Day Six: Glass, Clay, Whiskey and the Titanic...

Today we were driving from Waterford, Ireland to Cork, Ireland. Before we left we enjoyed our complementary Irish Breakfast at Claddagh Bed and Breakfast. Traditional Irish breakfast includes black and white pudding; a type of sausage, black pudding is blood sausage and white pudding is the same sausage minus the blood. I tried both, just to say that I had tradition black pudding while in Ireland. A traditional breakfast also include tomatoes, link sausage, ham, eggs, mushrooms and potatoes. It's a little heavy to have every morning but if your in Ireland you should have it at least once. This B&B also had a fruit and yogurt breakfast option.

We hit the road and drove into the town of Waterford, to take a tour at the Waterford Crystal Factory. Today our travels would take us to Ardmore, Midleton, Cobh and finally to Cork. If you are going to be in Ireland I would highly suggest renting a car. Some of the best sites are just seeing the countryside as you drive from place to place. Here is some pictures and descriptions of the places we visited today.

Waterford Crystal Factory

I'm not sure where I learned about Waterford Crystal, I think my grandma might have a Waterford bowl, but I've wanted to go to Waterford for a while. If you've never heard of it chances is you've seen some of their work; the ball in time square on New Year's Eve is made up of hundreds of crystal plates made by Waterford Crystal. The House of Waterford is a guided factory tour and retail store. The retail store has many amazing pieces to see and if you pay the 12 euros, the guided tour is very interesting. You can see each step in the manufacturing process. If you purchase any crystal they will ship it home for you, which is great when you are traveling.

Ardmore, Ireland

We stopped at the little coastal town of Ardmore for lunch. Ardmore is a popular seaside resort town, but it is pretty quite in the off season. We had lunch at the White Horse. Good food once again. I don't think we had any bad food in all of Ireland. We visited a little pottery and craft shop (Ardmore Pottery & Gallery) and got some handmade Ardmore pottery. Their shop also has throwing demonstrations sometimes.

 

 On our way from Ardmore to Midleton we pulled off on the side of the road to get some strawberries from little fruit stand run by a cute, old Irish farmer, who definitely had the famous Irish "gift of gab".

The Jameson Whiskey Experience

We missed touring the Jameson Whiskey Distillery in Dublin, but fortunately we had another chance in Midleton.

"Set on 15 acres and beautifully restored, this is where the true heart of Irish whiskey beats. Our old distillery is a unique experience with some of the buildings dating back to 1795. Take a journey through history and see the old kilns, mills and malting, water wheel and old warehouses." (http://www.jamesonwhiskey.com/nl/tours/jamesonexperience)

We took the tour and at the end volunteered to be official whiskey taste testers. We got to taste three whiskeys; scottish, american and of course irish. The Jameson was my favorite. Do you know the difference between the three whiskeys. One of the main differences is the number of times the whiskey is distilled. In general, American whiskey (like bourbon) only once, Scottish whisky twice and Irish whiskey three times. Also Scotch has a smokey flavor because the barley is dried over peat fires, while Irish whiskey is made from barley dried in closed oven and not exposed to smoke.

Another difference is the spelling. Scotch whisky is spelled with no "e," while Irish and American whiskey is spelled with an "e." The Irish has been making whiskey since the 16th century and the legend says Irish monks introduced it to the Scots. However, the Scots say they were the first to create it. Who knows, and its just personal preference which you prefer, but it was fun to tour and taste the Jameson Whiskey.

Side note: Please drink responsibly. Jen and I firmly believe that drinking in 

excess has bad consequences. We also enjoy the taste of alcohol, but do 

not struggle with addiction, if you do, maybe skip the Jameson Tour, 

there is plenty other things to see and do in Ireland. :)

Cobh, Ireland

Our last stop before heading to Cork for the night was the town of Cobh. If you have any Irish-American ancestry chances are your family began its voyage to America from the port at Cobh (between 1848 and 1950 2.5 million irish immigrants departed from Cobh for America). There is a statue in Cobh of Annie Moore, the first immigrant admitted into the United States through Ellis Island in 1892, there is a similar statue on Ellis Island. The statue includes Annie's brothers, one is pointing in the direction of New York. When doing research on my family I discovered that we have Irish ancestry, I'm not sure that they ever sailed from Cobh to America, but they could have, and it was very interesting to be in a place with such history. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobh)

This was also the final port of call for the Titanic before the infamous voyage to America. There are a couple touristy things you can do if you are interested in Titanic history. We were there late in the day and it was dinner time so we ate at the restaurant called The Titanic. The restaurant "was once the Ticketing Office for White Star Line Owners of the World Famous “Titanic” Ocean Liner. Passengers gathered here at White Star Wharf on the Morning of 11th April 1912..." (http://www.titanicbarandgrill.ie/). Dinner was good although I don't remember what we had, I do remember it getting chilly out on the deck and we had to move inside.

After dinner we were on our way to Cork, Ireland. We were staying with Eileen, in a small room in her house, another Airbnb find. We stayed here two nights, more to come on Cork and the surrounding area in tomorrow's post. 

Eileen's House

Home