Late Wednesday - Waterford and Youghal

Waterford was wonderful. The signs to get to Waterford Crystal were very good and we only got turned around once downtown and we did the right thing by turning left when we really wanted to turn right and had to go around the block once to fix a small directional error.

While stuck in traffic I kept busy by reading historical signs on buildings. General Richard Malcahy was born on Manor Street and there was a sign about the War of Independence on Henry Street. I am quite sure that I would have enjoyed staying in Waterford, lots of history there too.

We arrived at Waterford Crystal about four in the afternoon. I have never seen so many really gorgeous large crystal chandeliers. Such a sparkling experience. We wanted to go on the tours but found out that the factory had been shut down after the purchase of Waterford crystal by KPS. The store will stay open but all the crystal was now being made in Poland. This made us very sad and we determined to only buy crystal made in Waterford. We browsed for an easy 30 minutes and when we found out that with the purchase of a mere 200 Euros they would pay for the shipping, we got down to some serious shopping. Maureen got some crystal wine glasses and a collection of other treasures for her family. I got two star Christmas ornaments for the kids at Christmas that had been made in Ireland. We bought each other a small crystal vase and had the stars and the vases, engraved by Nick Cody who was a great character. We talked about the dangers of driving on Irish roads and maybe how having something to drink made them braver and so faster on their narrow laneways. Maybe they should not allow drinking and driving? Well Nick said in a most serious way and with a look of true horror” If you take away my drink, I might as well be dead!” It made me wonder how he had such a steady hand for engraving and he said it was, again, his drink that gave

such a steady hand. Amazing stuff this Irish drink, better than all the pharmaceuticals developed to calm the nerves. It made you braver, calmer and according to Nick, happy to go home to your wife of thirty years. Happy with all of our purchases and wondering how long it would take and what mode they would use to ship everything to Maureen’s we departed Waterford and after a small consultation with the map were on our way to Youghall.

The sun had come out and although getting lower in the sky it was beautiful. So we were driving along when we came to a curve in the road and as we started to drive off the road I mentioned this to Maureen immediately who replied

‘I’m just checking what gear I’m in. If I have to drive with my left hand you should have to write with your left hand’. So I did, for a whole half page, which turned out legible, almost, and Maureen’s addition to the end of the page was ’- and Dennie - you’re such a good sport’. Those things that I noted with my left hand : rain, Lemybrien, saw a grocery store first one and a Texaco.

In between Lemybrien and Dungarvan are at least eight traffic circles. Now they were little traffic circles and the signs were good but really, eight? We have traffic circles in Edmonton and they do keep things going so I can only assume that the area has lots of traffic and so lights or stop signs would be prohibitive to smooth moving traffic.

Dungarvan is a beautiful town with the big harbour. Even in the rain. Even in the pouring rain. Could easily have stayed there but we were aiming for Youghal. We came to a very large bay and saw the town of Youghal on the other side. The long bridge across the large Blackwater River was impressive.

We drove through town and ended up staying at the Sir Walter Raleigh Hotel in a room with a view of the bay and park. Parking was a little difficult as there was a slight incline and there was a pole in our parking spot. well not in it but very close to the front of it. Maureen did do a good job considering left handed gearshift and a standard vehicle.

We learned that you pronounce Youghal as yawl not yougal. We had dinner of potato skins and our first 1/2 pint of Murphy's at the almost empty bar in the hotel. There is something to be said for traveling in the off season.

Lots of attention because you are the only tourists. I like Murphy’s better than Guinness. The bar was pleasant although a little slow, but I think that was due to the fact that the bar maid was the cook and check in attendant as well. She wore many hats. After a leisurely dinner and one more 1/2 pint we tidied up the car and organized our souvenirs. I organized my suitcase and wrote out some of my postcards to mail the next day and we hit the bed early.

Wednesday Afternoon, Three Counties - Wicklow – Wexford - Waterford

We left our lovely scenic road and got back onto the N11 shortly after we left the beach.

It was not as terrifying as yesterday but still not as comfortable as we would have liked. We pulled into Carters Café that is right in Arklow on the N11. We figured that we couldn’t get lost. Lovely planked wooden benches and great baked potatoes and apple juice for lunch.

We had to decide if we were going to go to Wexford town or continue on to Waterford. We figured we would have a better idea of how much time we might have to spend in Wexford or if we would just continue on to Waterford, if we decided to go there, by the time we got to Enniscorthy .

We were not booked in anywhere that night so we could stay anywhere we liked. The N11, which was the green road on the map, looked straight and although the highway was divided which was very nice, we seemed to pass through many little towns with lots of curves.

We decided to keep a list of things to ask someone at some point. Things like:

What the heck is traffic calming?What are the rules for passing here?

