Finally bobbing to the surface after the open-water swim of arrival weekend! It is so exciting to welcome students here every year, but inevitably it’s a bit hectic even when everything goes as well as it can. In this case everything really did go as well as it could. The flight was on time, everyone got their luggage, and by the end of the day (Friday) we had the group successfully housed, fed, and oriented. Saturday we toured Waterford and Tramore in much better weather than the students had arrived in, thank goodness!

Reginald’s Tower in Waterford city centre near the river

Students learning about the Charter Roll in the Medieval Museum

The Medieval Museum holds the only set of pre-Reformation cloth of gold vestments in Europe.

Some of these vestments weigh so much that putting them on takes two helpers.

Students listening to Jack Burchell’s tour outside Waterford Crystal

Inside Christchurch Cathedral

Acting out the marriage of Strongbow and Aoife, which took place in Waterford in 1170 and began the long history of Anglo-Irish relations.

Students at Tramore. It was a tad windy!

By the end of Saturday we were all ready for a rest. The dorms were quiet until early afternoon Sunday, especially because it poured rain intermittently through the day! Today, classes started and we are all getting into the groove. Fingers crossed that the sunshine sticks around for our visit to Kilkenny tomorrow.