Paddy Fingers

Day 7: Hello to family and friends from Ennis, Ireland. Tonight is our last night overseas and I can’t believe it. The trip has flown by.

Today was a beautiful day. We left the hotel this morning for the mountains of Connemara. A few minutes into the drive, we stopped at a marble shop. The marble in Connemara is some of the finest in the world. Most of it is close to 500 million years old! There are multiple kinds; different shades of green, white and red as well as black marble (which you can see fossils the best in) were everywhere in the shop. The owner, Ambrose Joyce, took us back to his workshop and explained all about the different types of marble available. Their shop also mines and works amethyst. We browsed around for a while and then continued on our journey toward our venue.

The snowcapped mountains of Connemara are some of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. We “oohed” and “ahed” at passing sheep, rainbows and falling snow as we weaved between street after street, slowly climbing toward our destination. The landscape seemed to go on forever, especially after most of the bus started getting carsick. After finally arriving at Kylemore Abbey (our performance site for the afternoon), we changed and then made our way toward the church. The chapel was gorgeous. Stained glass windows and wooden benches made for a quaint scene. If only churches in Ireland had heat, we would be golden. It was absolutely freezing. Chris held my hands between songs so my fingers would warm up a little bit to turn the pages of my music for the next piece. Regardless, it was a fun concert! We walked back to the Abbey in falling snow with mountains behind us. Even though we were wet, it was hard to complain with all of God’s beautiful creation around us.

Making our way back to the gift shop and café, we ate lunch and browsed around. We then made our way here, to Ennis. Dinner was fabulous (as always) and I was able to eat green beans! Pretty much everyone here is happy to go home and eat some vegetables after eating so much fried food over the past week. After eating dinner, we bid farewell to Michael and John, our tour guide and bus driver. We sang them our Irish Blessing and Michael welled up with tears. Mikaela and I did too. I’m really going to miss them. They were so much fun and took such good care of us while we were here. I wish we could bring them home with us; it will be strange waking up and not hopping on the bus in the mornings from now on.

We wake up at 3:30 am to make it to the airport in time for our 8 am flight. I cannot begin to express how much I’m going to miss Ireland. But at the same time, I know I will be back eventually. So instead of saying goodbye to this amazing country, I’ll leave it with more of a… “see you soon!”

Dear loved ones, thank you so much for sharing this journey with our choir. Please keep an eye out for posted pictures in the future on facebook. I also know the choir is setting up some sort of Flickr or Snapfish account; once I have that information I will pass it along here. I hope you will have a chance to come here and experience all this for yourself one day!

May the road rise to meet you, may the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face. May the rain fall soft upon your fields, and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand.

"This chowder is AMAZING! SO GOOD! There's a chunk of scallop in here!"

Day 6: Today was quite possibly the day I was looking forward to the most and it didn’t disappoint. We took a ferry to the island of Inish Mor, which is the largest of the Aran Islands off the west coast of Ireland. Only 9 miles long and with a population of about 300, it reminded me a lot of Ocracoke Island. Even with the small population, there are over 7,000 miles of stone wall around the plots of land to distinguish property lines. Each family has approximately 20 acres of land to farm on. When the island was first settled, there was exposed limestone all over the ground (which obviously isn’t good for plowing). So in order to make the land arable, the farmers would bring up sand and seaweed from the shore. They’re extremely resourceful; their only means of water is collecting rain!

The main attraction of Inish Mor is the Dun Angeus fort. It’s possibly the oldest fort in Europe; 2,500 to be exact! It’s on the edge of a cliff a good ways up from the center of town. The fabled land of Tirnanog is said to be somewhere under the cliff. Legend has it that if you jump from the cliff toward the sea, you will land in Tirnanog and remain young forever. However, none of our group decided to take any chances today. We hung our feet over the edge and it was kind of scary… we had a blast taking pictures and peering over at the rocks below. I don’t know that I’ve seen a more beautiful view of the sea before. Mrs. Morrow was getting nervous because we were so close to the edge. Even though we weren’t too close most of the time, I’m sure I speak for everyone (especially all the moms at home) when I say that we appreciated her mom instinct.

