Christchurch Cathedral, Book of Kells, the Long Room and hotel rooms

Ahhhhhh! What a lovely space to sing! We sang most of our sacred music which was absolutely stunning in the acoustics of Christchurch. We even had some people that came to hear us. One fellow all the way from Cork. I'm not sure how any of them knew we were coming but there were a number of people that stayed for our concert. There were still people moving through the church who had come to see the church and not us but it was nothing too distracting. For me it has been the best singing experience yet on the trip and one that I sorely needed!

Before the concert some of us went to Trinity College to view the Book of Kells and the Long Room. The book is amazing and the Long Room awesome! As a librarian it is some what compulsory for me to have visited here. I think I would have wanted to anyway. The intricacy of the designs and patterns on the book of Kells and the other books on display are mind boggling. As for the Long Room, I long to just browse the shelves but, of course, that isn't exactly allowed. I wonder if I could get an apprenticeship or something to work there for a month some summer. I didn't think to ask.

We have had a range of accomodations so far an this trip. Last night and tonight we are in the most modern hotel yet. It is not really my taste but serviceable. The sink and mirror are outside the bathroom and right next to the bed! The bathroom itself has a curved piece of glass and door! You can't see through it but honestly it's unnerving. One wall is a bright orangy red broken in between the twin beds we happen to have in our room by a decorative piece of mirror art with cove lighting behind. There is a huge floor to ceiling mirror on the wall opposite the bed with a nice little outlet for shavers and the blow dryer is there. Too bad they didn't think to put an outlet for us ladies who like to curl our hair! And, of course, this means you must do all of this noisy stuff right in the bedroom area. If you are sharing the room with someone who would like a little more time to sleep it becomes a bit annoying. Ah well, such are the stuff of traveling abroad. Again, one never knows what things one has taken for granted until that has been altered or taken away!

Tomorrow we move through Kilkenny on our way to Killarney for the evening. Like many I am affected by the long days and find it hard to sleep a full night. I don't feel that tired but am getting something less than my usual number of hours of sleep.