SAFE

I'm safe and back in Greystones. I'll provide more details about the trip once I get my thoughts together.

Glendalough

On Tuesday we went to Glendalough, an ancient monastic city set in the “valley of two lakes.” After viewing the settlement, which is basically a cemetery amid ancient ruins, we went on two hikes. First we walked out to a spot where we could see the mountain face on which Kim Irvine died three years ago this March. We had a moment of prayer for her family and sang the Doxology. Then we had lunch and hiked up the mountain (using a trail with stairs) to overlook the valley.

The hike up the mountain was probably my favorite hike so far. It was a strenuous, vertical assent most of the way, but I kept pace with Dr. Harbin (who is a retired navy officer) and made it to the top without any difficulty. It was quite a nice view, although it was overcast. Here’s a photo of me atop the mountain (I think the mountain’s called “Spink”) taken by Trista.



I liked this trip more than the others because we got to see natural Ireland. It reminded me of the national parks I’ve been to in the States. On the way home, our bus driver drove through Sally Gap and showed us where scenes from the movie Excalibur were filmed. I was tired, though, and fell asleep on the bus coming into Greystones.

Tomorrow we leave for a 5-trip to Northern Ireland. Please keep us in your prayers.

Day trips begin...

On Friday we went into Dublin to see the Book of Kells at Trinity College and check out some exhibits at the National Museum. The Book of Kells was a manuscript of the Gospels written and illustrated by monks the 9th century. After seeing the book of Kells and some other books that I don’t remember, we went upstairs to the Long Room which was the main chamber of the Old Library. It was pretty sweet looking, but we couldn’t touch anything.

We regrouped in the Trinity student commons and headed over to the National Museum to see some stuff that Vance wanted us to view concerning Easter Rising and the War of Independence (or, as our history lecturer Robert Dunlop would say, “self-determination”). Interestingly enough, three of the insurgents from Easter Rising were executed in Kilmainham Jail on my birthday, May 3.

We also saw the bog man in the museum. Stinks to be him.

After we’d had our fill of education, we were free to wander Dublin. Ann, Trista, Mia and I went to St. Stephen’s Green to eat our sack lunches. I saw a guy brushing his teeth on the park bench. That was interesting. Then Mia wanted to get her nose pierced, so while she did that, we tried to find a free bathroom. It was 20c in the mall, so we went down to Grafton Street to use the McD’s bathroom and get some Bewleys. After a quick stop at Hodges and Figgis, we found St. Patrick’s Cathedral and walked around in the gardens outside. We didn’t go inside because they charged admission and we think we’ll be going there later in the semester with ISP.

We caught the DART back to Greystones and once again enjoyed returning to our little seaside village after a long, dreary day in the city.

On Saturday, we took a combination of buses to Enniskerry and the Powerscourt House and Gardens. Powerscourt is basically this huge estate that’s been featured in films such as The Count of Monte Cristo and (I think) St. Ives. People must have too much money and time because that place was immaculate. They had a pet cemetery with real headstones and everything. I mean, these people (I don’t really know who lived in the house) most have really liked their pets. One headstone described a pet named “Sting” as “faithful beyond human fidelity.” Wow.

Here’s a photo of Powerscourt.

Blending in

I got mistaken for a local today. I was walking to the Post to mail a letter to Finland and a woman with a car full of jersey-clad kids pulled up beside me. She asked for directions to a football pitch, assuming I was a native of the area. Of course, I opened my mouth and the jig was up, but it was interesting to feel like I blended in. Well, actually, I don’t feel like I blend in at all, but I still thought it was funny watching her face when she realize I was American and she hadn’t detected me.

Rain, Hail or Shine

This morning I woke up to a rain storm which quickly escalated into a hail storm as I sat eating my breakfast. I’d never seen a hail storm start, so that was rather interesting. I ran upstairs to grab my camera so I could document this momentous occasion. You can’t see it in this photo (since it’s just of the sidewalk), but there was a rainbow in the sky while it hailed up a storm. No matter, the rainbows are a lot less vivid here than in Hawaii. Anyway, this is the sidewalk outside of the Sun Room covered with hail stones.



And here is the breakfast of champions, peanut butter, Nutella and toast. I selected apple juice this morning to wash it all down, but I enjoy the orange juice as well. Mmmmm…

Bray Head Hike

After lunch today, Jodi, Barb, Kelly, Natalie and I rode the DART to Bray to hike to the top of Bray Head. We were all pretty proud of ourselves for making it to the top. Here’s a photo from the top of the hills and the Irish Sea.


Here’s a photo of me at the top. Don’t worry… I didn’t fall off the cliff!

The mystery of the missing "hot pad"

Mary and I couldn't find one of the oven mits after finishing our cooking duties last Sunday so Mary left a note for the weekday cooks saying we'd lost a "hot pad." Well, the message got lost in translation as Jonathan (the Y manager) and Bernie (the Y cook) tried to figure out what on earth a "hot pad" is.

"Oh," Jonathan realized later. "It's an oven glove."
"Hmmm," replied Bernie. "I thought it was the place where I live."

Ahahaha.