Emerald Isle – Ireland

We arrived in Dublin in the warmest weather we have seen the whole trip. This made for a great walking tour of the city, where students got the chance to become acclamated to the layout: O’Connell Street, the River Liffy, Trinity College, St. Stephen’s Green and of course, Grafton Street. We had one major stop at the General Post Office - best known as the site of the Easter Rising of 1916. The students will have a couple of free afternoons before we leave on Thursday when they can explore some of the many well known sites in this bustling city.

Students at Trinity College in Dublin

While some students were relieved to be back in a major city, full of people and traffic - even for a Sunday - others were noticeably stunned, given the vast contrast to the realtively sleepy towns we had been in recently. But this morning they were all ready to go. First stop - Trinity College library, which houses the Book of Kells and the Long Room. Many students loved the smell of the old books and were amazed by the display of such ancient writings.

Then it was off to the National gallery just down the street, where we viewed works by not only Irish artists such as Jack Yeats, but also saw pieces by other renowned European artists including Renoir and Kahlo. The Harry Clarke exhibit of illustrations for Hans Christian Andersen was as delightful as the design of the stained glass windows we had seen in Dingle.

This afternoon many students took off to tour the Guinness and Jamieson factories. After all, how could one come to Dublin and not do that?