Jan Bono’s Blog

This stop reminded me a little of the amazing Butchart Gardens in British Columbia, but without all the flowers, and with the addition of a medieval castle. I know that sounds silly, but imagine groomed walkways meandering through trees "dressed" in colorful knitted...

We drove through miles of green rolling hills and pasture land along the southwest coast from Waterford to Cobh, a delightful little port town with a natural big deep harbor. From 1848 to 1950, six million Irish emigrated to other parts of the world. Two and a half...

Believe it or not, there is more to Waterford than crystal. Waterford is the oldest city in Ireland, originally settled by the Vikings. They showed up in the 9th century, and established a valuable seaport in Southeast Ireland. Before that, the Irish in this area were...

The name "Waterford" is virtually synonymous with "Crystal." We had a very beautiful and informative tour, and I took lots of interesting photos of the whole process. Starting out in one of the display rooms, we saw a 5-foot tall goblet (I'll just have ONE MORE...

Legend tells us that the Rock of Cashel was created when the devil was so mad he took a large bite out of the Ireland mountains and intended to drop it on St. Patrick, to keep him from encouraging Christianity in Ireland. He missed, and St. Patrick opportunistically...

What trip to Dublin would be complete without stopping to pay quiet homage to the refugees of the potato famine? The pictured sculpture is along the walk next to the River Liffey, and was a very somber reminder of the sacrifices many of these families made to...