Once we made our way back down from Dun Angeus, we hung around in some local shops where they crochet/knit everything by hand. We then made our way over to one of the few cafes to have lunch. I had a delicious bowl of soup and a fruit scone. After lunch, we took a bus tour of the rest of the island. We saw some seals and visited the 7 churches (which actually is an area with only 2 churches; the other 5 buildings were used as schools and other things). Famous religious figures came to study there between the 8^th-12^th centuries. When the tour was finished, we hung out on a wall near the shore and then explored the beach before riding the ferry back to the mainland.

After the ferry landed, we drove back to Galway. Along the way, we watched “Quiet Man” starring John Wayne. Back in town, Clay, Meghan, Mikaela, Jon, Dr. Whitley and I had dinner in a random restaurant; it took us a while to find one because Manchester United and Arsenal were playing futbol so all the pubs were crowded. We had a really sweet waitress and the food was delicious! Dr. Whitley wouldn’t stop raving about the chowder… apparently it was really good! On the way to the bus stop, we saw a guy playing a didgeridoo and a man who looked like Santa playing the accordion. Good times!

I cannot believe tomorrow is our last full day in Ireland. It seems like our time here has just flown by. The country and the people are all so beautiful; it will be sad to leave come Monday morning. Though I’ve really missed home this past week, visiting Ireland with some of my closest friends has been such an amazing experience. We were so blessed with good weather, a great tour guide and fabulous visits of unforgettable places. I couldn’t have asked for a better trip to the Emerald Isle.

See you all tomorrow for details of our last day!

PS Inish Mor didn’t have electricity until 1975: how crazy is that?!

The Nightingale

Day 5: This morning, we packed up the bus and headed to Galway! We had a three-hour bus ride and I slept for most of it. A little smaller than Dublin, Galway is surrounded by a lot more lush, green land. We drove the cathedral we were to perform in later and then took a walking tour of part of the city.

Bryan McDowell from WCT recommended to eat at McDonough’s on Quay Street once in town and that’s exactly what we did. Dustin, Kyle, Clay, Meghan and I had more fish and chips today. They were pretty good… good call, Bryan! After that, we headed into the main square to do some shopping. I spent most of the day in Powell’s music shop flipping through music books. Micah and Kyle bought a bodrhán drum, which is used in a lot of traditional Irish music. Literally, half of our group was in this music shop at one time—it was great.

Around 4:30, we met up at the cathedral to rehearse for mass at six. It was absolutely freezing in the church, but that couldn’t detract an ounce of its beauty. God was everywhere in that church; you could just see him at every turn. It was possibly the most beautiful church I’ve ever been in. Instead of singing on the ground floor, we got to sing in the gallery, which is a loft right next to the organ at the top of the church! It was a gorgeous view to look down at the congregation and clergy throughout the service. Mass was a lot shorter than I expected, but still a great service. Everyone I talked to was thrilled to be able to participate in a Catholic service. When mass was finished, we came back to the hotel and had dinner. It was a nice night in with good food and friends. We’re headed to Inishmore tomorrow and I cannot wait! It’s possibly the most anticipated part of the trip… SO EXCITED! Have a marvelous night, family and friends! I love you all.

I Love My Bag

Day 4: Well, Courtney and I woke up on time today! We had a nice breakfast in the hotel and then boarded the bus for our trip to Kildare, where the National Stud Farm is located. Ireland has multiple farms, but I’m pretty sure this is the “official” stud farm in Ireland. Before I get too far into this, let me just explain to those of you who may not know that a stud farm is a horse farm. I had no idea until Michael told us last night… no shame.

Kildare is also used as military land. A really cool fact is that Braveheart was filmed in Kildare. The reason the soldiers fighting looked so realistic is because they were real citizens and had real issues with each other! We drove through the few blocks of military buildings and even passed by the Irish military band. Michael (our tour guide) told us that the band was really excellent, but they weren’t playing when we drove by.

Our tour of the National Stud farm was amazing. There is so much to know about horses; I never imagined that so much would go into breeding a prize-winning horse. We ran into some swans on the grounds and saw a pony that wasn’t even a week old; at birth it weighed 146 pounds! It was kind of clumsy, especially with its lanky legs. Its knees were the same height as it’s mothers, but it was only about half the size. We also met a few of the horses along the way. At the end of the tour, Erin, Natalee, Katie and I made our way through the Japanese Gardens, which told the story of man’s life. Natalee was a wonderful tour guide; she kept us laughing the whole way

through. The gardens themselves were beautiful— my favorite part though was probably the bridge of life. It’s bright red and towards the end of the garden “journey.”

