After not sleeping on the plane, the bus ride from Dublin to
Waterford was a nice time for me to catch a quick nap. When I woke up we were just
coming into town. As we crossed the river and rode past all the small river
front shops I started to get excited. Waterford is a cute little town with a
lot of history. Although I expected it to be smaller, I think it is a perfect
sized town. Some of the houses and buildings are made of stone and some are so
colorful it just brightens the town. Later that day as we took tours of the
Medieval Museum and Reginald’s Tower, the lack of sleep hit me hard. I
struggled to pay attention during the tours and even though I was in the
beautiful town of Waterford, all I wanted to do was sleep. So my initial
impression of Waterford seems like a haze as that day seemed to drag out
entirely too long!
The Waterford Crystal tour was my favorite tour on Saturday
June 22nd. All the
crystal here is hand made. It starts out in the mould room where wood moulds
and hand tools are used to shape the molten crystal. My favorite part of the
tour was the blowing department where we got to see the men blowing glass.
Glowing balls of molten crystal transformed into beautiful shapes right before
your eyes. Waterford Crystal has high expectations for its crystal so it is
inspected after each stage it goes through. If there is a flaw in any way it is
tossed back into the furnace for re-melting. The hand marking part is to
temporarily grid the crystal so the cutter can cut the pattern into it. The
marker that is used to will be washed off during the cleaning process. The
cutting department uses diamond tipped wheels to cut the crystal, but the
cutter has to rely on his skill to judge the amount of pressure applied. All
the workers have trained for a minimum of 8 years to master their craft. It can
take a sculptor days, weeks, and months to complete a piece. The intricate
details on all the crystal are amazing. Our tour guide, Ryan, did a great job
explaining all the parts of the process. As we were walking through one of the
rooms, Ryan mentioned to keep all book bags close against your body because one
kid in a group of Spanish students accidently knocked off a finished piece of
crystal. I was especially careful
after he said that because I did not want to break anything! I loved Waterford
Crystal’s logo. It is a seahorse with its tail curving to form a perfectly
shaped shamrock.
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Our last stop on Sunday was Hook Lighthouse located in
Wexford. It is about 800 years old and is the oldest operational lighthouse in
the world. The rocky shore around the coast is made of old red sandstone and
limestone. The water pounds the rocks over and over again and during bad
weather a large wave could pull you into the water if you are standing too
close to the edge. Walter O’Leary, a nice Irish gentleman, has personally seen
two people die there at two different times, so you have to be very careful
when walking around the waters edge. .The wind is unbelievable along the coast,
which is another reason to be careful when standing near the edge. There is
whale watching, as Fin and Humpback whales are known to be spotted off shore.
Some of us even spotted a couple seals lurking around the edge of the rocks.
The water was a beautiful blue and clear and not that I felt it, but surely
cold! The fields around the lighthouse are just as amazing as the barley blows
in the wind it looks like the waves of the ocean on land. Beautiful scenery
that cameras just don’t do justice!
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