Road Flooded
Another road flooded
New Grange - 5000 year old tomb
Trim Castle - Site of Braveheart
Where Mel Gibson was killed in Braveheart
Since today is Saturday, John had another fun filled day planned for us. As always, it started dark and early. He picked me up at 7:15 and then headed to Delany's for the students. Our first destination today was the Battle of the Boyne Visitors Centre. Getting there proved to be a challenge. Perhaps I haven't mentioned it much in my previous postings, but it's been raining here in Ireland. And this AM was no exception. In fact, it's been raining so much that the roads to Boyne were closed due to flooding. After a few detours we ended up going through a road covered with water and came out the other side, thankfully. We got to Boyne a bit late, but at least we got there. The amount of water overflowing the streams and rivers was unbelievable. I know, at times, I tend to embellish a tad, or perhaps even fabricate the truth from time to time. But you gotta believe me when I tell you it's been raining in Ireland. A lot. Every day. Today was no exception.
The Battle of the Boyne occurred in 1690 and was the largest battle in Ireland, and in all of Europe for that matter. William III was fighting his father-in-law James II for power. William proved victorious (that is the CliffsNote version) and the visitors centre showed us that with a short video, a lighted map display, models of solders, old guns and swords. It was too miserable to walk the grounds, so after snapping a few photos of the cannons in the rain, we piled back into the bus and hoped the way out proved to be passable.
Next stop, New Grange Visitor Centre. First we saw a short video on New Grange, then took the shuttle bus to the big attraction, a 5000 year old passage tomb. It's a World Heritage Site. It truly was amazing. This was created 500 years before the pyramids and 1000 years before Stonehedge. As you are in the tomb the guide simulates the solstice, when a beam of light illuminates the entire tomb from a small window above the door. Every year they have a drawing from among 2,900 applications for the 20 spots in the tomb for December 21st, the solstice. It was incredibly impressive. There is no mortar holding the stones together, yet it has been held together for over 5000 years. How they figured out how to position the tomb and put the window at the exact location to have the sun illuminate the tomb exactly on the soltice is just amazing. This is before the invention of the wheel, before they had horses to haul rocks, and when the life expectancy was 35. Truly amazing.
The rain finally let up for our last stop of the day, Trim Castle. If you saw the movie Braveheart then you have seen Trim Castle. It was the most incredible castle. We got a great tour of the inside, right after a group of paranormal experts left (it said so on their matching jackets). Apparently they were investigating a ghost living in the castle, believed to be an old priest who was a spy for King Henry. Hm....... It was a HUGE castle, in height, width and depth. Tomorrow we have a long bus ride so we will watch Braveheart. There are a few kids who never saw it. It will be very cool to watch it again after visiting the site. I got a picture at the scene when they put Mel Gibson to death. Pretty cool. :)
As we left the castle the skies opened again and the ride back had some dreadful rain. John dropped me off at city centre right at 5pm. Four of the students decided to dine in the city so the five of us walked around the corner from the flat and had Indian food. It was a nice day, despite the weather.
Tomorrow my colleague arrives. He should be enroute as I type this. For those of you unfamiliar with the Ireland experience, it works like this: When you volunteer to do this trip it is a two year commitment. The first year you pretty much learn the ropes. You supervise half of the kids in the states, and you join the group in Ireland the weekend before Thanksgiving. That is what I did last year, and that is what Rob is doing this year. The second year you plan the trip. You select the students, plan the meetings, arrange travel plans with the travel agent, communicate with John Nolen regarding our Ireland trips, coordinate with our colleague who assigns the schools and host families in Ireland, and you take the students to Ireland. In the states you supervise half of the kids, but when you are here you have them all. I will turn them all over to Rob when I leave. The week before Thanksgiving is when the two faculty members overlap, so this is the week that I will show Rob around Dublin. I will show him how to get to each of the ten schools and introduce him to the principals and cooperating teachers. I will also show him how to get a bus ticket, where to pick up each of the buses, and where he can do some grocery shopping. I will show him Grafton Street, Henry Street and O'Connell Street. It will be a whirlwind tour for him, as we only have three days together, but I'm sure by the time I leave he will have acclimated to Dublin quite nicely. At least I hope so.
Tomorrow we kiss the Blarney stone. More to follow...
The SRU crew
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