Which lane is the slow lane because they all seem to be going too fast for us?

How do I use this phone card? it is an Irish calling card.

Do they always flash yellow?

What the heck is the speed limit here? Maureen at one point in a particularily stressful point on the road asked ”I should be in fifth gear?’ We laughed a lot. The sun came out and it was lovely.

Suddenly there was a traffic circle looming in front of us. Panic set in, the car stalled, a big truck was coming, we couldn’t read the signs fast enough to figure out which exit was ours. But we’re Alive! Maureen got the car started, the big truck did not hit us and we found an exit onto an undivided highway. Now you are probably wondering why the fear of traffic circles. Well usually there is no problem but we had to do them backwards to what we would normally do them, so, think about it. Left handed stick shift, left hand lane, driving from the right side of the car. Yikes!

‘The truck coming toward us is on the wrong side of the road’ flashed through my mind and exits my mouth before I figure out or remember that everything is OK,we are on the other side of the road right where we are supposed to be. We passed through a very pretty little town called Camolin. I wrote Calomine in my journal and just realized it was different when I looked at the map while writing this.

There are so many little towns that I would love to explore but, so sad, no time. In between the towns are lovely farms with cows and horses. Picturesque. I also found while looking at the map that we had actually taken a wrong turn out of the last scary traffic circle off of the N11 and that is how we wound up on the undivided highway on our way to Ferns. A small detour but well worth it.

The next Traffic calming sign brought us into Ferns.

We stopped at this great little church right on the road and took some photos of our first celtic cross. So exciting. There were ruins behind the church and graveyards both old and new. A thatched roof cottage at the end of the churchyard with pink flowers all in front. Maureen wanted some pictures for a friend of hers on Salt Spring. I just wanted pictures of everything. We only stayed for about 15 minutes but it was a great break.

We left ferns about 2:10 according to the clock on the church steeple and continued on into Enniscorthy, which seemed quite large after the small towns that we had been in.

I found out that it is the Second largest town in County Wexford. Its history goes back to 465 and is one of the longest continuously occupied sites in Ireland. We did not stop here but went straight through. Now when I say straight through you have to understand that Enniscorthy is hard to get through. There was lots of traffic and we thought the road signs were hard to find. Having said that, we did not stall and we only misread one sign so only had to go around one block to figure out how to get through downtown. But as Maureen said, we 'Made it through Another town Alive!' We followed the river Slaney that flows through Enniscorthy, went over the bridge and decided that if we wanted to get to Waterford that afternoon we had better not go to Wexford.

We took the N30 turn going to New Ross and Waterford and were back on the highway. Saw a sign that said 100 Km. Who the freak drives 100 km an hour on these roads?

I prefer 70 in a country where the roads are narrow and they all seem to drive two inches from each other.

It was raining and I saw a silver tree. Art on the side of the road. Again, did not have time to get my cameral out.

A few scary spots where the road narrowed into what seemed like a one lane road

but were very pretty. The scenery was lovely with more hills coming and the road getting more twisty and curvey. Clonroche was a small town high in the hills and was very charming. Again my camera was not handy. So Maureen says

‘You have got to be at the ready to take pictures or they are gone’

and a new phrase is born. ‘At the Ready’. Maureen decides that the phrase that I use the most is actually the word ‘RIGHT ‘ with the appropriate back of my right hand waving Maureen over to the right of the road.

We laugh a lot at this.

There are now bigger trees that look old. It also seems that there are no telephone lines. We realize that we have not seen a lot of telephone poles or lines anywhere on our trip. They do have phones here. How does that work? Where are the phone lines? In Canada you can go beside any almost highway and see electric or phone lines.

Now the road reminds me of Vancouver Island. Very Malahat. Big trees and big hills. Beautiful

We both decide that when you rent a car in a foreign country you should get a little book to acquaint you with the local traffic signs and rules.

We arrive at the port town of New Ross which is a newer town and is not impressive for us who are seeking history and old things. We drove along the quay (dock) past the ‘Dunbrody’, a replica emigrant ship and over the river Barrow on a long bridge to the town of Rosbercon. I found out when I got home that there is a lot of history in New Ross.

It dates back to the 6^th century, the middle ages. From what we saw from the car, it really didn't look that interesting.

After Rosbercon we were on an almost divided highway which always seemed like such a treat after the narrow roads. Emerald green fields, yellow gorse on the hills, Queen Annes lace and pink dogwoods(?), palm trees and those lovely bushes with white purple flowers along the roads.

AAAHHHH ….another circle…. Oh no…. two of them….. they really should put the road signs at the circle exits, not after them. We really do have to thank the Irish for their patience with terrified tourists driving their roads.

Then.... a Major Junction..... But there were good signs there. Next stop Waterford.