Waterford Mideival Musuem

I went to a brand new museum in Waterford, Ireland.  It had a lot of neat things.

This is a throne that you could sit in.

Also, in the walled cities they would put executed people's heads on sticks.

And, here is a real hat that King Henry the Eight had.

John F. Kennedy Memorial

There is a memorial to President John F. Kennedy in New Ross, Ireland.  It is at a place where President Kennedy gave a speech in Ireland in 1963. He was assassinated in Texas a little bit later.  His grandfather was from Ireland and he was the first Irish-Catholic president of the United States.   He also has the same birthday as me!

This is a photo from when President Kennedy gave his speech.

The statue is of President Kennedy ready to shake hands.

Kinder Surprise Egg

I forgot I was going to do a blog on Kinder Eggs.  Thanks 5A and 5B for reminding me!

Kinder Surprise Eggs are a chocolate egg that have a plastic container inside with a pretty nice toy.  The toys usually do something and you sometimes have to put them together.  They are made of nice heavy plastic.









My favorite Kinder Egg toy is a cow who rides a 3 wheeled motorcycle that goes REALLY fast and far across the floor.  He was in one of my giant Easter eggs.  My Aunt doesn't like it because she thinks the noise of his motorcycle is too loud.   Some of my other toys are an alligator who lifts weights above his head, a ninja monkey parachuter, and a fox that jumps high into the air.My other giant egg toy is a real paint set with a sheep that holds the paint brush when you are not using it.

I would bring a Kinder Surprise Egg home for everyone but they are actually illegal in the United States.  If I got caught bringing them home, customs would take them and charge me $2,500 fine per egg!  I think they are illegal because there is the plastic inside the chocolate.  They are worried that babies will accidentally eat the toy part.

Famine Ship

In the 1840s, there was a big problem in Ireland.  Basically, most of the people only ate potatoes that they grew on their farms.  In 1845 the potatoes got a disease that made it so they would not grow.  Over a million Irish people starved to death.  A million others left Ireland to move to other countries.

I went to a museum that is on a famine ship like the ones that carried the starving people from Ireland.  There was about 40 people on the ship with me but there would have been 400 during the famine.  I can't imagine having that many people on the ship.  It seemed crowded with just 40.

There were a couple people who dressed up like they were in the 1800's and told us about life on the ship.  They played real people who had been on the ship.  This lady had 4 kids.  Both her and her husband died on the ship.  Her 4 kids made it to New York but there is no record of what happened to them after that.  One of them was a little baby.

Waterford Crystal Factory

I went with the students to tour the Waterford Crystal factory.  They make crystal stuff, like chandeliers and wine glasses.  They also make a bunch of famous trophies like the NCAA Football Championship Trophy and the Players Championship golf trophy.

This is a video of the blowers.  They pull a red ball of burning crystal out of an oven.  They put it in a wood mold and then blow through a tube.  The crystal takes the shape of the mold.  Then they have to cool the crystal.  The guys in the video are making a vase.

There were a lot of trophies being made while I was there.

This is the plans for the NCAA Football Championship trophy.  It is the crystal football given to the winner of the National Championship game.

This is the model for the trophy.  You can see how the wood gets burnt by the lava hot crystal.

This is me actually holding the almost finished replica trophy.  I had to be really careful not to drop it.

This is an etching station.  When the crystal comes out of the hot mold and cools it is smooth and plain.  Then it goes to other parts of the factory to be decorated.  This is me at a etching station.

I took this pic of a piano for Mrs. Verity.

The factory was one of my favorite things in Ireland.  It was really interesting to see them make all the crystal.  It looked like a hard job!

Waterford Festival of Food

On Sunday, there was a big fair for the last day of the Waterford County Festival of Food.  Lucky for me, the festival is held in Dungarvan so I walked right from my home.  It was so crowded!  My Aunt had to use me a bowling ball to push through the crowds.

The weather was crazy!  It was soooooooo windy.  Ireland actually had a tornado warning for the day.  The sellers had to hang onto their tents and their hundred pound weights on the tent legs were being lifted up into the air!  But, at least in was sunny.

Most of the stands were food.  I ate a tasty wood fired pizza and some ice cream.  "Yum yum"

There was also whole pigs on a spit.  The head was gross.  This is a pic of me with a pig that hadn't been roasted....yet.

I also rode on a mechanical bull.  It was fun but a little scary.

Blessed Virgin Mary Statue

I visited a place where there is a statute of Virgin Mary up a hill in Cappoquin, Ireland.  This statue is special because in 1985 the statue moved and talked to some people.

The statue said "My message is peace and prayer. Tell the people that the water is blessed." She also said "I want the people of Ireland to convey my message to the world."

People come and pray here.  There are a lot of candles and I said a prayer for my Uncle Bob.

 I drank some of the water from the spring (water spot).