On Monday I had my last day of class for Session 1 and we didn't have anything we had to go to until Friday, so Amber, Wendy, and I had planned a trip to Ireland. We got on a plane at 3:30 on Monday afternoon and then got into Dublin around 5. We made our way to our hostel and then ate at Hard Rock Cafe and just relaxed in the hostel the rest of the night because we were so tired.
Tuesday we got up fairly early so we could catch a 9:00 tour bus to Glendalough. We got to see lots of gorgeous countryside and then went to Glendalough. In the 6th century, this is where a monk, known today as St. Kevin, set up a church and brought Christianity to the area. He wanted to be a hermit, so he settled in a cave near the intersection of two lakes, but people would come to his church from all around to grow stronger in their faith. There were ruins of his small church and then the basic structure of a cathedral/church built later called St. Peter and St. Paul's Cathedral. The coolest thing in my opinion was the Round Tower, which was a tall tower that could be seen from all over the area and signaled to people that this was somewhere they could go to practice the Christian faith. Also, there was a building called St. Kevin's Kitchen and I don't remember exactly what it was for, but apparently the acoustics are such that if a few people sing inside, it could be heard in the village nearby.
On Wednesday we got up kind of early again so that we could get on a bus that took us all over Dublin. It's a pretty good concept: the buses run the same route the whole day (about 20 stops) and about every 10-15 minutes a bus will be at whatever stop you are at. We went to St. Patrick's Cathedral, Kilmainham Goal (a jail where the leaders for Ireland's independece were held and killed), Christ Church Cathedral (Ireland's national church), Trinity College, and I think we saw a few more things, but I can't remember what right now.
Thursday we hadn't really planned anything for us to do, so we decided to get train tickets to Waterford and went on a tour of the Waterford Crystal factory. The crystal that they make is GORGEOUS! The process was really interesting to see and I understand why the crystal is so expensive now. Every piece of crystal goes through many different hands to become a beautiful work of art. The people that work in the factory have to go to school for up to 12 years to learn how to do everything it takes to make the pieces for Waterford Crystal. We met one man who had worked for 30 years in Waterford Crystal and has worked on trophies for some of the world's biggest sporting events and believe me, it's not an easy job! It was a really cool experience and I ended up buying a few things there (which of course wasn't very cheap), but I didn't go overboard and it's a very good quality product.
We left on Thursday night and got back very late. I slept for about 11 hours the next day because I had lost so much sleep. We had some terrible hostel-mates who came in incredibly late (around 5 AM one night) and then proceeded to talk to each other in normal/loud voices and when we asked them to be quiet they told us that they were enjoying Dublin and pretty much insulted us for going to bed at a normal time. Let's just say that there was a lot of drama in that room and I am SO glad to be back in my flat.
Well, here are a few pictures and I can show you all more once I get back to the States!
This is Dublin Bay (I think)
Lough Tay (pronouced Lock Tay)...Braveheart was filmed here apparently and the Guinness family owns the property
Some hills...I really can't tell you anything more than that
Round Tower and St. Kevin's Kitchen
Upper Lake at Glendalough
Inside of St. Patrick's Cathedral
Outside of St. Patrick's
Kilmainham Goal
The big room full of cells in Kilmainham Goal (I don't remember what the room's called)
Christ Church Cathedral
A typical Georgian door in Dublin
putting a handle on a pitcher at Waterford Crystal
A man blowing glass into a mold
One of Waterford's creations: a PGA trophy
Tuesday we got up fairly early so we could catch a 9:00 tour bus to Glendalough. We got to see lots of gorgeous countryside and then went to Glendalough. In the 6th century, this is where a monk, known today as St. Kevin, set up a church and brought Christianity to the area. He wanted to be a hermit, so he settled in a cave near the intersection of two lakes, but people would come to his church from all around to grow stronger in their faith. There were ruins of his small church and then the basic structure of a cathedral/church built later called St. Peter and St. Paul's Cathedral. The coolest thing in my opinion was the Round Tower, which was a tall tower that could be seen from all over the area and signaled to people that this was somewhere they could go to practice the Christian faith. Also, there was a building called St. Kevin's Kitchen and I don't remember exactly what it was for, but apparently the acoustics are such that if a few people sing inside, it could be heard in the village nearby.
On Wednesday we got up kind of early again so that we could get on a bus that took us all over Dublin. It's a pretty good concept: the buses run the same route the whole day (about 20 stops) and about every 10-15 minutes a bus will be at whatever stop you are at. We went to St. Patrick's Cathedral, Kilmainham Goal (a jail where the leaders for Ireland's independece were held and killed), Christ Church Cathedral (Ireland's national church), Trinity College, and I think we saw a few more things, but I can't remember what right now.
Thursday we hadn't really planned anything for us to do, so we decided to get train tickets to Waterford and went on a tour of the Waterford Crystal factory. The crystal that they make is GORGEOUS! The process was really interesting to see and I understand why the crystal is so expensive now. Every piece of crystal goes through many different hands to become a beautiful work of art. The people that work in the factory have to go to school for up to 12 years to learn how to do everything it takes to make the pieces for Waterford Crystal. We met one man who had worked for 30 years in Waterford Crystal and has worked on trophies for some of the world's biggest sporting events and believe me, it's not an easy job! It was a really cool experience and I ended up buying a few things there (which of course wasn't very cheap), but I didn't go overboard and it's a very good quality product.
We left on Thursday night and got back very late. I slept for about 11 hours the next day because I had lost so much sleep. We had some terrible hostel-mates who came in incredibly late (around 5 AM one night) and then proceeded to talk to each other in normal/loud voices and when we asked them to be quiet they told us that they were enjoying Dublin and pretty much insulted us for going to bed at a normal time. Let's just say that there was a lot of drama in that room and I am SO glad to be back in my flat.
Well, here are a few pictures and I can show you all more once I get back to the States!
This is Dublin Bay (I think)
Lough Tay (pronouced Lock Tay)...Braveheart was filmed here apparently and the Guinness family owns the property
Some hills...I really can't tell you anything more than that
Round Tower and St. Kevin's Kitchen
Upper Lake at Glendalough
Inside of St. Patrick's Cathedral
Outside of St. Patrick's
Kilmainham Goal
The big room full of cells in Kilmainham Goal (I don't remember what the room's called)
Christ Church Cathedral
A typical Georgian door in Dublin
putting a handle on a pitcher at Waterford Crystal
A man blowing glass into a mold
One of Waterford's creations: a PGA trophy
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