Once we left Kildare, the group headed out to Celbridge to visit Castletown House. We were really lucky because the house is actually closed during the winter. But we somehow managed to get a tour! William Connelly and his family built the house in the early 18^th century. He decided to start construction in 1722 but died in 1729 before it was completed. His wife Catherine lived in the house once it was finished, but when she died, the property was left to their relative Tom Connelly. Tom married Lousia (who was related to King Charles II) and they moved in sometime in the 1760s. She eventually updated the house to the format it’s in currently. They had so many amazing furniture pieces and silk wallpaper. The foyer was breathtaking with its original limestone flooring and its winding staircase. I wish you could have been there to see it. Halfway through the tour, the fire alarm went off so we had to exit the building, but everything was fine. At the end of the tour, we ended up singing in the long gallery (which is a huge ballroom with exquisite chandeliers and fireplaces); it was so cool to sing in that room!

After heading back to Dublin, we ate at the Brazen Head Pub. It’s the oldest in the city, and probably had some of the best food! Jo even came up to eat with us. When we finished dinner, she came back to the hotel and hung out for a while. At one point, we had six or seven girls in the room. We had a blast just hanging out and catching up. Such a perfect ending to a great day!

"They're a pack of liars. Winter's still here."

Day 3: What a crazy day. Courtney and I slept through our wake up call this morning, holding up the bus by about 15 minutes. Pretty quick turnaround since we woke up five minutes after we were supposed to be on the bus… The worst thing about it was that I forgot my camera. Thank goodness Katie had an extra (point and shoot) that she gave me to use for the day. She doesn't have her uploader cable, so I won’t be able to post pictures until I get home… I’m sorry! Check out my facebook page when I get back and you can see everything that happened today.

After leaving the hotel, we headed back to Maldahide castle (where we briefly visited Monday). We took a tour of the castle itself and it was gorgeous! Most of the furniture was from the 18^th century. They had a few rooms fixed up like they would have back in the day and it was really interesting to see all the antique furniture, ornate wall decorations and old-fashioned clothing. The tour was audio-guided and only lasted thirty minutes or so, but it was still pretty neat. We ended in a great gift shop and then made our way outside. We sang an informal concert in the gardens and had a small audience. The performance included “I Am the Rose of Sharon,” “Windham” and “Irish Blessing.” It was a blast even though it was extremely windy… (The quote in the title is from a man in the audience; there’s a line in “I Am the Rose of Sharon” about the winter being over and gone, and he of course noticed the fact that it is most definitely still winter... too funny.)

Once we departed Malahide, we drove to have lunch in Howth, which is another sea town (kind of like Bray). We had AMAZING fish and chips for lunch. I had mine with sweet chili sauce. It was delicious! We ate on some park benches and the wind was even worse than it was at Malahide earlier. Some seagulls congregated and tried to eat our scraps, but we pretty much ate every crumb we could gather… mmm. Then Michael and I wandered around by the bay and took pictures of seagulls and boats in the harbor. After leaving Howth, we headed to Ballymun to meet some kids involved in an after school program.

The center was located in an area akin to an American project. With dilapidated buildings everywhere, it was a bright building with tons of colors and drawings covering the walls. The children were mostly teenagers, what we would call “emo;” some even had pink and purple hair. It was awesome. They were all sweet and rambunctious, just like you’d expect. We mingled with them for a while over juice and then performed a few of our songs for them. After we were done, a few of them sang for us too. They were so great! Some girls sang “Falling Slowly” from the movie “Once,” another sang “Lean on Me.” One of the coordinators even sang and played “Mustang Sally!” The whole room was clapping, stomping and dancing; Kyle even played the drums! After our sing-a-longs, we took a tour of the building and got to talk to the kids some more.

On our own for dinner tonight, a large group of us went to a local pub. Pubs in Ireland aren’t just bars, they’re actual restaurants. Family-friendly environments, they aren’t nearly as rowdy or smelly as you’d expect… we found ourselves in Madigans pub for dinner tonight. Mikeala, Kristen and Clay got Beef and Guinness Pie (which was exactly like a beef pot pie) and I had a Chicken with Leeks pie. Meghan also ordered some soda bread; the food was delicious! We had a great time watching locals cheer for a futbol game on TV and just catching up.

