Documentary Response 1: Waterford Crystal, Tintern Abbey, & Hook Lighthouse

Sitting on the bus as we were driving through Waterford for the first time, I could not believe what I was seeing was actually real. It was everything I thought it would be and even though I had only had an hour of sleep since the previous day, I felt wide awake and excited! However, once we were settled in the dorms and we started our day out and about in Waterford, I was suddenly looking for a stump or a ledge or a bench to sit on rather than looking at the beautiful city. It was extremely hard to focus on what the tour guides were telling us because their accents were lulling me to sleep as I was trying to find every surface I could to prop myself up on so I could at least pretend I was awake enough to understand what was being said. I found myself being very frustrated with everything and everyone because I really wanted to learn everything about Waterford but my jet lagged brain would not cooperate with me. Overall, I was very sad that my first impression of Waterford was through bleary eyes so that I couldn't take in everything the first time around.

The next day was a million times better. I was fully rested and ready to get my Waterford history lessons started!

Waterford Crystal
One of the places we saw on this day was Waterford Crystal, which is a factory that makes crystal.

On the way to tour Waterford Crystal

It was started in 1783 by George and William Penrose in the city of Waterford. The factory is said to now melt over 750 tons of crystal a year. One thing that I was very impressed by was all the workers that go into making this crystal.

A man working hard, sawing and buffing the edges,

 to keep buyers from cutting themselves

Another thing that surprised me was that I had no idea that Waterford crystal created the championship trophy for the BCS games. Being a college football fan I was really excited about that little fact.

Experiencing Waterford Crystal was a great experience and I am very glad I am able to now tell people that I have seen where the crystal was originally founded.

Tintern Abbey

Tintern Abbey was founded by William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke, in the year 1200 after he was caught in a terrible sea storm and made a vow in order to be saved from the storm. The Abbey is found on the Hook Peninsula in County Wexford and was populated by the monks from the Tintern Abbey in Wales where William Marshall was also a contributor. The Abbey consisted of huge gothic archways which were pure beauty.

I was very impressed with how large the whole property was; William Marshall found 9000 acres to build this Abbey and grounds on and I could not even imagine how huge that actually is.

Hook Lighthouse

Hook Lighthouse was probably my favorite site we have visited so far. It is situated at the tip of the Hook Peninsula in County Wexford and the present structure has been standing for almost 800 years. It is one of the oldest lighthouses in the world and is in fact the oldest functioning lighthouse in Ireland. The light of the lighthouse was opened for the public in 2001 which I am very happy for because it just gives it that much more realness to the lighthouse when you are able to see the light that guided so many.

The lighthouse is constructed of limestone

and is white with two black stripes