Wednesday 24 June

Wednesday 24 June

Week 10! 2½ weeks to go. Beautiful sunny day – the weather in Ireland is smiling on us unlike Scotland.

Today is Tina’s birthday!! What to get her? I decided that as she was having her birthday in Ireland (Eire/Republic of Ireland) I would get her something Irish. But after a while that seemed somewhat obvious. Instead I have bought her something from each of the 4 “countries”. Don’t start sending me messages, I know that there really are only two.

Buying things has been difficult as we are together virtually all the time. I have had others running interference to distract her or I have been telling little white lies to get away from her.

The first gift is from Scotland and it is a necklace with the thistle as a hologram. But what I like about it is that it looks clear but when it moves it is blue – the same blue as her engagement ring. Bought it at great speed whilst she was in a loo.

From England comes a Beatrix Potter spoon of her favourite character, Jemima Puddleduck. This required subterfuge and hope. As I said many days back when we were in the Lake District Tina visited The World Of Beatrix Potter but this held no interest for me. But I followed her up the street, 5 minutes behind and snuck into the shop whilst she was in the exhibition. My only concern was that she would buy the same thing but I was confident as she doesn’t buy spoons. I was right.

We only had an hour in Wales and she stuck to me like glue. It wasn’t looking good until the last shop before the bus and she left me to get on it as we were running late. I bought a silver brooch with the Welsh dragon.

From Ireland she now has a pair of clear earrings each with a clover/shamrock in it and 3 brooches – two of harps and one of a shamrock. These were two separate purchases. Again, she stuck like glue and for the first I got a woman on the tour to drag her out of the shop pretending she couldn’t find the bus and needed Tina’s help. The second one was trickier. We were both is the same shop and Tina is buying gifts on one till whilst I am hiding behind a rack of clothing whispering instructions to the sales woman at a second till.

Tina seems happy – jewellery always does it.

First stop today is Blarney for the castle and kissing the stone. Steep climb up narrow and winding steps; filled with people. Crowding is good as it meant the climb was slow and didn’t hurt my achilles. Eventually you pop out at the top, make your way to the stone, lie down on your back with your top half hanging over nothing, grasp 2 rails, tilt head back and kiss the rock! There is a man helping/holding you and we have the photos to prove how silly we were. Tina talks enough now so why she wants to talk even more is frankly beyond me!

In the huge shop there I bought a lovely shirt – strange fabric and no collar. This is the fourth shirt I have purchased on tour and Tina would like you to know I have bought more clothes than she has. Tina also bought me a tie. This is the 15th tie of the trip:
- one of Shakspeare’s plays
- a Che tie and an Einstein tie
- 2 stylish Italian ties
- 2 Paris ties
- a Welsh and Irish emblem tie ie 2 ties in total
- 2 art ties from Louvre
- one with guitars on it
- 2 Beatles ties
- and this latest one with Celtic lettering
so that’s 3 school weeks of new ties. On the first day of term 3 I am wearing a Beatles shirt with my Yellow Submarine tie!

Whilst I was making these purchases there was a cool song playing. I recognised the voice of Steve Earle so found the album and bought it. It was an album by Sharon Shannon who is assisted by other artists. This is the 10th cd I have bought. The other 9 are:
- 5 Scottish pipes including the Red Hot Chilli Pipers
- 2 albums of Scottish songs including a great historical album the tour director played a couple of tracks off on the bus and I was able to find it next stop! To be fair, Tina found it whilst I was stumbling around.
- 2 other albums from Ireland: the Fureys and the Dubliners.
Before I move on I want to get slightly off the topic and say that I have come to the conclusion I like the Irish uilleann pipes more than the Scottish bagpipes. I know I have just upset my A grade bagpiping nephew in Dunedin who is reading this blog but after listening to shows in Scotland and then moving to Ireland I find the Irish pipes more melodic. Sorry Liam. But I admit the Scottish bagpipes are more dramatic and stirring going into battle.

Then it’s on to Cork for a brief drive around retelling its history; through pretty Youghal by the sea and we end up in our destination, Waterford. The crystal factory for which it is famous has gone bankrupt but the crystal museum is open. Tina is in Heaven.

The hotel is Dooley’s – on the waterfront of the River Suir. We are on the 3rd floor, room 34 and it’s my 38th bed. Big room.

Tina joined in the optional walking tour of Waterford whilst I preserved the ankles. Both are constantly sore but are not getting worse. I am hoping that I will need surgery when I return and this will mean having term 3 off to organise the photos!!! Or I could get swine flu!!! Tina returned from the tour very happy - but that might have been the local beer she had at the end of the tour.

Another woman on the tour also has a birthday today and they get a big shared birthday cake and a small food pressie for each.

Here are a couple of stories that caught my eye from today’s Irish Independent newspaper
1. Holiday makers returning to Newcastle from sunny Mallorca refused to fly on their plane after they were told to leave their assigned seats and move to the back of the plane. A jammed door to the hold meant their luggage was loaded at the front and they were told to sit at the back to balance the plane!

2. Four German pensioners have been arrested for kidnapping and torturing a financial adviser who lost over €2million of their savings. “Two of them (aged 74 and 60) hit him with a Zimmer frame” and driven 300 miles. He was tortured until he finally agreed to pay them back by selling some securities he had in Switzerland. They agreed to let him send a fax to the Swiss bank but he scribbled a plea for help on it and, after 5 days, armed commandos stormed the house. I see a great movie script in this story!