After our early-morning breakfast, we left our B and B in Glendalough and traveled to our first destination of the day: Ferns Castle. When we arrived at the castle it was raining, but nevertheless we all piled out of the van to try to shoot some pictures anyways.
I've always heard about castles and how neat they are, but few people actually get a chance to see one up close as we did. Jorge took some pictures from the top of the castle, from which you can see a broad expanse of countryside.
The next stop was at Tintern Abbey. By then the rain had stopped and the sky had cleared. The ruined abbey and its grounds presented a great variety of photo opportunities for each of us to work within.
The next short stop was at Ballyhack, where we made some pictures at the harbor while waiting the ferry that would take our van across the estuary dividing Co Wexford from Co Waterford. Once across, we drove to Waterford where, of course, we stopped at the Waterford Crystal gift shop to select presents for friends and family.
The last stop was Youghal where our entrance to the parking lot of our B and B was accompanied by two bands of bagpipers, part of the assembly of pipers in town for a band competition. I took pictures of the pipers as they finished their marching.
After we became situated in our rooms, we hopped into the van one more time for pictures by the sea. Around 9 p.m. we went to a hotel pub to have dinner and listened to some local musicians perform.. We were the only tourists in the entire place, which made the night all the more authentic. After all, isn't that what we are here to experience?
Emily Larson