Waterford

Alright, we've been two days in Waterford now.

That sentence sounds better if you say it with an Irish accent.

So the road trip from Dublin to Waterford was a dream come true.

I LOVED the country roads. 

Dublin was a nice city, but I'm pretty convinced I'm a country girl now.

I even loved the thrill of flying down a one lane road between two hedges.

We took a random detour and pulled off at the beach.

I held a starfish!!

Yeah, a real starfish! 

As we ventured back to the road we discovered an old mattress in the field by the seashore. 

I guess that's life in Europe...

 Then we ate at a random fish & chips place in the nearby town.

Turns out we can't read English and didn't understand when the menu said Buy One Get One Free.

Every single one of us got 2 of everything we ordered.

I had SO many chips.

They were delicious, but super greasy.

And let's just say greasy food and winding country roads do not make for a pleasant feeling in my stomach.

Also, along our journey to Waterford we stopped at the most beautiful place.

Powerscourt Gardens

It used to be a mansion and then it got taken or something and now it's open for touring.

IT WAS BEAUTIFUL!

Michael & I took things to the next level as we posed for this engagement photo on the bridge.

There was a tower for a damsel in distress to wait for her prince charming in. I loved it and climbed right to the top.

 I spotted an incredibly fashionable European woman sporting a blue boa...

 Then we found a feather she lost a little ways down the path.

Another wonderful scenic grove of trees.

A lovely cave-like arch structure to explore inside of.

 First item on the agenda once we hit Waterford was to tour the crystal factory.

It was so fascinating seeing how fancy that crystal making is.

The workers had to have 5 years of training and then  2 more years to become a master.

INSANE.

The guy who did engraving had been there 35 years.

Waterford Crystal does not mess around.

"You don't need this mirror because you make every mirror sparkle"

 Too appropriate that as I was touring Waterford after the crystal factory I found an Irish & American flag hanging side by side.

 Then I helped myself to a delicious eclair.

 For the afternoon we scoped out the beach and found a nice scenic walk that led us to views like this:

 Eventually we made it to a quaint little swimming cove area. 

We followed a long staircase down the cliffside and found THIS:

Our girls Tess & Chelsea went ahead and jumped right off the edge without any wetsuits.

I overheard these Irish boys whispering about how crazy they thought the American girls were.

It was such a good adventure. I love just cruising around Ireland finding random adventures all over. Everything is so beautiful here. I could look out the car window for days. Which is what I'll be doing. 

In the morning we're off to Cork!