Tomorrow should be another great day; I can’t wait to tell you about it! All my love.

Jeepers Creepers, where'd you get those peepers?

Day 2: Today was a long day. After a wonderful evening full of good food and even better friends, we were exhausted. Jo came and surprised everyone at the hotel last night and then stayed to eat dinner with us. I was so excited to see her! She’s coming back sometime within the next two days to spend more time, but we were all so tired, she left right after dinner (Monday).

Tuesday morning we woke up and ate a wonderful hearty Irish breakfast! I had half a grilled tomato, some toast, an egg, bacon, some sausage and fruit, yogurt with pumpkin seeds and raisins with some cranberry-apple compote. It was absolutely delicious; so delicious that Jon decided to pack some sausages for the road. After eating, we piled onto the bus to make our way to Powerscourt House in Enniskerry. It was originally owned by the Wingfield family and then after 360 years was purchased by an American tennis player named Slasinger. The entrance had rows of 1,000 beech trees on both sides and even though they were bare, they were quite beautiful. There was also a river on the way to the house that emptied into the largest waterfall in the country (about 150 feet tall). Once we arrived at the house, we spent a lot of time in the gardens exploring. Kristen, Micah, Michael, Hannah and I were there for about an hour and a half out of the two hours allotted to wander. We made friends with some ducks and discovered a cave at the base of the huge lake in the center of the gardens. We had such a great time snapping pictures of anything and everything we saw.

We then made our way back toward the entrance, filed back onto the bus and then drove to Glendalough. On the drive, we learned a lot about the Irish countryside. For example, have you ever wandered why Ireland is so green? Yes, it rains a lot, but the real reason is because the land is still used mostly for livestock: about 80% to be exact. You can deduce the rest… ha. Also, you will often see a lone tree in a field. Most likely, it’s a black thorn tree. Locals won’t cut it down because that’s where they believe fairies enter our world! By removing the tree, you’ll get rid of one of their portals and legend states they’ll come back to haunt your land, livestock and family!

Once we made it to Glendalough (Glen of two lakes), we visited the local monastery that is centuries old. The city itself was the intellectual center of the region in 600 after the Visigoths invaded surrounding areas. Undoubtedly, the most prominent feature in the monastery was the round tower. Over 300 feet tall, we were amazed to hear that the foundation only went 2.5 feet underground. It was made of stone and the entrance was between 12-14 feet off the ground. The monks would lift a ladder into stone holes to get inside. The youngest monk would have to wake up and ring the bell at 5 a.m. and then continue ringing every four hours for the remainder of the day! The round tower was amidst a cemetery, the ruins of a cathedral and a chapel. We actually ended up singing in the remains of the cathedral for some spectators… it was so much fun!

After leaving Glendalough, we headed to the sea town of Bray. Even though it was cold, we made our way down to the ocean and climbed on some rocks near the shore. Katie and I found a starfish and I ended up falling on an algae-covered rock, covering my right leg in green algae. I didn’t mind though; it was actually kind of funny! We explored a little more and then headed up to a gelato shop. I had sour cherry and lemon gelato; it was so delicious! Once we finished, we grabbed our things from the bus and then transferred over to St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church where we sang our first formal concert. It went so well! Dr. Pittman and Dr. Whitley arrived about an hour before the concert and we were so happy to see them! The church was beautiful. Freezing, but beautiful. The concert was put on for benefit of two local charities— Five Loaves and the Bray Women’s Refuge. Before our performance, we rehearsed for a while then gathered to line up. There were a lot of people there for St. Andrew’s size. We sang our first half of the program and then a local women’s a capella group took the stage. They were all older ladies dressed in floor length sequin tops; at first we didn’t know what to expect. But they sang familiar oldies and were lots of fun. At one point, they sang “At the Hop” and we ended up doing the hand jive with them! Once they finished, we sang the last half of our set and then mingled for tea and cookies.

