Ok, it is not me doing nothing. The next morning after a nice breakfast we went of to conquer the town. Unfortunately the Waterford Christals were closed that day and only the showroom was open to have a look around and shop. We watched the movie in the hall but shortly after it was finished we headed on to the museum. We had a very interesting guide who discovered with us the story of Waterford and Strongbow. First thing we learned is that Connacht, Munster, Leinster and Ulster are not (only) rugby teams!
Waterford has been a very rich city in the early years but it was also often involved in war and intrigues. Of course the catholic church played a big role in Waterford too. Not a long time ago they accidantly found the cloth of gold. It is faszinating walking around and looking at all the details. Just stunning!
The weather was getting better and we headed of to Hook's lighthouse in county Wexford. I have never been in a lighthouse and could not wait to get there. We chose to take the fast way and crossed the river by ferry instead of driving around.
As soon as you are in the middle of the river you can spot the lighthouse even if it took another half an hour to get there. The lighthouse is open all year and can be visited by a guided tour only. Every floor has its own story and it is very interesting.
It looked so much more fun when I was watching "Eliot, das Schmunzelmonster" a long long time ago. This lighthouse is the second oldest standing but the oldest still working and on our way back we could see the light blinking. It is said they are going to shut it down soon which I found really sad.
The next day we made our way back home. This time we wanted to take the way passing Kilkenny where we could have a short walk around. It was very quiet there (of course, it was Sunday morning). We parked in a shopping center in town and walked of. Shortly later we found the castle where we finished the history lesson. The castle was refurbished so only the outer walls are real while the rest inside is mostly rebuild. Of course we met Strongbow again and one lady was so nice to open the childrens playroom. It is fascinating in a time of tablets, laptop and television the children still get big eyes playing with the toys from a long time ago.
It was a great way to spent the Christmas break and learn a little more about the country we live in. I would love to go again and see the Chrystals and have a visit to Wexford too.
When we went to Waterford, Alex was a baby, and under 10 year olds were not allowed to go round. So Sam went while I looked after Alex, and I was to go afterward... But Sam had had enough and so I never went round... But Eire is a lovely country... You should go down to Cork and enjoy that county too.. and go to Gougane Barra in the summer. A lovely lough, with a lot of good walks around.
ReplyDeleteI do not know if it is still the same, it is about 40 years since I was there, but the hotel keeper had the trout trained to be feeding the wrong way... I cannot recall which is which, but if they are bottom feeders he had them feeding at the top, or vice versa.. so hotel guests would go out for a day's fishing, come home empty handed, and he would take a bosat out, and come back 10 minutes after, with trout to feed the guests...