Today, we leave Ireland for Spain. I leave with a smile, with the knowledge that Ireland is a fantastic place. We saw many things both grand and emotional. I have two hours before the flight so I’m going to use the time to go over what we did, and my impressions of each.

Day One:

Our first stop was the Killmainham Goal, a prison that housed primarily political prisoners, built in the late eighteenth century. This was a state of the art jail, with new ideals. Segregation of prisoners from one another to give them time to reflect on their actions was a primary goal. It was reform that this prison was after, unfortunately it did not work a lot of the time. It housed many of the Irishmen that led the 1916 Easter Rising.

I enjoyed the history and the architecture of this tour/exhibit. Our tour guide Peter was enthusiastic and informative which made the information we gleaned come across much better than expected.

The second place we visited was the Guinness Storehouse. This is on a top ten list on every website I’ve seen. My impressions, not worth it, even with the free pint at the end of the tour. It’s a free roam tour once you get in the gate. You can see and explore however you want. It is just WAY too crowded to actually hear the automated messages telling you about the history. Even though it’s a self guided experience, the workers there seems very rushy with the activities, trying to push you through or entice you to do other things instead of standing in that section. The saving grace for me was the advertising section they had showcasing all the all campaigns and mascots. The Gravity Bar at the top where you got your pint of Guinness was alright too. It gave you a 360 view of Dublin which lent itself to a few decent photos. If someone were to ask me if they would do this, I would say save the money and buy a pint of Guinness at the pub.

Next, we went to Dublin Castle, in central Dublin. This is one I was particularly excited for as I’m crazy about medieval architecture and history. On this tour you got to see the foundations of the original castle in the undercroft as well as the state apartments and chapel that the viceroys used in the eighteenth century. These of course were built much later but they were impressive. It is a guided tour, but you can explore the state apartments portion on your own as well. I enjoyed the history of this tour that included many aspects of viking attacks and the area trading hands many times due to said attacks. All of the things that formed Ireland into what it is today. I would recommend this to most people that are history buffs.

Day one concluded with a visit to St. Patrick’s Cathedral. This is an extremely impressive Gothic church that is still in use for services to this day. They have a large number of religious relics, documents and of course, stained glass. All of the relics and atrifacts were extremely opulent in nature, made of gold or gold lined, which gives an idea of the wealth of the church through the centuries. The stained glass was of impeccable craftsmanship and detail. Seeing this place put me in awe. As I’ve said before, I love Gothic architecture and this did not disappoint. I would recommend a stop here for anyone, religious or otherwise.

Day Two:

Belfast. A place riddled with a violent past, that is trying to break free of it. This was the sad part of Ireland for both Cecile and I. Even though the treaty between the IRA and Loyalists was signed twenty years ago there is still evidence of prejudice and mistrust and hatred. There is still a wall three and a half kilometers long that separates west Belfast into Catholic and Protestant communities. It has gates that allow for passage between the sides but they are closed and locked every night. Our guide, Red, explained that it makes people from both sides more comfortable and that it makes them feel safer. The above images are those on the Catholic (IRA side), the ones on the Loyalist side are much different in nature. For example, on the IRA side there are Palestinian flags with Irish flags, on the Loyalist walls there are Israeli flags beside Irish flags. It felt to me that either side chooses the opposite of the other just to remain different. When asked, Red told us that he doubts the walls will come down in his lifetime and perhaps the lifetime of his son, but he is confident that they will come down at some point. One of the leaders of the IRA that staged hunger strikes from inside prison said “Our victory will be the laughter of our children”. He was right. Even though the walls have not come down, Red told us that his son, friends’ children and many of the youth intermingle between the sides whereas the older people still do not. This was the first stop on our day long adventure out of Dublin and it was definitely a very somber start. The tour on this stop was called the “Black Taxi” tour and it was only about two hours long. I could have sat there all day talking with Red about the history of this place.

Once we left Belfast we ventured farther north, to a place that has been on my bucket list since the first time I read about it. The Giant’s Causeway. A natural marvel and a UNESCO heritage site. Columns of basalt rock line the coast and they are naturally occurring hexagonal in shape. The landscapes here were breathtaking, awe inspiring and simply magnificent. I was climbing in and out of small crevices, crossing rope bridges over one hundred foot drops and climbing along cliffs. I definitely got a lot of exercise this day. My breath was taken away too many times for me to count. There was one point where I teared up after crossing the bridge to the tops of the cliffs. That’s how badly I wanted to be here and see this. I got my wish and it did not disappoint.

The others days in Dublin were spent relaxing, walking downtown and shopping. Not much to say other than that. Not very exciting, I’ll spare you the details.

I will be posting all the pictures in a library when I land in Spain, they just called for boarding.

Keep your eyes on the horizon.