Were back !!

Hello all, We are back from our Feast /Ireland tip. Wow what a time we had.
traveling can be a great big informative experience. It is said that Ireland has 40 shades of Green. I agree with that. I never saw one rainbow while there, but I saw lots of friendly people with friendly, warm, inviting smiles. Sorry Mark, no leprechauns! If you ask for directions, an Irishman will tell you how to get there, then tell you again, and one more time just to make sure! Now that's service, with a smile!!
We met some brethren from Texas, a whole group from various parts of Missouri, and Canada, Britain, and other parts of the map. All our messages were informative, or/ and motivating. We had a dinner dance, with lamb as one of the meat dishes on the plentiful buffet. yummy cheese cake desserts, and even a fun game. we were placed at tables that had another countries flag as a centerpiece, then we had a list of questions we had to answerer, as a group, to see how much we knew about the other country. Surprisingly we actually did know some of the answers, but I don't think we were the winning table. I personally think it was a lesson in humility.
We visited the Waterford Crystal Co-operation! I was blown away with how many years it takes to become one of the people allowed to work on the production of the hand made glass items. The tour or the plant, I would recommend to anyone going to Waterford Ireland. Did you know that Waterford never sells anything with an imperfection in it. It is truly a work of art. they make trophies for sporting events, Chandeliers, as well as stem wear, bar wear, picture frames, and vases. some of the pieces I especially liked was the Violin, horse and carriage, lighthouse and the chess sets. Its really amazing to see all that detailed work that takes hours to produce. It takes over 20 years to become a master craftsman for Waterford. Then you are allowed to work on the trophies. It takes 5 years of training just to work on the production of any piece that is made there.
Now, I told you I would be trying the Guinness.. I did.. I have decided, I would not make a good drunk.. never mind its not morally good. Dad and I shared our first Guinness.. I let him have the lions share.. because.. yukkkk.. If that is a food.. I will be fasting a lot. Others did like it, and that was good for the Irish economy.
Now a word about Irish coffee.. now that's a whole nother story. One of the best coffees I had was in a pub named "Bailey's". While waiting for our waiter to come, one Irish local, suggested that if we get Irish coffee, make sure its made with Jamison's whiskey. Now I am not a drinker, have never really cared for anything in the way of alcohol.. but that was not bad at all.. But one is quite enough. I have come to the conclusion, that if you want good food.. the pub has to be named after a drink of some kind. ha. This Bailey's had the best steaks, all home grown, that we have had anywhere. As a matter of fact I had everything from fish to lamb, and didn't have a problem with any of it. by that , I mean, I am very sensitive to the stuff they put in our meats, here in the USA, and when I consume them , unless they are Organic, I usually end up with some NOT SO Fun, after effects.. but I ate right off the menu in Ireland and never had any reaction to any of the items. We also noticed that if we asked for something different than the way they normally make it, that the cooks went out of their way, to accommodate.. This made it all the more enjoyable for us.
It was interesting to note, that they are not any better at our geography than we are of theirs. At our Arklow Bay Hotel, where breakfast was included with our stay, one of our waiters wanted to know if Kansas was in Texas. I am still wandering if the Texas brethren were giving him a hard time. ha. And another thing I discovered.. I am not as weired as I thought.. they had beans from breakfast.. ha.. well.. we grew up with beans as one of the items for breakfast.. go figure.. my grandparents were both from Ireland.. ha.. now I know..
More in my post another day.. I got to go... my computer wants to update.. go figure.