dublin and tours

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Oh wow i am so glad that i went on a mini adventure around ireland. i was a little weary about going by myself (blame put solely on my mother's head<3) but i had a great time and it was way better than i thought it would be. So i went up to dublin on wednesday with nothing more than a plan in my head. But once i got up there they had plenty of space in the hostel and on the tours. So i dropped off my stuff and went on a random trip around dublin. i got a little lost but in ireland you soon find your way, or at least someone who is willing to help. I went to trinity college where the book of kells resides. Sadly they didnt have the famous chi rho page on display but they did have a few of the other pages out- including an image of christ which was amazingly beautiful. it is incredible that after seeing images of the illuminated texts for so long and imagining them to almost be made by god, to see them in person and see the little guide marks and breakdown of the image is just so surreal. after the book of kells room we were exited out the old library. holy crap! i have never seen a bigger library or wanted to live in one before. i am a major fan of libraries but this was incredible. on par with the beast's id say. they had remodeled it a while back and added a level, there were ladders to reach the top books and little nooks to get lost in a story. oh man it was really quite incredible. they were undergoing major restorations efforts so it was amazing to see things up close and trying to be preserved for more visitors to goggle at. oh i forgot, even the campus left me speechless. you entered through central gates where horses and carriages had once entered. the buildings were old and seemed to have stood forever. I can't even describe it well enough, i wish i could. if i actually went to this school i would face failure on all my classes since i wouldnt be able to manage leaving the main quad. i sincerely hope that all of you will be able to go one day, it was the most amazing thing i have ever seen built by man, and beautifully poetic to think it is still harboring some of the most educated men around. on a random note it sits facing the old parliament building which now houses the biggest 'bank of ireland' i have ever seen. and like many buildings in london because of the window tax the building has not one window.

well after that i had amazing soup at this little place on a side street and then went off to the national gallery. it was again amazing. nothing too famous but it was just incredible to see irish artists shown in their glory. the rooms were beautiful and wonderfully showed off hundreds of pieces. sadly i could not take photos in there but if you are curious what specific works are included you could look it up if you cared to. then i stumbled upon the castle of dublin and even the little park where many locals were having their lunch. i decided to take a little knap since it was really sunny and very beautiful. after i went to the famous temple bar and managed to be so distracted i ran into a pole haha. it was only at my waste so i just felt stupid but im sure a few people wondered if i had started pounding drinks down a little too early. after catching a session i went in search of some dinner. i found it at this amazing pub in the same area. i had really amazing fish and chips and then left to go back to the hostel.

my tour left at 6 the next morn so i knew i had to get some sleep. so the tour was of northern ireland which included belfast, the giant causeway and londonderry (aka derry or stroke city) for those that dont know northern ireland is the area where england still has its claws in. from the buildings to the money to even some of the flags flying, england is a constant presence. even a few years ago their presence tore the country apart and forced a regime known as the ira to become hostile. It was really incredible to see the struggle that even goes on today. There are peace walls erected and peace bridges being built. there is still an intense rivalry between the catholics and protestant communities but it seems to be better than ever before. it was really heartbreaking to hear our guide tell of his father's best friend who had been shot dead by enemy forces while being completely unarmed. the people still know of the death of their men and women and live with the debt of trying to make things right. there was an intenseness that could be felt while in this area almost like it was still a war zone and indeed i recon it is. i hate to say it but i was glad to leave. the giant causeway was breathtaking. there are many stories about a giant running in fear that caused the strange large stone towers but the logical reason is due to volcanic eruptions that happened thousands of years ago.

we returned to dublin at 11pm and were truly exhausted! the tour the next day started at 8 so i got to sleep in a bit😊 it was a tour of glendalough, wicklow mountains, brownshill and kilkenny. this was the only thing i actually craved to see before i left ireland. wicklow county is known as the gardenlands of ireland and i was even willing to go to dublin to see them. as there was no tour of this area from cork, and staying there was more expensive than i was willing to pay, i had to go to dublin to do the tour. again i just cant say how beautiful it was. i finally understood why they have so many greens in the crayon box because they really do exist, ive seen them. this area is also where almost every movie that is filmed in ireland is set. so i saw where braveheart, Excalibur, ps i love you and many more movies have been filmed (or at least the general area.

glendalough, pronounced glendelock, was a little monk town where we were able to hike and admire the amazing view of the lake and monastery. but there was an added twist, ok something needed to be understood about ireland- footpaths are marked for a reason and venturing off of them is not advised and actually really stupid! so of course one of the americans on the tour decided she would venture off of them to get a picture of herself in a creek. ya DUMB!! she ended up slipping or tripping and breaking her leg. it was really terrible cause we were in the middle of no where and on a bank holiday weekend. so we had to wait a few hours but an ambulance was brought out to rescue her. the group then headed on to brownshill where there was one of those burial things set up. haha i cant remember the name but it has a large head stone that is placed on smaller ones. This head stone is actually the biggest in all of europe weighing something like 82 tons. yikes! and of course more americans decided to be stupid and climb up on top of it. thankfully nothing happened to them but it furthered my terrible disgust of the typical american tourist and complete disrespect for something sacred. i was offended and im not even irish or of the dead! sorry haha after that we went to kilkenny. i didnt actually realize that we were going there before the day. since we were a we bit behind on time and having already been there for three days just a few weeks ago i decided to hail a bus back to cork from there rather than heading back to dublin with the group and chance missing the bus back. so thats what i did and i arrived a few hours ahead of schedule 😊 i was exhausted and ended up heading to sleep as soon as i could. this morning i woke early due to my schedule being so the last few days. i packed some, cleaned some and did some laundry. then i had my last day at the haven. i am so glad that i volunteered there. i had been praying that with my roommates gone to let me meet more people that would be here these last few weeks. i have been very blessed- the people at the haven became great friends to me. they are so nice and although that gives me more people to miss i was glad to have met them. after i went souvenir shopping and then came back to pack and defrost our monster of a freezer which i thought might have eaten something since it was so mounded with ice. luckily my prior experience of defrosting freezers (from my hospital volunteer days) helped nicely and it only took me a little over 15 min to clear out the whole of the mess. now it is gleaming and beautiful :D

so that is all- im eating dinner and probably going to knit some more tonight or maybe pack? tomorrow is my last day at grace church and i have been told that i am having coffee or something after with a few of them to say goodbye. then i will probably come back pack and clean some more and then maybe if im lucky go to the gym. monday i am due to go on a last adventure with a friend. ill take pics and let you know how it goes. oh i nearly forgot yesterday i got to skype with kasey!! it was amazing! its amazing how much i love and miss her! she was so happy to be home and i was glad to see her so. after talking to her i realized that we will be friends for hopefully the rest of our lives or at least the for-foreseeable future - without her and lara this experience would have been a completely different one and i fear not an altogether desirable one. i am very thankful to them and so glad to have met them.

well goodnight to you all. and guess what... see you soon

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Comments

[Pa Connell]

Dublin Trip
So happy you had another wonderful travel adventure and very happy you are safely back in Cork. See you soon at LAX. Love, Pa