Swords, near Dublin- Monday, August 12, 2013

There's good news and bad news about the laundry.  The good news is that this will be our last load before coming home, and there finally a washer and dryer available to us in a hotel.  The bad news is that the dryer seems to be misnamed.  It doesn't seem to actually do any drying.  Julie was up at 6:00 in order to get the laundry done before a day of touring.  We had gone to McDonald's for breakfast while we were waiting.  By 12:00, the dryer was still spinning and many of our clothes were still damp.  

We hung the clothes around the room and decided to burn the day at something that wouldn't burn us out.  We found a movie theater a few blocks from the hotel where we are in Swords, near the Dublin Airport.  We got a quick lunch at a cafe in the mall before the show started and saw "Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters."  It was pretty good, but it certainly helps if you know a little bit of Greek mythology.  

After the movie we walked the mall- the Swords Palisades.  The girls were so excited, you'd have thought that they'd never been in a mall before.  Anna bought some tops at H&M, and Scott bought a best of the Dubliners CD set.  Emma bought a family of toy seals.  Seals seem to be the favorite animal of the girls now because of Molly.  We also did some shopping at Superquinn, the grocery store in the mall, to get some snacks and tomorrow's breakfast.  There was a "train" that was traveling around the upper floor of the mall, giving little kids rides, but it wasn't running on any track.  It was a novelty, but our girls were a little big for it.  They were happy shopping.  When we came back to the hotel, we could easily spot our room from the pants hanging in the window.  We walked to TGI Friday's for dinner.  

It was a very non-stressful day, once we resigned ourselves to wearing a few damp clothes and having some more hung around the room.  It was a much needed little break from the vacation.  We've been having fun, but we've been running ourselves ragged.  (Last Saturday, we were actually looking into coming home a few days early, if it was possible, but the flights we're on are locked in as charters.  Even so, we're not happy with how the AAA people handled our phone calls.)  Today has recharged our batteries and we're ready to hit Dublin City tomorrow.  

Waterford and Wexford- Sunday, August 11, 2013

We woke up today to the sounds of St. Colman's bells, a ringin' in the air. We liked our room last night.  Anna and Emma got the queen size bed because the WiFi was better there.  Julie and Scott got the double bed.  

Anna talked some to her friend Taylor last night via Oovoo (the vdeo conferencing app).  They had fun being silly with each other again.  Anna said that the locked side of the wardrobe in our room must lead to Narnia. Taylor wanted to come with her, but Anna said they probably don't get good WiFi there.

We went into County Waterford this morning, and of course, we had to stop at the place that everyone associates with Waterford- the crystal factory.  We looked through the showroom while we were waiting for our tour.  They had a large crystal harp and a crystal bodhran and a crystal American football helmet, and a whole bunch of other things that don't seem like they should be made out of crystal.  They were all for sale too, usually for many thousands of euros.  In this factory, the make trophies and special orders.  We got to see the wooden molds that they use for the crystal and a couple of men blowing the glass and cutting the glass.  There weren't many workers there, because it's Sunday.  The tour guide gave Anna and Emma a chance to hold a crystal football that he said was worth 7000 American dollars.  

There was a bit of a historical surprise as we drove into Waterford.  Unexpectedly, we passed an equestrian statue of Thomas Francis Meagher.  We know him as the commander of the Irish Brigade in the Civil War that fought famously at Antietam, Gettysburg and many other battlefields.  It turns out he was a Waterford man, but even more interestingly, the town gives Meagher credit for being the man to introduce the Irish tricolor-- the green, white, and orange flag that is now the national flag.  He is supposed to have first displayed it from the Wolfe Tone Club building, which is right near the statue.  

After Waterford, we drove on to County Wexford, where we passed a number of sites that looked interesting, but that we didn't have time for today.  We passed the Dunbrodie Famine Ship in the river at New Ross.  It shows what the emigrant experience would have a great visitors centre too.  We stopped at the Irish National Heritage Park because we needed directions and lunch.  It's a outdoor museum that shows life in several historical time periods, and might be fun to visit sometime.  

Our goal in County Wexford was the National 1798 Rebellion Centre, which is in the town of Enniscorthy.  Scott has always had an interest in the Rebellions of 1798 because so many great songs come out of it or are  inspired by it.  The rebellions had pieces in many parts of Ireland (like the Rody McCorley monument that we visited in Antrim), but the biggest part of it was here in County Wexford.   The interpretation at this centre is "multi-media" and is particularly innovative.  Debates happen from characters projected onto glass.  7 foot chess pieces represent the political maneuverings that brought on the fight.  The climax, the battle of Vinegar Hill, is shown in a movie, but the theater is a diorama of the battle itself, with life-size figures fighting among the people watching.  Emma didn't like it, but the rest of us thought the entire visitors' centre was a great way to cover the topic.  We only had two complaints-- the audio often had to be heard by holding a speaker to your head instead of projecting it through the room as it was in some portions, and the gift shop was lame.   We were surprised to see so few people here.  It is an overlooked gem in the places to visit.

We drove through a stream of people and cars that were leaving from a festival or a sporting event or something.  A policewoman asked if we were lost.  We told her that we were looking for Vinegar Hill.  "Well..."  she said, "Well, there she is!"  motioning to the large hill that looms over the town of Enniscorthy.  She helped us get through the crowd.  We made our way up a very narrow road with steep banks on each side and found our way to the top of Vinegar Hill.  It was here that the United Irishmen were slaughtered and their defeat was sealed.   At the top is a tower, like a chess rook, which we think was here at the time of the battle, and  a large outcropping of rock.  The girls had time to climb this rock while Scott took some time to listen to music, like the song "Boolavogue," which is featured on a monument there.  

We changed our plans a little, and are staying near the Dublin airport tonight.  On the drive here, Julie said she saw a badger on the side of the road.  (We saw what we think was a fox crossing the road on the way home from Clonakilty last night.)