Sunday, May 4, 2014

Ireland and the upcoming school week!

I arrived in Ireland around 1:00 a.m. where we were greeted by one of the owners of the bed and breakfast we stayed at. Des and Shanade were the most friendly people I've ever met! They went out of their way to literally run to show us our bus stop before we missed it, given us a cell phone in case we got lost while we walked nine hours through the country side, given us the master key of their house in case they weren't home when they got back, and drove us to castles and train stations! 
The first day in Ireland, it was rainy and we had booked a free tour of Dublin. However, we got lost while walking in Dublin, so we missed the tour. We ventured on our own to take a tour of the Dublin Castle and courtyard. In this castle, the Presidents of Ireland are inaugurated in one of the main rooms. After the castle, we found St. Patrick's Cathedral, which is the largest church in the country of Ireland. I learned that the Author of Gulliver's Travels, Johnathan Swift, was a Dean at the church for several years (so of course I had to buy the book)! 



The next day, and my favorite day, we took a train to Howth. We walked about for over nine hours exploring the countryside: it was absolutely breath-taking! I had never seen grass so green and the air was so crisp. I will most definitely be going back to Ireland some day! Des and Shanade even told us we could come back anytime, free of charge. Not only did they become my friends, but I was able to meet other guests. I met a girl from England, a girl from Italy, and our last night there, we met a couple from Canada. 

We also explored Trinity College's campus and took a tour to see the Book of Kells. The Book of Kells is one of the oldest books in the world comprised of four gospels. They were written in Latin, so I was unable to read it, but the amount of detail in the pictures and writing was astonishing.
It was bittersweet leaving Ireland, but I am looking forward to our first full week of school since I have been in Barcelona. Tomorrow I will be doing a lesson with the kinder group on recognizing and writing numbers 0-10. 

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