I started out my Easter Holiday by traveling with my host family for three days in London! Ok, can I just say, I love England. We flew in during the afternoon and bought our Tube ticket(Underground, Subway) and did toured the normal touristy sites, those that I have grown to know and love so very much.
I saw Buckingham Palace. The next day I knew I wanted to do something historical. So, we went to the Tower of London. It is a fortress dating from the Norman period of English history with the White Tower, a castle built by William the Conqueror. The part I was intrigued with was the Tudor history of the Tower. Studying the history there was pure enjoyment for me. Thinking about events that took place in the tower brought me close to tears. Viewing the exhibit of Henry VIII's armour in the White Tower was a highlight of the trip.
That night, we went to see "Wicked" on the West End. I love this play and am now fortunate enough to have seen it in London and on Broadway. I miss London now just writing about it.
I got back to Ireland on Wednesday night, knowing I had all of one day to rest before I left again on another Paddy Wagon Tour to the south-west of Ireland. Rachel and I toured Dublin and were able to listen to my first live Irish music in a pub...very cool.
Friday morning, me being me, I lost my sense of direction and almost couldn't find the Paddy Wagon Palace. I was worried how going on this trip alone was going to affect me, but everything turn out great. On the bus, I sat next to a brother and sister from South Africa, and the three of us gathered a group of six people that stuck together throughout the trip: 3 from S. Africa, 1 girl from Australia, 1 girl from L.A., and me. It was so amazing.
We stayed at a hostel in Galway Friday night which was a lot nicer than I had expected. Unfortunately, because it was Good Friday, most of Galway was shut down, but it was a beautiful city! Everything in the south is beautiful! I couldn't get over the contrast between the incredible greenness of everything plus the blueness of the sky (the weather was AMAZING!) plus the feeling that I had gone back into the 19th century.
This area was so much different from Dublin. Our tour guide/bus driver was a guy named Gabriel. He was hilarious. We all made friends with him, and when we got to the Dingle Peninsula, he gave four of us the opportunity to stay at a B&B because the hostel was full. Some amazing attractions I saw from this trip: The Cliffs of Moher, Ancient Monastery at Clonmacnoise, The Roman Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and St. Nicholas (also known as the Galway Cathedral), the Guinness Storehouse, Blarney Castle.
Yes, that's right folks, I kissed the Blarney Stone and received the gift of gab (eloquence, Winston Churchill kissed the Blarney Stone, so maybe there's something to it) which should be helpful to me in job interviews! Ha!
The trip was awesome. I met some great people and saw some great things. So much was crammed into just three days that I'm still blown away by it all.
Whew! And that was only one week! I got home late Sunday night with the decision that my second week of Easter was going to be devoted to seeing as much of Dublin as I possibly could. I felt I have seen the surface of some things, but there is no way I have even been close to scratching the surface of all that I want to see and do.
Week Two of Easter--
One of the first things I did was go to see the Book of Kells (an ancient illuminated manuscript)--worth a trip to Ireland by itself! I went to the National Library, the Writer's Museum (all Dublin authors), and the Museum of Archeology. I took a bus tour taking me around the city and showing me all of the main sights. This is probably the most touristy thing EVER but it was worth it. I learned a great deal and went on a day where it was shockingly sunny and fairly warm (for Ireland that is, probably about 52 degrees at the highest) and I sat on the open top of the bus so I could see everything.
I met Kathleen's new fiancee and went out to dinner with them. And of course, I went shopping. There are some really cool stores in Dublin and I'm finding some neat things. I'm also very surprised at myself as I am starting to be able to find my way around the city without whipping my map out at the slightest wind change. This is mostly because I've been forced to. I've been going into the city alone so I can't depend on someone else to read the map for me. It's nice.
Nothing is open late here. Most coffee shops and sandwich bars are closed by 5:00 or 6:00. When I was coming home from town I just wanted to grab a latte to take with me on the DART, and the six coffee shops I passed on the way there were closed up.
Thursday of this week was super awesome. I took a bus tour out to Newgrange, about 45 minutes north of Dublin. This is the site of an ancient burial tomb, known as a passage tomb. It is a Stone Age tomb, older than Stonehedge by 500 years and the pyramids of Egypt by 1000 years. There were about 25 of us in a tight little chamber door where the tour guide explained all of the technicalities of the tomb: how it was designed perfectly alligned with the sun on the Winter Solstice and how every year at dawn on that day, the passage of the tomb fills with light and illuminates the ancient carved spirals on the walls.
This tour also took me to the site of the Battle of the Boyne, one of the most important battles in Irish history; the Hill of Tara, site of of the ancient capital of Ireland; and through the town of Slane. When I got back into Dublin that night, I wandered around for awhile searching for a sandwich bar and then I went to St. Patrick's Cathedral. I went to a gothic organ concert and readings from Dracula. This was awesome. The setting, a Medieval Cathedral, was perfect. It was creepy, haunting, and chilling all at the same time. I loved it.
Today, I went to church for the first time in Ireland. I went with my family to a Church of Ireland. It is amazing to me how different it was from an evangelical church like the one I go to back home. More structured and very worshipful.
I have only 17 days left. How sad! This has been a really great trip and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
I'm back to school tomorrow and teaching to 2nd, 3rd, and 4th class (8-10 year olds).......that should be interesting, I'll let you know how it goes.
Me in London
Irish Musicians in a Pub
Beautiful Ireland
New Friends
At Newgrange