Since we made it back to the hotel a little after 11, pretty much all the local pubs were closed. Instead, we headed to KFC to order some dinner. Michael, our tour guide, inquired to the cashier whether they had any fish— the kid at the counter looked at him like he was crazy. We grabbed our popcorn chicken and then finished out the night eating on the window sill in Clay and Jon’s room. It was a great ending to a great day.

Today, we’re going to Maldahide; you’ll hear all about it soon. Hope you’re all doing well!

P.S. The women’s a capella group sang “Jeepers Creepers,” and prefaced with a story about how they originally thought the song was about a man with pretty eyes and not a horse. Too funny.

INFO ABOUT TODAY (Wednesday) WILL COME LATER TONIGHT, FRIENDS! We love and miss you!

“In Ireland, we don’t break the law. We just bend it a little.”

Greetings from Ireland! I hope you all are doing well in the homeland; I wish you all could be here with me now. The weather is beautiful (even though you know how much I dislike cold weather), the people are warm-hearted and the country is breathtaking. Our journey here started off a little bumpy with a delay at RDU (remind me to upload the picture that Izzy, Katie, Lauren and I drew together!) and then we prayed our way through severe turbulence on the way to Newark. But once we boarded our plane there, we had a pretty smooth ride. The flight to Dublin lasted about 5 hours and 40 minutes. We have movies to watch and wonderful flight attendants, so it passed fairly quickly. We landed just as the sun was coming up. I have seen few things so beautiful as that sunrise. Regardless, we were all extremely happy to be done flying and start exploring.

After getting off the plane and grabbing our luggage and some Euros, we loaded up our gear on the bus and made our way toward Malahide. We’ll be heading back tomorrow to tour the castle, but we just passed through today. We had a chance to walk around by ourselves downtown and Kristen, Michael, Micah and I used the opportunity to take pictures (mostly by a local dock). Then, we headed over to breakfast at Diamond Burger Bar where we ordered scrambled eggs, toast, fruit scones, tea and coffee for breakfast. It was absolutely delicious! Tomorrow we try our first “Hearty Irish breakfast” which normally consists of different types of meats and breads. While we were eating, we recognized some familiar artists on the radio like Pink and Far East Movement; it was nice to be reminded of home.

Once we finished breakfast, we boarded the bus and went back to the airport to pick up Dr. Pittman and Dr. Whitley. Apparently, their flights were delayed. They still aren’t here… hopefully they’ll be here soon though. We then left the airport and drove around Dublin for a while. We visited the country and saw the presidents’ house and some gardens as well as a huge cross that was “planted” in a field. The year it was constructed, a mass of over 1 million gathered in the surrounding area! Impressive. Then, we drove back to town and saw some landmarks from the bus including the Christ Church Cathedral and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. They’re only a few blocks from each other. Our guide mentioned that the reason they were so close is because when Dublin had a wall surrounding it centuries earlier, Christ Church Cathedral was located in the city walls (and was therefore subjected to a tax). St. Patrick’s Cathedral was built in an effort to bring masses to those who couldn’t afford the tax; it was built outside the city walls— though only a few steps in the other direction.

Did you know that Dublin means “black pool?” Probably not, but I didn’t either. We rode past the river that earned its claim to fame, which was pretty neat. A little later, we visited Trinity College and got to see an exhibit on The Book of Kells. We read all about the calligraphy, scribes, illustrations and message throughout the exhibit and then had a chance to look at actual pages from the book itself. They were in pretty great shape for dating back to the ninth century… just saying. We also got to explore the Long Room at the college. It’s a library that houses over 200,000 books; they had to add onto it in 1860 because there wasn’t any room for the expanding university’s volumes! I almost cried when they told me I couldn’t take any pictures.

We then toured a little more around the school and then made our way to the National Gallery of Ireland. Though a lot of the paintings were currently undergoing preservation, there were still 10 or 12 rooms full of art for us to marvel at. I saw my first real Rembrandt (Witherspoon would be proud!) and paintings by Picasso and Van Gough as well. Once we left the gallery, we headed back to the hotel. No lie, we are all exhausted. But it has been an AMAZING day.

Dinner will be soon and I imagine you all haven’t even had a chance to eat lunch yet. But please know we all are thinking of you. I’ll try and update you on what goes on tomorrow; we have our first concert of the tour! Until tomorrow, happy trails!