Waterford

Once Mom and I got back to Cork we still had a bit of time to do some more traveling around so we went to Waterford! 

This was just a quick day trip, but it was still really great to wander around and see everything.

The inside of this church was amazing!

These were pieces of the different eras of the church on this site. They could trace the time periods by the different architectural styles found in the ruins.

Next stop was Waterford Crystal! We arrived about half an hour before the next tour was due to start so they sent us to the show room. Everything was so beautiful!

Giant Panda!!

This is near the beginning of the tour through the factory. These are the molds for the special order pieces.

This is where the glass is actually being blown.

Now he's removing the piece from the pole.

This is where the extra crystal at the neck is removed.

This guy marks the glass so that they know what patterns to cut into it.

These guys are incredible. They only need to make a new design once to memorize how to do it.

Some of the designs are cut using a machine.

This is the area where they do special sculptures.

This is a replica of a 9/11 memorial that they made.

After our tour we walked around the town a bit more.

Found these awesome murals on a wall. There was a whole row of them and they all showed different professions in the area.

We don't know what this is. We just found it at one end of a parking lot haha.

Love the viking mural!

Overall it was definitely a fun day trip. I've always wanted to go to the crystal factory and I finally got the chance!