My Mom, Aunt Marguerite, and cousin Meghan flew to Ireland to spend my Easter break, (their spring break), traveling around Scotland and Ireland with me! Here are some photos of our journey:
Me and Momma.
Ben and I, (well...mostly Ben), made a delicious French meal for them in my apartment the first night that they were in Maynooth.
This is the adorable Bed and Breakfast they stayed at in Maynooth.
Maureen, the owner, was the sweetest woman! She showed us the places we should see in Ireland on a map, which she gave us, helped us find our B&B's at our future stops in Ireland with a Bed and Breakfast manual, which she also gave us,
and she even invited me to their breakfasts.
Her scones were fantastic.
After they got settled in their first night, we planned on travels the next day before our flight to Edinburgh, Scotland that night.
We went to a beautiful church the next morning for the Easter service. We took the advice of the cab driver we called about which church to go to. He recommended St. Mary's Cathedral. Little did we know that we chose the central Catholic church in Scotland at which the Cardinal was saying mass! The choir was incredible, in particular one soprano who had an operatic solo piece of her own. The homily itself was intense and relevant to modern church-related issues, which we all appreciated, but were not expecting.
Here is a picture Marguerite took of my mom greeting the Cardinal.
These statues were right across the street from our church.
They were to scale, so they were quite large!
We quickly learned that a bus station that would take us into the main part of the city was only a few blocks from our apartment, and we spent the next few days exploring the city.
The city is almost entirely made up of enormous gothic buildings. It was absolutely stunning.
Enjoying some wine at a nice Italian restaurant.
One of the first days in the city we discovered a group performing on bagpipes at a little festival with stands selling food and everything. We stood and listened to them play for some time. My mother loved the variety of ages in the group - spanning from 18 or so until about 60 years old.
Marguerite and Mom with Edinburgh Castle in the background.
Enjoying the city view from on the hill with the Castle.
Mom and Marguerite in front of the Castle.
Here is a close-up of Edinburgh Castle.
Views from up at the Castle.
One of the days we took a bus tour around the city. Our tour guide, who you can see in the front with the microphone, was the living version of Mrs. Doubtfire.
I included this picture just for you, Dad. Take a good look at the top of the stone piers on either side of the green gate.
This was on our walk from the B&B to the bus station.
Marguerite and Mom being elderly people. Haha
We spent our evenings in Edinburgh having Euchre tournaments in our bedroom:
This playful fellow was a frequent visitor to our rooms.
Once we got back we spent all of our time exploring Ireland. After trying to juggle inconvenient train and bus schedules around the country, we decided to rent a car that Meghan was thrilled to drive. Here in Ireland the cars are built with the steering wheels on what would normally be the passenger side of the car, they drive on the other side of the roads, and the roads are quite narrow. Meghan's city-driving skills made me feel confident in her abilities, and although the moms were concerned at first (naturally), Meghan soon proved her abilities and we drove to all our destinations without a hitch.
We started with a day in Dublin:
Me and Meghan in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral.
The park by the church.
More pictures of the cathedral.
Dublin Traffic.
After Dublin, we drove to Cork and spent the night there. We knew our family roots could be traced to Co. Cork, Ireland, and we hoped to get some genealogy information while we were there. We didn't, but we still enjoyed ourselves.
We stayed at the Blarney Vale B&B, which was run by another incredibly sweet Irish Woman. It is run by Anne and Raymond Hennessy, and their young son lives there as well. We only had interactions with Anne and her son. While we were looking around at pictures and decorations in the B&B we found an article about them in an old edition of the Detroit Free Press! Apparently another Michigan couple enjoyed their stay at the B&B as much as we did, and wrote to the paper in Detroit about it, which made Anne incredibly proud.
We were a 15 minute walk from Blarney Castle:
Mary Castle.
The park by the castle was beautiful!
The Blarney Castle.
A couple of Castles on the Castle bench looking at the Castle.
Entrance.
Meghan and Marguerite on the climb to the top of the Castle.
Me kissing the Blarney Stone. To do this, as you can see, you have to climb up to the top of the castle and, with the help of an old man, slide your body off the castle so you are hanging upside down while holding on to two rails against the wall. Then you kiss the stone, and slide back. It's pretty intimidating, but worth it if you want to be a more articulate speaker.
Meghan kissing the Blarney Stone. We were the only two brave enough. Credit is due to my mother, however, for taking these two perfect action shots!
Next we drove to Galway to spend the day at the Cliffs of Moher. The cliffs were stunning, the weather was beautiful, and every angle created the perfect picture.
The shops by the cliffs.
Marguerite taking pictures.
The little white dots everywhere were birds flying. Apparently there are puffins that live at the base of the cliffs as well, but they were feeding in the afternoon so we didn't see them.
You can climb in that tower to get a better view. It's the tallest point at the cliffs.
Part of the viewing tower.
Meghan and I climbing up to the tower for a better view of the cliffs.
Finally before they went home, I was able to show off some of
the most beautiful parts of my campus:
Me and Momma.
Ben and I, (well...mostly Ben), made a delicious French meal for them in my apartment the first night that they were in Maynooth.
