Ireland - Day 17+18

Ireland - The Emerald Isle

Back to my homeland! 
Well, sort of. I'm half Irish. 
Aren't we all a wee bit of Irish in America?


We arrived early Saturday mornin' and leaving Sunday nigh', so we have lots of things to see and do! Doubt we'll see leprechauns and rainbows, but hoping to see a pot of gold!


After we checked in our luggage at the hostel, we headed out to roam Dublin and soak in the history and culture - in 8 stops!

First stop - Christ's Church Cathedral, the older of the two medieval cathedrals in Dublin

(we'll see the other one in a moment)

Second stop - St. Patrick's Cathedral,

the other medieval cathedral in Dublin.

It is adjacent to the St. Patrick's Park and the well where St. Patrick himself baptized many locals in the 15th Century.

Saint Patrick, who brought Christianity to Ireland in around 430, is celebrated in Ireland (and indeed all over the world) on March 17th, well-known as St. Patrick's Day.

Here's the inside!

Order of the St. Patrick Bible

1783 and 1872

Third stop - Guinness Storehouse. They have over a million visitors a year! Ireland is FAMOUS for their "black stuff."

(Decided to head back by horse-drawn carriage. NBD)

Fourth stop - Grafton Street and ate at Bewley's Cafe. 

What???? LEPRECHAUNS??

I guess we have the Luck of the Irish!

Fifth stop - Sic' Em, Bears! at Trinity College

in Dublin, Ireland

6th stop - Dublin Castle. Now a major Irish government complex, it dates back to the 18th Century.

The Record Tower, as seen in the picture below, is the sole surviving part of the castle that stood before from c. 1228.

Inside the plaza...

The Chapel Royal, part of the Dublin Castle...

Oh! We have a great tour coming up!

What are we standing over?

These are the original foundations for the casks to make...

Jameson Whiskey, Triple Distilled Irish Whiskey.

7th stop - tour of The Old Jameson Distillery

There´s Jameson himself in the portrait hanging over the wall, looking over his legacy.


For those that have never been on a whiskey tour, it´s quite educational. My grandpa once took me on a tour of Jack Daniel´s Whiskey in Tennessee, so I was naturally curious about the Irish whiskey processes.


Fun Fact:
American whisky is distilled once, Scotch whisky is distilled twice, and Irish whisky is distilled three times (thanks to the genius of John Jameson).

Yay! We enjoyed a free sample at the end.
Have it like the locals do - with cranberry juice or ginger ale!

It´s getting late, so we walked across the River Liffey...

...to our last stop (#8),

 The Brazen Head

Ireland´s Oldest Pub. Established 1198.

(Over 800 years ago!)

Barrels of Guiness they went through.

So great! We were in a room with ALL education people! The girls in the picture below were education majors studying abroad in Germany, and the parents in the back are teachers from the US. What a God-moment to bring us all together!

Traditional pub food - fish and chips

(aka battered fried fish and french fries)

and Irish brown bread. Mmmm!

Whew! All done with our stops!

But we have ONE more thing to do.

We were avoiding it....

but it had to be done.

Try Guinness in Ireland.

Here goes!

I have NO clue why people would order this on their own.
We couldn´t finish one between the three of us!

Oh well, to each his own.
Guess that Irish blood of mine doesn´t go thaaaat far.

That´s the end of our first day in Ireland.

Time for bed!

One night at The Generator Hostel

(btw, a hostel is NOT as bad as it sounds! pics for proof...)

The next morning,

we boarded the Paddywagon for a trip around

the countryside of Ireland!

Glendalough "The Valley of the Two Lakes"

SHEEP IN IRELAND.

too cute.

It was very, very cold!

 But so worth the view!

After the Paddywagon tour (isn´t that name adorable?),

we boarded the plane back to England.

Farewell Emerald Isle!

Last Week - Days 13-16

SO LATE ON MY BLOG.

Life goes by waaay to fast, don't you agree?

Here's top 6 events that happened last week:

#1: Had an amazing Harry Potter adventure.

Took a picture at Platform 9 3/4!

Okay, okay, so I've never actually read or seen Harry Potter, but there are some Harry Potter fanatic friends that just had to go to the platform. 

