Post Conference Optional Tour

Crystal Factory

Price $29: Includes Coach transportation by luxury touring coach, services of English speaking guide, entrances to crystal factory service charges and taxes inclusive of VAT. Lunch is optional on a pay-as-you-order basis.

Drive to the outskirts of the city of Edinburgh for a visit of the Edinburgh Crystal Factory near Penicuik. Here we can see every aspect of this intricate craft and the skillful glass manufacturers at work. Edinburgh Crystal is known worldwide and can be traced as far back as the early 17^th century. Since then, the craftsmen have been perfecting their work to create a wide range of fine glassware, samples of which are displayed and can be bought in the factory gift-shop. Trained guides will escort you into the Glasshouse where the traditional craft of glass making is revealed... the scarlet heat of the furnaces... the extraordinary fusion of sand, potash and lead into finest Scottish crystal. At the 'hot end' of the Glasshouse, you'll see our craftsmen taking a glowing orb of molten glass, blowing, moldings, trimming with infinite skill to form a wine glass, a decanter, a vase or a bowl. At the 'cold end,' you'll be amazed at the confident hands of the cutter at his wheel... inscribing delicate patters... and the age old craft of engraving... artistry in glass. To round off the visit, relax over cappuccino, a glass or wine or a light meal in the welcoming Coffee Shop. Returning to Edinburgh afterwards.

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