The alarm went off.  We threw our bedclothes in the suitcases and had them outside our door by 7:30.

After the obligatory visit to the breakfast room we returned to our room to grab our backpacks and saying a fond fairwell to the Metropole Hotel we boarded the bus to continue our adventure.

The first stop today was Waterford; famous for its crystals but also noteworthy as the beachhead of successive invasions.  The Vikings arrived in the 10th century and the Anglo-Normans came from England in the 12th century.  The latter launched the area into the maelstrom of British political history and in clouded an invasion by Oliver Cromwell’s forces in the 17th century.

All of this invasion, destruction and intrigue is well recorded in the Waterford Treasures Museum.  Our guide there took us on a whirlwind romp thru history that included:

A visit to the cathedral choir room / wine storage facility

A viewing of the Great Charter Roll of Waterford.  This 14th century  PowerPoint presentation was designed to convince the king to continue Waterford’s monopoly on the import of wine (in the face of a challenge by the nearby town of New Ross).  The document is significant in that it includes illustrations of seven kings of England including the only two surviving contemporary drawings of King Edward III.

A viewing of the Waterford Vestments – a set of liturgical vestments dating from the 15th century that survived Cromwell’s destruction by being buried under the Cathedral.  Their whereabouts were lost to history until the Cathedral was torn down in the late 1700’s. They are embroidered with “cloth of gold” and are unique in their historical significance and value.

Following the museum visit we wandered across the street to meet our guide for a tour of the Waterford crystal factory.

The tour ended in the crystal shop (where else?) where we were tempted to convert the majority of our childrens’ inheritance into crystal.

Following a light lunch we boarded the bus to continue our journey to Dublin.

We arrived, checked in, ate supper, convened a short planning session with Steve and Billie and retired.

It will be noted that during the planning session I quaffed my first Guinness of the trip (Murphy’s being the stout of choice in Cork).  I have to say that, frankly, Guinness makes a rather poor showing when compared to Murphy’s.  Just my opinion.

tomorrow we hit the streets of Dubin.