Day 2 Glendalough and Waterford

On Thursday, the tour really started. We headed out of Dublin into the Wicklow Mountains and stopped at Glendalough, where there is a sixth century monastery. It was one of those places where you think, this is exactly how I expected Ireland to look.

 Do you see the cross in the stone?

After Glendalough, we stopped in New Ross to see the restored Dunbrody Famine Ship. Emigration from Ireland to the U.S. is a huge part of the history of Ireland, especially during the potato famine in the 1850s. Of course it explains all the Kennedy's and Conner's in the U.S. too.

It started raining in New Ross and continued as we headed to Waterford. We went on a very wet and chilly walking tour, so my pictures were limited.

Technically, this happened on Day 3, but we were still in Waterford, so I'm including it here. We got to visit the House of Waterford Crystal. The large factory in Waterford is no longer in use, but this smaller location does special orders. We got to see the employees actually doing the work of shaping and blowing the glass and then marking and cutting it. My grandmother always loved Waterford crystal and would have loved seeing this.