Moate to Galway, Ireland (Tuesday, July 23rd, 2019)

After exploring the Book of Kells and the Long Hall of Trinity College, we jumped back in the coach and headed west toward Galway.  Our first stop was in the town of Moate where we enjoyed a wonderful coffee and scone before continuing on.  This town was the start of our Irish scone addiction that continued throughout our  trip!

The town of Moate was very small, but also very beautiful and quaint.

From Moate we continued west through the Irish countryside, taking in the views from our coach.  The island of Ireland is about the same size as the state of Indiana, so traveling from town to town is quite easy.

When we reached Galway, we enjoyed a quick coach tour of the town to get our bearings, then headed to our hotel for the night.

All of the shopping and pubs in this town are within just a few blocks of each other, so it is quite a congested area.

The River Carrib runs right through the heart of the city.

We took a quick drive by the catholic cathedral, which Steve's mom said she would like to explore more closely tomorrow, so we will have to put that on our list.

We stayed at the Ardilaun Hotel on the outskirts of town.

The rooms were nice and spacious.

We had time before dinner, so we all went for a walk to explore the grounds which were beautifully manicured.

and they had great views of the city.

A walking path took us through the old walls and mature landscape.

And down to a little building that we named the leprechaun house.

After walking the grounds and stretching our legs, we settled in to the hotel pub for our daily Guiness.

We settled in for the night in anticipation of our day in Galway tomorrow.

Trinity College and the Book of Kells, Dublin, Ireland (Tuesday, July 23rd, 2019)

Our final stop on the Dublin City Tour was Trinity College.  It is a beautiful campus in the heart of Dublin, and most importantly is the home to the Book of Kells and the Long Room Library.



Our tour started off in the college square before making our way into the Book of Kells exhibit.

Photography was allowed in part of the Book of Kells exhibit, so I attempted to show a bit of it.  The exhibit shows how the books were written and large images of some of the artwork.

The book of Kells is an illustrated manuscript of the four Gospels.  It is believed to have been created in 800 AD by monks of monasteries in Ireland, Scotland and England who wanted even the illiterate to have access to the stories of the life of Jesus.  It is considered to be Ireland's finest National Treasure.

The illustrations in the Book of Kells are the most complex and extravagant of any ever made.

At the end of the exhibit, one of the books is on display, and of course is the highlight of the tour, however, pictures of the book were not allowed.

After leaving the Book of Kells exhibit, we made our way into the Long Room at the Old Library of Trinity College.  It is nearly 65 meters in length and contains 200,000 of the colleges oldest books.  It was built between 1712 and 1732, but was only a single level.  In 1860 the roof was raised  to create the upper gallery bookcases.

The Long Room is an extremely impressive library and collection of books.  It was amazing to walk through it, and feels it's enormity!

Dublin City Tour, Dublin, Ireland (Tuesday, July 23rd, 2019)

Our first day in Dublin started with a bus tour of the city, making our way through city streets and parks, seeing many of the magnificent sights of Dublin.

Saint Patrick's Cathedral

The Brazen Head, Ireland's oldest pub, built in 1198.

Phoenix park is a 1700 acre park in the center of Dublin with beautiful memorials, crosses and homes.

The papal cross.

The president of Ireland's house is located in the park, as well as the home of the U.S. ambassador.

After leaving the park, we headed back into the city.  The two murals on this building depict the everyday life of the men (top) and the women (bottom) of Dublin.

The wax museum had some interesting characters hang outside.

Our next stop on this tour will be Trinity College, where we will have time to explore on foot and see sight up close and personal.

Arriving in Dublin, Ireland (Monday, July 22, 2019)

As we made our way from the airport to our hotel, we took in all of the beautiful sights, and quickly discovered that Dublin is a gorgeous city!

The harp is the official instrument of Ireland, so they created this harp shaped bridge in Dublin.

The bus dropped us off at our hotel, where we met our tour manager Ann Marie.  She took care of our luggage for us, and we headed out to explore the town a bit on our own.  Our hotel was located right on the Grand Canal, with miles of beautiful walking close by.

St. Stephen's Green

The shopping district on Grafton Street.

Lunch time at The Duke.

While Steve's parents took a rest, Steve and I went back out on the canal.  The canal is made up of a series of spillways.

These boats are between two spillways, so they have no where to go.  Not a very fun cruise but bet the food is exceptional!

We are staying at the Mespil Hotel tonight, located right on the canal.  

We all joined  back up in the evening for our welcome meeting and dinner before retiring for the night.