My Watkins Free Trip to Ireland 2003
(Click on most pictures to see them full size)

The trip to Ireland was absolutely fantastic! I'll tell you what folks, Watkins really knows how to treat people so they feel special. Since I earned a trip for two, my daughter went with me because my husband was unable to go. This was due to of the change in the time of the trip, that happened because of the war in Iraq. It was wonderful to be able to spend this time with my daughter because as she lives in Austin, TX and we don't see each other enough.  

 
We were a day late arriving in Ireland, but thankfully I was able to reach the Watkins folks so they sent a van to pick us up the next day. (Why we were late) We arrived on Monday AM and were immediately taken to the Great Southern Hotel. This grand old hotel recently underwent renovations and it was BEAUTIFUL!

At the hotel, many of us gathered in a room that was part of the bar to enjoy each other's company. One of the gentlemen played the piano and the rest of us had fun singing. Of course we did the silly ones too and had our top Executives lead "If you're happy and you know it clap your hands" while the "wannabe" Executives led the chicken/bird dance. We laughed, sang and enjoyed our time together into the early morning hours. See More Photos from our stay at the Great Southern Hotel.

Our room was not ready but we were given a place to freshen up, then met the group at Sheens Falls Hotel for lunch. More Sheen Falls Hotel photos here

After lunch we went to Kenmare for shopping. There were stores with Irish linen, sweaters, books, jewelry and more. Unfortunately I was exhausted after not being able to sleep on the overnight flight and a lot of Kenmare was a blur. I did buy a pretty necklace and my daughter bought some Irish linen for her bathroom in her apartment.

(Remember, you can click on most pictures to see them full size)

From there we boarded the buses and headed back to the hotel. Finally we had a room! As it turned out, our room was AWESOME! It was on the end of the hotel and had windows on two sides with beautiful views. We had one of the largest rooms in the new section with absolutely the most comfortable beds you can imagine. The bed, the pillows and the comforters were so comfortable we fell asleep in minutes for a short nap.

That night, we were escorted to a Gaby's Seafood Restaurant for our dinner. We had several choices including smoked salmon, asparagus, a meat of our choice and of course, Irish potatoes. By dessert time I was stuffed! Everyone was ordering fancy desserts so I decided to order Malibu & White Chocolate ice cream (named after Malibu Rum) The presentation was awesome! Everyone wanted to know WHAT I ordered. It came in a fluted cookie dish with a burnt sugar sculpture on top enhanced with mint leaves. Beautiful!

That night we slept like babies in our comfortable beds covered by wonderful down quilts. The next morning we hit the shower which was pretty interesting. There was a large tub in the bathroom and a separate small shower stall. The shower opened so that when the water was turned on it hit the door. It was definitely strange but the shower was wonderful with great water pressure and this hotel had a heated towel rack so that our towels were warm when we dried off. Talk about feeling special!
 
Tuesday was a "free" day that those of us who earned the longer trip could use to do whatever we chose. The folks who earned the shorter trip would be arriving throughout the day. 

We decided to take the tour of the Blarney Castle. This is an old stone castle and of course, the "Blarney Stone" is part of why tourists visit. Now folks, I have to tell you that I have issues with heights. The Blarney Stone is at the TOP of the castle - do you see that it's at least 5 stories high? There was no way that I was going to go to the top, but my daughter and my friend, Sue who is one of my Managers, traipsed up 5 flights of narrow stone stairs to reach the top. To kiss the Blarney Stone you must lie across a gap, holding onto some bars while lying on your back. You lean back & down to kiss it. Not my cup of tea - as they say. LOL
More Blarney Castle Pictures Here
 
We then spent some time on the grounds and found the Wishing Steps where you had to walk up and down the stone stairs with your eyes closed to have your wish come true and the Witch's Stone. We visited the Witch's Kitchen and saw the "holes" where the Leprechauns lived. The grounds were beautiful and I wished we had more time to explore, but the bus driver was waiting to tell us where to go for lunch. 

After lunch we did some shopping in Cork (which our bus driver pronounced like it didn't have the 'R'.) We did mostly window shopping because there wasn't much time left. The weather was sunny and warm the whole time we were in Killarney so that was a real blessing for our tours.

(Remember, you can click on most pictures to see them full size)

	That night we had a wonderful dinner at the Great Southern Hotel complete with music and Irish dancing. The dancers chose my daughter to come dance with them and she had a ball!
	Those of you who receive my newsletter have seen articles by Brenda Koth, now our Director of Field Sales Training. I thought you would enjoy seeing her picture dancing in Ireland! Our Irish dancers are on the right. They each had more than one costume.

Wednesday morning we had breakfast at the hotel then gathered for a tour of the Gap of Dunloe. The buses took us along narrow curving roads to Kate Kearney's Cottage. There was a small restaurant, gift and souvenir shop there but we really didn't have time to shop. Most of us just bought some bottled water and hurried out to the beginning of the trail to board the jaunting carts.

This is Sue, (a Manager on my team), Donna, (my coach) me & Kris in our cart waiting to get hooked up to a horse. A lot of the time the guides walked and, let me tell you folks, this is a long, mostly uphill jaunt.

