Waterford

Ahh, we're starting to get the rhythm now... June 21st, Day 5, started out with

• 7am: bags outside our rooms, this time with the warning to "Keep your VoxBoxes out!" (A VoxBox is a cool contraption where the main guide speaks into a microphone, and it broadcasts to all the boxes so the whole group can hear him/her over the noise of traffic, etc, even if we get all spread out. We got assigned a box at the beginning of the tour and used them frequently. They're great!)
• breakfast at the hotel 
• 8am: Optional activity 

In this case, however, the 8am start was not getting on the coach, but instead, we met up with a Local Guide who took us on a walking tour of Waterford. This lovely gentleman told stories of the local history in an engaging manner. We learned that our hotel was once the site where ships were built that used to bring lumber from Canada to Ireland. (Thus why "Canada Square").

I look at these pictures I took of the waterway just outside our hotel, and I am taken right back to that early morning feel, when the air is cool and the atmosphere is quiet because most people are still asleep. I love early mornings.

One story we were told was about some king, his cheating wife, their children, and how they were all related to the history of Waterford. I have the shittiest memory for names and dates, so I can't recall any of this story anymore...but I do remember that our guide asked members of our party to play the roles. N was the cheating wife, and we forever nicknamed the other members of our party: "N's second husband" (far left), "N's daughter" (seated, right), and "N's son-in-law" (seated, left). Our guide was her first husband (dude with the umbrella).

Some other points of interest on the tour:

Replica Viking ship. Actual size. I do not know how Vikings voluntarily stepped aboard these things...

Bombed out Church

Only remaining section of the wall that surrounded the town, at it's original height

At the end of the tour, we arrived at the Waterford Crystal factory, where the rest of the group met us. Here, we were treated to a tour of how Waterford crystal is made, and we got a true appreciation for the artistry and an understanding for why the stuff is so dang priceless. Every piece is hand blown, and hand cut. This is our pattern:

The prices

Our family got another quick snack of scones with jam and clotted cream, and then we all boarded the bus for Blarney Castle.