Day 6 Belfast, Ireland

First stop, Giant's Causeway on the coast of Belfast. It is where a volcano erupted and when the lava cooled it left cubical blocks. The reason it is called Giant's Causeway is because in the 1600's there was a debate if it was created by men using picks and chisels, nature or by a giant. Of course, after years gone by it was determined to be volcanic. I didn't know what the causeway was until I got there. When I heard it was cooled lava, I was expecting smooth area like I have seen in Hawaii. I walked, instead of taking the shuttle, to enjoy the sunshine, sea breeze and smell of salt in the air. The view of the coast was beautiful. I know that I say everything I have seen is beautiful, but I can't get over it. Everywhere we went WAS beautiful!

When I looked down at the lava it reminded me of the wooden toy that you hammer the pegs down, flip over and repeat. Even though the toy had round pegs and these were not it still gave me that idea. There was a path that you could walk along the lava to see the blocks up close. You were able to climb the hill of them to see the view from above. I admired the ocean view more than anything.

Below is the link about Giant's Causeway:

http://www.giantscausewayofficialguide.com/

In 2012, the Titanic Museum opened. This was a surprise stop for us since it was not on the itinerary. As we were driving to downtown Belfast to the museum we went by a few buildings that had murals painted on them. One of them represented that history when Nationalist and Loyalist were fighting against each other. The other building honored C.S. Lewis and the book of Narnia. After seeing the building representing the fight against two groups of people our tour guide had the coach driver take us along a road where the peace wall was built during that time. This was the wall that kept them separate. On one side the housing/neighborhood was more modern where as the other side was not. The wall was half cement and the top half was a fence making it hard to climb over.

The museum was built as a shape of the star to represent the ship company, White Star, that built Titanic. If you fly above the building you can see the star shape. This was the best well-done museum I ever been too. You start by going through a level of the building which gives you an idea of what it was like living and working in that time period. The next level you would learn about the shipyard and the building of the Titanic. In the center of the building they had a ride that you could go on to see/feel what it was like working on certain areas of the ship. For an example, when we went by the boiler room there was hot air blowing on us as we watched a video of workers. After the ride was over we continued to the launch of the ship. They had displays of what the rooms looked like on the ship with holograms of servants/maids in the room. There was always a recording going on as we read quotes or information on the walls along with pictures. Then we hit the tragedy room, hitting the iceberg. You can hear the Morse code beeping as you read quotes saying we are sinking, we hit an ice berg, we are going down. It made me shiver to think of the fear that was running through their minds. The way the museum was set up made you get an idea of how it was like living back then, the excitement of Titanic being built and departing the port. It made it more effective or personal once you got to the level about the ship sinking. 

The last level was of the wreckage being found. That was the last ship that White Star built besides a wooden boat that is on display outside the museum. You could feel your emotions while walking through this museum and that has only happened to me one other place, Hiroshima Peace Museum in Japan.

Link to Titanic Museum:

http://titanicbelfast.com/

Day 5 Dublin, Ireland

There is a story about the girl on my left in the picture above. She works in the photography department on the ship and when we went looking for our pictures taken at the ports she helped us once. She had asked if I was Australian. I smiled and said no. She thought I sounded like it. I got a kick out of that!

Our first stop of the day was the Monastery of Glendalough. When we arrive we all gathered in the meadow as we listened to our guide tell us the story of Saint Patrick and the history of the monastery. As the group followed the guide, I ventured off and walked the path to the upper and lower lake. I took the time to enjoy the nature and I got some good pictures of the monastery. I didn't make it to either of the lakes due to the time frame I had. I wanted to have some time to see the monastery as well.

As I was walking back on the trail a lady come up to me left side and said that she had been watching me use my cane. She made me jump since I didn't see her. She told me that she thought I was doing really well on the uneven, rocky path and that she was proud of me for exploring on my own. It made me smile and I told her thank you. I had surprised myself on the trip so far as well. I thought I would have a lot of anxiety being in unknown area since that is how I react back home. I don't know if it was the idea that there was 30 plus people who knew that I was part of the tour group and they would check on me as they passed me. I couldn't tell you, but I felt comfortable enough to go on my own and adventure out.

The monastery were more ruins since there was no one taking care of the area. All there was left of the chapel was run down walls with some headstones laying across the floor and the empty holes in the walls where stain glass once stood. As I walked through the cemetery I glazed upon the very old headstones and read them to see what the names were, years of their life and if anything else was placed on it. Some were so fragile looking from the years of weather, that they were crumbling at the corners. Some of the headstones had the Celtic cross on the top. I could feel the history that lived around there even though I only just learned a little bit. You can't go into a place like this and not see nor feel the history that is build in this ground. It has its importance, it has its part in history. Each headstone represents a life.

Below is the link to Monastery of Glendalough:

http://visitwicklow.ie/attractions/glendalough-monastic-city/

Trinity College

Trinity College is known for the home for the Book of Kells, which is the manuscript of the New Testament and Ireland's greatest treasure. The college is also well-known for the famous Old Library.

We had to wait in a long line to get the entrance for the Book of Kells. They only allow a certain number of people at once. When you enter it looks like a museum with the history and photograph of the Book of Kells on wall size displays. There was a display box that showed how earth elements were used to create the colors for pictures in the book. There was a separate room where the book was in a glass case where it laid open to a page. The patience and time that the person needed to create this book is not know to our generation now. Now-a-days people are constantly on their phones, being oblivious to the people and world around them. The book was accomplished because they didn't have all the distractions that we have now. I don't think I would have had the patience to slowly write the lettering perfectly without smearing the ink, waiting for the ink to dry to be able to continue, having to mix elements to create color ink and write it straight on the page. It is astonishing. I would love to see people try to recreate that now with all the distractions. I don't think it could be done. We would say it is pointless when we have technology. Even so, it is not the same. There is something remarkable about an old book, with pages that are crisp, lightly brown with man-made ink that makes it much more valuable than pages printed. The time, patience and skill to create this book is why it is apart of history.

The next part of our tour was my favorite, the Old Library also known as Long Room. This library was AMAZING! I'm not kidding, pictures don't do the justice and if you walked in you would be in awe. Just seeing the rows of old books that hold history, literature, biographies and so much more down a long two story room. Each section having a ladder to reach the top shelf, the smell of years worn on the books and the dark colors of the books eliminating the room. This gives you the deep appreciation of old books. I wanted to take a book off the shelf, feel and smell the pages. I wanted to wipe the layer of dust that had collected over the years and make the book feel alive in my hands. Yes, this may sound silly but these books are rare, one of a kind. This is not a typical library where the books are checked out. These books never leave the library and only Trinity students can use them when necessary in a room at the library. The bookshelves are roped off so not one can enter, you are only allowed to walk down the center of the long room. It was a beautiful sight.

After we completed our tour we had a choice of staying in Dublin and catching a taxi back to the ship since it was leaving in the evening or catch our coach back. I decided it wouldn't be good to stay behind alone so I went back with my family. We took the little time we had left and walked the streets of Dublin. We stopped at a bakery and I had the most delicious dessert ever! It had shortbread crust, thick layer of creamy caramel that melted in your mouth and a very thin layer of chocolate on top. It was YUMMY! Throughout the trip I would see places that had a similar dessert but it never was the same. It was disappointing, haha.

Below is the link about Book of Kells/Old Library:

https://www.tcd.ie/visitors/book-of-kells/

Example of the delicious dessert