It is now 10:39, back home I wouldn't be tired at all but here I'm exhausted. Today we went to Waterford were we stopped by the Waterford Crystal Factory and got a tour. It was really interesting seeing how it was all made. The time and effort those men put into those was amazing! The minimum amount of training was 4-5 years, and some of them went to school for 7-8 years. Those men had a doctorate in glass! 
I can't explain how they made the crystal, but I can explain how they shaped it. They had several large ovens where they'd stick they glass in and turn it so that it was nice and hot (easy to bend), then they'd either put it into the iron mold, or they'd mold it on the table, after that they'd put it into a cooler where it was cooled off incredibly fast. Later the glasses got sent to the cutters where the cutters were given the right “formula” and from this formula they were told how to cut it and what the dimensions would be. They'd cut the glass and then set it in acid to peel away any of the foggy areas. 
Then the glasses went through inspection. Many of the men who worked there were payed based on how many pieces they sent out. At inspection 2% of the things they made had to be smashed and sent back (they recycle it). There are some things that the factory makes that takes much more time and skill though. For instance, many sports trophies are made with Waterford Crystal. They make 3 exact replicas of the trophy : 1 to send to the competition, 1 to hold in their library for future reference, and 1 as a “just in case” for the one they sent to the competition. This factory also makes the New Year Ball that drops in New York. I never knew that that ball was made out of Waterford Crystal.
After the tour we walked through the gift shop. I can't say if we got anything, and I can't say why I can't say anything, so I'll just leave it at that. We had a wonderful lunch in the cafe at the tourist center and then we headed out for Kilkenny. On the road up there it was raining terribly. My windows kept fogging up, and opening them wasn't an option if I didn't want to get wet. I cracked them open when the rain wasn't coming down as hard and this enabled me to see a large part of the time.
Ahmee and Poppy talked about how nasty the weather was and how whenever you're on vacation it should be sunny wherever you go (Poppy said that). Course, I must say that Ahmee said that this was just part of Ireland and we were experiencing the bad weather like all of the people who live here. I bounced in by saying that I liked the rain. I do like the rain. I don't mind walking in it, and I LOVE what it does for the gardens here. I'm sure that the Irishmen don't like it simply because it's here all the time, but I think it adds so much more magic to Ireland. Why do I say magic? I say magic because Momma and I have always liked rainy days, simply because they're the perfect napping days. Rainy days are the days to kick back, relax, listen to the rain fall, dream, and read. Basically, lose yourself in your imagination on rainy days. I know that the people of Ireland can't do it, because it rains far too often to be dreamy that much, but I love having so many days in a row where getting lost in the imagination isn't such a bad thing.
Back to Kilkenny! We came in to Kilkenny looking for a b&b to stay in (it's the first thing we do every time we come in to a new town). Our first try wasn't a success, but then on our second try we struck gold. On the main street there was a small-looking business that Poppy popped in to ask if they had a place for us. They did, but they didn't want to put us there, they were holding quite a few partiers and we wouldn't get any sleep at all is what they said. So they called one of their other b&b's for us and also called to get a man to come and show us the way. Apparently they run 4 b&b's and they also have an antique store. They keep very busy, and they're very kind. If they hadn't sent a man to come show us the way to the b&b we would've never found it! They also insisted on helping us carry our luggage up the three flights of stairs, It was very nice of them and we thanked them profusely. After settling down in our room (btw I love this room! Wonderful colors!) We carried on a short conversation and we also managed to find out good places to go and visit from them. We asked them where a good place to eat would be and the innkeeper (it's far too big to be a b&b) gave me the directions-Ahmee had to ask at the end where the food was again (she'd asked so many questions she had to start all over). They suggested the Kyteler's Inn (sp?), which is a pub not too far from here that's famous for the founder being accused as a witch. Above the door they have a black cat :D. (web address and info = www.kytelersinn.ie )
We also walked around looking for the tourist information center. Unfortunately it wasn't open, but we did find out that it would be at 11 the next day, even though the next day was Sunday. Then after we checked that out we went around looking for the castle. I'm happy to say that I was the one who saw it first haha! That wasn't open either but we discovered that we had arrived just as a festival was going on. The Kilkenny Heritage Week (http://www.pbase.com/kilkenny_photo_society/kilkenny_heritage_week_) was going on. We saw that we could go in the next day to check out the castle.
At the end of the day the plan was that Sunday we'd get up and go for a walking tour of Kilkenny and then we'd head over to the castle to see what we could see. I ended up staying up a bit later doing homework, listening to the drunks pass by on the street below us, and daydream.
I almost forgot!
An Irish Limerick:
There once were two cats of Kilkenny.
Each thought there was one cat too many
So they fought and they fit
And they scratched and they bit
Till instead of two cats there weren't any!
Because of this limerick Ahmee wanted pictures of all the cats we see in Kilkenny. Due to the rain, we haven't seen any (other than the wooden one above the door).
(local hurling team)
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