Ruins, Ruins everywhere

How much crystal could we afford? Apparently more than I thought! We got moving and tore off down some of the best roads Ireland has to offer on our trip. At the roads seemed good until you meet a tractor coming the other way moving at light speed (for a tractor) and about 100 tonnes of sugar beets and wheels in both gutters, at the same time. Given the size of the car I may just about get under it without a scratch but I do have a € 1,200 excess on the rally car. Dammit! Nothing for it test the ABS and close my eyes. That worked and it actually explained a lot about how the Irish drive.

Well we are on our way to Waterford to have look and NOT TOUCH KIDS!!!! It was about 120Km to Waterford and the road was really good at the end we gave the trusty stead it’s head, all the way to 110km/h. Put some more Saka in well get up to the speed limit.

The crystal making is awesome and it must be hard, there are three different things to do blowing, cutting and engraving each requiring a 5 year general apprenticeship followed by a 3 year specialization and then a 3 three mastership. The guy trusted with removing parts of peoples body has not needed that much study so what are these guys doing wrong. No obvious lines about being Irish that is just to easy. There are hundreds of pieces that they can be asked to make each with it’s own pattern. They remember all of them by HEART. All cuts are down hand as is the engraving. I have trouble enough remembering to by my fly up as I leave the bathroom let alone remember all this sort of extra info. HOLY COW.

Moving on we were heading for yet another rock in a paddock. Or perhaps there are two rocks on top of each other, in which case it would be called a ruin. On that subject there are more ruins in this place every couple of kms there is another abbey, rectory, friary, convent or castle in some state of disrepair and all older than the white history of Australia. The Irish have proud history of putting magnificent builds up and then forgetting where the put them.

The rock we are heading for was is the famed Rock of Cashell. Huh? Well I am here to tell you this place was impressive. Full on castle and cathedral on top of a very large monolith and a lot of it built in the 12th Century. And now they charge €12 for the family ticket. Impressive on many fronts, age, grandeur, and the fact that some crazy rich man convinced some other not rich men to whack a whole shite load of rocks on top of another rock and it would be great.

Big day and we get home late and the rain has set in again. We listen to the weather report and apparently the 13 degrees we had was unseasonably warm. Oh O.