 
The scenery that surrounds you as you ride along is breathtaking. I don't think that a camera can ever really see the beauty. When we were there, the day was warm and sunny. There was no rain at all. We rode along just enjoying the magnificent scenery and the flocks of sheep and goats that dotted the country side. This is a picture of my daughter, Kris, my Watkins mentor, Donna and me.
More photos of the Gap of Dunloe
 

 
At the top of the lakes, we had lunch at Lord Brandon's Cottage. This was an outdoor barbecue featuring chicken, fish, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, a cous-cous salad, a pasta salad and of course, Irish potatoes with pie for dessert. Potatoes are served with almost all meals in Ireland - sometimes in more than one form. From there, we all got into lake boats for the trip through the Lakes of Killarney. Another picture of Lord Brandon's Cottage grounds
 
The boats that operate on the Lakes of Killarney are all the same by Irish government regulation. The reason is to keep the lakes as pure as possible while still encouraging tourism. The water of the lakes is BLACK. In the pictures it looks blue or gray, but this is just a reflection of the color of the sky. The water level on the lakes changes regularly - sometimes from day to day. When the water is low, you can see the black on the rocks along the shore. There are canals between the lakes which can be pretty narrow or which have rocks that can rip apart a boat. It takes a skilled boatman to bring a boatload of 12 people through the Lough Leane. More pictures from the Lakes of Killarney
 
At the base of the lakes is Ross Castle and, as you can see, it's surrounded by beautiful countryside. Ireland, like many other older countries, is dotted with older castles that are now available for the tourist to enjoy. While we did not have time to tour the castle, we did have a few minutes to walk around the grounds. This castle fell because the owners had fortified all the land sides but didn't fortify the lake side because they thought it was secure. You can read the story here http://www.irelandseye.com/aarticles/travel/attractions/castles/ross.shtm
Lakeside view of Ross Castle
 
That night, we were all bused to Molly Darcy's Pub for dinner and entertainment. Our dinner menu included Cream of Potato & Leek Soup, Roast Rib of Prime Beef with rich roast gravy, Seasoned vegetables & potatoes, home made cream puffs plus tea, coffee, Irish Beer, Irish Whisky or Irish Cream. I'm not much of a beer drinker and whisky is too strong while Irish Cream is too sweet, but in Ireland they all tasted good! The Guinness Irish Stout is sooooo smooth. It doesn't taste anything like what we get in the states. I was told it's because once it leaves Ireland it must be pasteurized and that makes it taste more bitter. Another local favorite is Bailey's Irish Cream mixed with Jameson Irish Whiskey. Courtesy of Watkins! MMMMMMMMMMM good! More Molly Darcy's Photos Here
 
Thursday morning we had to be up bright & early because we were taking the train to Dublin. Watkins chartered two FIRST CLASS train cars for us to make the trip. We had a full Irish breakfast, complete with Irish "pudding" which is like a sausage on the train while we rolled through the beautiful countryside.
 
We arrived around 11:30 in Dublin and were transferred to motorcoaches that took us to Trinity College to view the Book of Kells, then off to the Guinness Storehouse where we took a tour that ended at the Observatory Bar where we enjoyed a complimentary glass of Guinness. At the Storehouse, they pour the Guinness, then let it settle, then add a layer of foam at the top that is poured in such a way as to leave a shamrock design in the foam. It's quite a trick to do this, but the people there are very experienced. More Photos Here

Our next stop was to the Old Jameson Distillery for a tour, lunch and Irish whisky tasting. Photos Here
 
We were then taken to our hotel, the Westbury. The Westbury Hotel in Dublin is the flagship hotel of the entire chain. We all had deluxe rooms but with so much to do and see, we weren't in our rooms very long.

That night we went to the Luttrellstown Castle for a gourmet dinner that included prime ribs of pork, cracklings, and pear served in a pastry and filled with chocolate. While the dinner was very gourmet, the portions were not huge like we have in this country. It made the meal so much more enjoyable. This castle costs $8,000 to rent for the evening WITHOUT the tour or dinner! We also had entertainment and dancing after dinner so it was a wonderful experience. More photos here.
 
Friday we took a day just to do "nothing". It was a free day so we perused the shops along Grafton Street, found an internet cafe, had tea at Bewleys, had lunch in a street cafe' and in general just enjoyed the streets of Dublin. On Friday for the FIRST time it rained! I know everyone says that it rains in Ireland every day, but that was the first day we saw rain when we were there. People just opened their umbrellas and went on with business. More Photos Here
 
Our last night in Ireland we did what the Irish call a Pub Crawl. For a true Irish native, this means going to about 14 different pubs. For us, it meant just 2 pubs with snacks & entertainment. We were in the Temple Bar district which is known for it's pubs and local flavor. While Pub Crawling - or what we would call "bar hoping" - is not something I normally do, it was fun with friends and the entertainment was great! More Photos Here
 
The next day we sadly left Ireland to head home. This was truly an awesome trip and Watkins really out-did themselves. We were treated like gold and everything on this trip, except what we did on our free days, souvenirs, etc, was FREE. Not once did we even have to tip anyone. Special thanks goes out to Watkins staff who members who were on our trip. President, Mark Jacobs, Business Development Advisors, Donna Brooks (US) & Carmen Mir (CAN), Product Advisors, Brenda Koth, Jim Yenish & Carmen Johnson, plus the one who puts it all together, Lynn Zielke. It was a fabulous trip and well worth the work to get there.

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