This is the adorable Bed and Breakfast they stayed at in Maynooth.
Maureen, the owner, was the sweetest woman! She showed us the places we should see in Ireland on a map, which she gave us, helped us find our B&B's at our future stops in Ireland with a Bed and Breakfast manual, which she also gave us,and she even invited me to their breakfasts.
Her scones were fantastic.
After they got settled in their first night, we planned on travels the next day before our flight to Edinburgh, Scotland that night.
We went to a beautiful church the next morning for the Easter service. We took the advice of the cab driver we called about which church to go to. He recommended St. Mary's Cathedral. Little did we know that we chose the central Catholic church in Scotland at which the Cardinal was saying mass! The choir was incredible, in particular one soprano who had an operatic solo piece of her own. The homily itself was intense and relevant to modern church-related issues, which we all appreciated, but were not expecting.
Here is a picture Marguerite took of my mom greeting the Cardinal.
These statues were right across the street from our church.They were to scale, so they were quite large!
We quickly learned that a bus station that would take us into the main part of the city was only a few blocks from our apartment, and we spent the next few days exploring the city.
The city is almost entirely made up of enormous gothic buildings. It was absolutely stunning.
Enjoying some wine at a nice Italian restaurant.
One of the first days in the city we discovered a group performing on bagpipes at a little festival with stands selling food and everything. We stood and listened to them play for some time. My mother loved the variety of ages in the group - spanning from 18 or so until about 60 years old.
Marguerite and Mom with Edinburgh Castle in the background.
Enjoying the city view from on the hill with the Castle.
Mom and Marguerite in front of the Castle.
Here is a close-up of Edinburgh Castle.
Views from up at the Castle.
One of the days we took a bus tour around the city. Our tour guide, who you can see in the front with the microphone, was the living version of Mrs. Doubtfire.
I included this picture just for you, Dad. Take a good look at the top of the stone piers on either side of the green gate.This was on our walk from the B&B to the bus station.
Marguerite and Mom being elderly people. HahaWe spent our evenings in Edinburgh having Euchre tournaments in our bedroom:
This playful fellow was a frequent visitor to our rooms.Once we got back we spent all of our time exploring Ireland. After trying to juggle inconvenient train and bus schedules around the country, we decided to rent a car that Meghan was thrilled to drive. Here in Ireland the cars are built with the steering wheels on what would normally be the passenger side of the car, they drive on the other side of the roads, and the roads are quite narrow. Meghan's city-driving skills made me feel confident in her abilities, and although the moms were concerned at first (naturally), Meghan soon proved her abilities and we drove to all our destinations without a hitch.
We started with a day in Dublin:
Me and Meghan in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral.
The park by the church.
More pictures of the cathedral.
Dublin Traffic.After Dublin, we drove to Cork and spent the night there. We knew our family roots could be traced to Co. Cork, Ireland, and we hoped to get some genealogy information while we were there. We didn't, but we still enjoyed ourselves.
We stayed at the Blarney Vale B&B, which was run by another incredibly sweet Irish Woman. It is run by Anne and Raymond Hennessy, and their young son lives there as well. We only had interactions with Anne and her son. While we were looking around at pictures and decorations in the B&B we found an article about them in an old edition of the Detroit Free Press! Apparently another Michigan couple enjoyed their stay at the B&B as much as we did, and wrote to the paper in Detroit about it, which made Anne incredibly proud.
We were a 15 minute walk from Blarney Castle:
Mary Castle.
The park by the castle was beautiful!
The Blarney Castle.
A couple of Castles on the Castle bench looking at the Castle.
Entrance.
Meghan and Marguerite on the climb to the top of the Castle.
Me kissing the Blarney Stone. To do this, as you can see, you have to climb up to the top of the castle and, with the help of an old man, slide your body off the castle so you are hanging upside down while holding on to two rails against the wall. Then you kiss the stone, and slide back. It's pretty intimidating, but worth it if you want to be a more articulate speaker.
Meghan kissing the Blarney Stone. We were the only two brave enough. Credit is due to my mother, however, for taking these two perfect action shots!Next we drove to Galway to spend the day at the Cliffs of Moher. The cliffs were stunning, the weather was beautiful, and every angle created the perfect picture.
The shops by the cliffs.
Marguerite taking pictures.
The little white dots everywhere were birds flying. Apparently there are puffins that live at the base of the cliffs as well, but they were feeding in the afternoon so we didn't see them.
You can climb in that tower to get a better view. It's the tallest point at the cliffs.
Part of the viewing tower.
Meghan and I climbing up to the tower for a better view of the cliffs.
Finally before they went home, I was able to show off some of
the most beautiful parts of my campus:
The cathedral at the seminary on campus.
Marguerite, Me, and Meghan
Meghan and I walking along the rocks that lead through the garden by the church.
The gardens are a series of stepping stones in a pond that lead from one end to another.
A small part of my lecture hall.
The bridge leading to the old campus.
Statue in front of the library.Every time I see anything new here I think about how I wish I could show my family. It was a nice long visit, and I'm so glad they were able to come.
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