UNITED KINGDOM - DAY 4

Well we think the Irish weather has kicked in. Ireland has the highest rain fall in the United Kingdom so we expected rain and wet, and we weren't disappointed. After a hot breakfast we ventured forth with Rob a local tour guide who took us on a historical wander around Waterford. He told us some fascinating history about the area.

We left Rob and headed into Waterford Crystal. Wow! There was some truly magnificent art pieces not to mention extremely expensive. We wandered around holding Ellexis and Angelique's hands tightly to ensure that they didn't accidentally break anything. We couldn't afford a 30 000 Euro headless Grizzly Bear statue.

After leaving Waterford we headed by bus towards Cork. Along the way we stopped for five minutes in a quant little town called Youghal, where the 1950s movie 'Moby Dick' was shot starring Gregory Peck.

Along the way we stopped in Blarney and walked the 98 steps up the narrow spiralling staircase to kiss the Blarney Stone. This was a case of lying on your back holding onto two metal poles and sliding backwards off the castle battlement into nothingness and looking backwards and downwards to kiss the stone. Sorry Olanne, we didn't drop Pasqual off the edge.

We wandered around the grounds of Blarney Castle and found the Wishing Steps, where if you walk down the steps and then backwards up the steps with your eyes closed and think of nothing but what you want, your wish will be granted within a year. It was quite disconcerting walking up these steep, wet, rocky steps with your eyes closed. All I can say is I'm glad that there was a rail to hold onto.

We left Blarney and headed along a narrow, windy road toward Killarney. We had to travel up and over the Kerry Mountain ranges and down the other side to Killarney. There we stopped and had a traditional Irish Coffee. It was divine. Looking through the beautiful clothing, Pasqual discovered a lovely Irish wrap which he proceeded to purchase for me. Now all I need to complete the outfit is a celtic knot brooch to hold it together. They've gorgeous jewelry there and if we had plenty of money I could have purchased quite a lot of it.

We wandered around Killarney in the glorious sunny spring afternoon. It was heavenly to see the sunshine. Some of the tour group went on a jaunting car ride but we decided not to bother. Then it was back on the bus to head to Tralee where we were staying the night.

We've even managed to learn several Gaelic phrases from the staff who then said they would be testing us during dinner. They are 'Go Raibh Maith Agat', which means thank you, 'Conas ata` tu', which means 'How are you?', 'Ta` failte rauhait', which means 'you're welcome', 'ma` se` de thoil e`', meaning 'please' and 'sla`inte', which means 'cheers'. We've decided to stick to English as Gaelic is way to hard. Pasqual has learnt a rude phrase which will not be repeated here.