I’m very conscious that this is not meant to be a tourist guide, but we’ve been doing a pretty good job of being tourists today.

We’re moored right in the centre of the city with barely a two minute walk in one direction to the old medieval triangle and to the main shopping area in the other.

A fresh pot of coffee gets us up and moving, and as a first stop, we spend a happy hour or so wandering around the Museum of Time. In fact €20 each gets us a year pass to 5 of the main museums and guided walks. Just this museum would be worth it.

It is small, but jam-packed full of the very earliest escapement clocks, right up to the crystal resonance clock used officially in Ireland right up to 1971.

A volunteer gives us almost a personalised guided tour, including the roles that first shipping and then the railways played in the development of both timepieces themselves, as well as the very notion of a national standard time.

We’re especially fascinated by the ancient clock made near us in Dorset…

Having started Ulysses several times, we’re reliably informed that it takes place over a single day and that the clock that he apparently mentions several times is the very one on display here….complete with an original first edition.  It is available to read on screen….we don’t see anyone getting beyond the first paragraph!

The next 45 mins or so, is spent with a very funny guide who could make a decent living in stand-up. You can google the history of Waterford for the details,  but from the very earliest Viking settlement in the 900s right up to the present day, it is clear that the city has been pivotal in several big moments in Irish history…and has continued its relative prosperity as well.

It turns out that one of Henry 2nd’s knights ‘Strongbow ‘ married Aoife, the daughter of the king of Leinster. The next 900 years or so saw Ireland ruled by the King’s and Queens in London.

Waterford was also a big focus for growing Irish nationalism in the 19th century,  in particular one Thomas Meagher who, along with others, is credited with bringing the first Irish tricolour back from revolutionary France.  It was first flown from 33 The Mall in 1848, and is flown continually to this day. With the Green representing the catholics, the Orange for the protestants and the white as a symbol of hope for peace between the two…

With a visit to the cathedral and the Bishops Palace, we were museumed -out, even with a lunch break in between.

Waterford grew and grew on us after a rather dismal and grey arrival on a dead Sunday. The history  and especially the history tellers brought it alive, on a sunny Monday, and it still seems to be prospering with a thriving docks, new bridge and developing waterfront area…and a vibrant culture…

Just as we finished our dinner, and almost as if specially laid on for us, a pipe and drum band began a short concert not 50m from us in the new bandstand/meeting place…

With the sun setting over the old and new…

…we went to catch some music of a very different kind in The Reg. Anthony Roach turned out to be a real talent playing guitar, laying down loops and accompanying himself on whistle,  flute and his own brilliant voice. A great end to the short stay here, before another early tide tomorrow…