegg course for the afternoon. We played 18-holes while the others communed in the hotel bar and watched the National Irish championship game for Gaelic Football.
Strangely though we were hotel residents we weren't able to get dinner reservations in the hotel restaurant. After considering our options we walked over to the restaurant and bar associated with the golf course where we had dinner and drinks. The special for the night was pizza but others had chowder, pasta and grilled ham & cheese sandwiches. While in the restaurant we were silent witnesses to the awards ceremonies for a golf tournament that had been completed earlier in the day. BTW, there were no trophies for Greg or me, not even participation awards.
Lastly a few of us retired to the hotel bar for a nightcap before turning in.
One more picture ...
Following breakfast we departed Kilkenny and headed toward Waterford. The home of what else but Waterford Crystal.
Naturally we took the tour. It was one of the better industrial tours I've been on for some time. We were able to see molten glass as it came from the melt shop and began the formative stages including glass blowing and hand molding (with gloves of course).
The worker responsible for quality control of crystal basketballs closely resembled Greg. (NOTE: No dribbling allowed!).
In the cutting area there were both manual and CAD cutting processes.
One of the more interesting areas on the tour was the "hand design & crafting" area.
Here one-off designs are made on special commissions and for any variety of singular occasions such as sports championships and visits by
American presidents.
We rode through a variety of city and country locations during the day but ended at our hotel the Faithlegg House a golf resort near Waterford around 1 PM for an early check-in.
Strangely though we were hotel residents we weren't able to get dinner reservations in the hotel restaurant. After considering our options we walked over to the restaurant and bar associated with the golf course where we had dinner and drinks. The special for the night was pizza but others had chowder, pasta and grilled ham & cheese sandwiches. While in the restaurant we were silent witnesses to the awards ceremonies for a golf tournament that had been completed earlier in the day. BTW, there were no trophies for Greg or me, not even participation awards.
Lastly a few of us retired to the hotel bar for a nightcap before turning in.
One more picture ...
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| Waterford Ceiling Mirror Selfie |
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