Freedom!!!

FINALLY we are in the REPUBLIC! It feels of good to be out of the UK and back to free Ireland! The second we crossed the border from the North, the weather got warm and sunny, the signs read Gaelic, and Eiot and I had a definite sense of being home. Living here for a year was not exactly easy at the time, but we remember the bad times as fondly as the good knowing full well we only have to stay for a week before heading back to our house, garden, cat, and family.
We thoroughly enjoyed singing/playing in Christ Church cathedral today I explored the underside of the church at the recomendation of other choralers and discovered a mummified cat and mouse in the crypt that had been found stuck in the organ pipes in 1885. Quite interesting, to say the least.
Eliot and I took a group to the Porterhouse, our favorite pub/restaurant here in Dublin as it has great food (rare in Ireland) and is a great venue with 4 sories and lots of places to sit. Unfortunately, the Sunday match was on and it was very loud and packed... but I still had a Bulmers cider and a great time. Pubs in Ireland get packed whenever a match is on (doesn't really matter whose playing)... just think of each match like the Superbowl and you'll have a small idea of how involved the Irish are with their sports. Nothing good in my mind though... just football (soccer), hurling, and cricket. Needless to say, it was loud and a very good time!
We will be staying behind as the rest of the group so Eliot can play for the piper's club at the Cobblestone (http://www.pipers.ie/events/_080701Session.htm) We'v already been in Waterford last year, so we aren't missing too much. We are then taking a train to Killarney to meet up with the group, which we are THRILLED about... we've had enough bus travel for a lifetime! We did some research and found out they are having a special that makes the train almost as cheap as the bus, which is great beacause we will be able to get up and walk around, play cards, eat, not get carsick, etc. Yay!
All around I am just enjoying seeing all our old haunts, food we enjoyed, and places I'd never thought I'd see again. I also heard they finished the bridge over the river at the University of Limerick, so we just may have to go see that, considering how many extra miles we walked due to the construction there.
Yeah, there's a lot of things I don't miss, but overall it is very good to be back, but only to visit this time!

A Day in Dublin

Another busy day on the tour. We visited the Book of Kells and the Long Room (the Old Library) at Trinity College in the morning. The Book of Kells, written around 800 AD, is a beautiful illuminated manuscript of the 4 Gospels. They only display 2 pages at a time and the pages are changed every day. The Long Room is breathtaking - full of many rare books and manuscripts. These are definitely a must see should you ever find yourself in Dublin!

The chorale sang at Christchurch at 1:15pm. What a magnificent setting for them! Their music was beautiful and was thoroughly enjoyed by all who visited the church. I think the chorale members enjoyed it as well. We enjoyed the beautiful music shared by Elliot on his Uilleann pipes.

After the concert, some of us went looking for the St. Patrick's cathedral. It, too, is beautiful, if you imagine past the scaffolding of the renovation! We decided to not go in, but look for food instead. After a quick delicious sandwich at a small bistro, we went to the Chester Beatty Library in the Dublin "Castle". Now that has a collection of art and manuscripts from the Orient, Near East, and Europe that deserved much more than the hour we were able to give it before closing. We saw less than half, and that too quickly. This, too, is a "do not miss" place in Dublin; we will be back, given half a chance.

Dublin is a bustling and busy city. There are many things to do and see here and one day just isn't enough.

Tomorrow we head for Waterford with a stop (around lunch, I hope) in Kilkenny which is reported to be a beautiful and colorful town.

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.

So close, and yet...

Today we visited Newgrange, or more accurately, visited the visitor center at Newgrange. It turns out that groups of 15 or more (like us) need to book a shuttle bus to the site itself in advance, and such shuttles are booked out over a year in advance. To see Newgrange today, we would have had to know our exact schedule and number of tour members well before any of us owed the first trip payment. Such is life on tour: you win s0me; you lose some.

At any rate, the visitor center was really nice, with a reproduction of the central part of the passage within Newgrange, detailed explanations of the neolithic monuments at Bru na Boine(sp), and photos of the excavations in the 1960's.

Newgrange has waited for us for over 5,000 years; it will have to be patient just a bit longer.

What do the Isles have against the internet?

OK, we've FINALLY reconnected to the net, after a couple failed attempts. These countries seem to love an arrangement where you do the following to connect:

1. Buy or get a free voucher from the front desk 0r the barista
2. Connect to the strongest wireless access point, which had better be the one that sold you the voucher.
3. Enter the username and password combination from the voucher card.
4. It doesn't work.
5. Go back to the front desk or barrista and explain the problem.
6. "Sorry, it just doesn't work sometimes"
7. The desk/cafe dude hands you another voucher from a large deck 0f them.
8. Repeat steps 3 through 6 until the desk/barrista dude says "It's some BT thing. Sometimes these vouchers just don't work." (Implication: hey, we tried; what's yer problem?）

Contrast to the USA:

1. Enter your room
2. Turn on your computer
3. Enter your browser and click "OK".
4. use the net.

But hey, the view here is a LOT better :-)

Photo of Fisherwick Pres

This morning we sang in the service at Fisherwick Presbyterian, Belfast, singing Down in the River, Pater Noster, My Soul's Been Anchored, and Nunc Dimitus. It was a lovely service. Here is a photo 0f the church as we set up for our brief rehearsal.

Yoo hoo, it's me

Until moments ago I had been blogging under the name Oregon Chorale Tour because I had set up the blog and didn't remember to send myself an invitation to be an author so I could sign as myself. Well, now it's done and hopefully I will find more chances to add thoughts and observations to this bit of modern technology! This morning we sing in at Fisherwick Presbyterian church as part of their service. I am looking forward to singing in an old stone church building again. Later.