I really didn't know what I was doing there. I just wanted an excuse to get back into London :) 

Why can't I get this cart through this magic wall???

#2: Ate at a tiny restaurant.

#3: Saw Wicked the Musical (again).

Thought of you, Karen!

#4: Colour Survey with the nursery children.

Yes, I spelled 'color' as the British spelling, 'colour'

Also, guess what they call (US) erasers?

(see below)

The teachers made a cute bulletin board for it!

Erasers = Rubbers!

As in "Can you please pass me the rubber? I need to rub out the wrong answer."

Makes sense, right?

#5: Had a dewy morning.

Admired the beauty God puts in our every-day lives 

on my walk to school.

Nehemiah 9:6 “You are the only Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, with all the stars. You made the earth and everything on it, the seas and everything in them; you give life to everything. The heavenly army worships you.”

#6: Taught Thanksgiving lesson to nursery.

Thanksgiving is an American holiday that closely relates to the feast the English have during Christmas. However, we are American and like to eat, so we have two feasts. This is the first.

 It was a bit difficult for me to explain Thanksgiving to the nursery children without bringing in politics.

Also, they have never celebrated the holiday, nor have they ever been exposed to Thanksgiving symbols such as pilgrims, turkeys, pumpkins, pies, Native Americans, and the Mayflower.

To celebrate, we strung pasta shells on string to make Native American necklaces and made paper feather headdresses to dress up. One of the teachers also found a fabulous tepee! There were also coloring pages of the Mayflower, a turkey, a family gathering around a feast, pilgrims, and Native Americans.

Then I shared why we celebrated Thanksgiving in America...

The First Thanksgiving

as told by Melissa Bohls, to Nursery

A long time ago, some people from England called pilgrims 

(pull out picture of pilgrims)

wanted to find a new country because they wanted to make their own rules how to live. The pilgrims traveled on a boat called the Mayflower 

(pull out picture of Mayflower)

across the big, deep, blue sea until they reached new land.

(make sea motions with hands)

They had lots of fun in their new country and made new homes to live in. They also made up their own rules how to live, just like they wanted.

BUT that winter was cold and dark, 

(shiver motions)

and the pilgrims ran out of food. They didn't know that it was so cold! And they got very very hungry!

Someone else lived there, though, and THEY had plenty of food.

(pulls out picture of Indian girl)

Indians lived there! They had already been living there for a long time, and they had plenty of food.

The Indians decided to be good friends with the pilgrims and share their food. The pilgrims were so happy and they all had a big feast together. The pilgrims were very thankful that the Indians shared their food.

Today in America, families are cooking and gathering together to eat a big feast together. They are going to be thankful for the food they eat. We are going to have our own American Thanksgiving!

(The children sat in a circle with their plates and plastic spoons)

(Now I passed out deli turkey, instant mashed potato, and cheese. Close enough.)

Before we eat, we give thanks.

Thank you for the sunshine,

thank you for the rain,

thank you for the plants that grow,

thank you for our food.

Thank you for our clothes,

thank you for our home,

thank you for our mummies and daddies,

thank you for our family and friends.

Amen!

What I took away from the lesson: 

Teaching Thanksgiving in 10 minutes is complicated.

What the children took away from the lesson: 

Thanksgiving is about sitting in a circle eating mashed potatoes.

That night, the whole gang and I went to The Duke of York Pub to have an American Thanksgiving meal. There were a lot of Americans from around to participate, but it's not quuuuiiite the same as being with the ones you love eating homemade dishes cooked with love.

Here's to Karen, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Cindy, Uncle Mark,  Tiffany, Brittany, Brian, Matthew, Whitney, Michael, Harlee, and my wonderful friends and family - 

I am blessed beyond measure to have you in my life.

Each of you carry a special gift that has forever 

changed me,

helped me,

encouraged me, 

guided me,

to be the person I am today.

I am thankful for your influence in my life.

I am thankful for Baylor and the opportunity to be here in England with such wonderful friends.

Most of all, I am thankful for my salvation in Jesus Christ, who died and rose again to save the world, who has forgiven me of my sins and loves me unconditionally. It is through God I can do all things.

Have a blessed day!