Loch Ness - this be Sharks territory

Our day started early with a 7:30 pickup. We left Edimburgh and headed towards Stirling. Stirling was the sight of a major battle involving William Wallace (of Braveheart fame).

We travelled up to the Loch area and through the Cairicgorms National Park. It is rugged land and is now a preserved landscape. A canal was built in 1822 linking 3 natural lochs with 22 miles of man made canals. and by man made I mean hand dug. Dug to give sailing ships a less perilous route, the canal was soon unneeded as steam ships were better able to handle the stormy west coast. Today most of the traffic is private sail boats.

We reached Loch Ness and Rob's purpose for coming could commence. He wanted to claim Loch Ness as San Jose Sharks territory. The Sharks are sponsoring a summer travel web sight where people can post pictures with the sharks sign. Mission accomplished. He now intends to claim London also. Perhaps he can get the Queen to hold the sign at Buckingham.

After Loch Ness we passed through Inverness and then stopped at Urquhart Castle which was blown up by its owners in the Jacobite rebellion to prevent it from falling into their hands. On to Perth and completed the ring back to Edinburgh.


 A long day but some fantastic scenery.

Edinburgh.... Via a prop plane?

At Edinburgh Castle

So many of you know I am not a huge fan of flying. It is my least favorite way to get anywhere. I would rather drive 11 hours then fly if I can. So imagine how thrilled I was to be BUSSED out to the Tarmac to our 80 passenger prop plane to Edinburgh. I was actually surprised with how the flight went and we arrived in 1 piece afterall. Edinburgh has a good bus link that took us to the central station near our hotel.
 Now the hotel was only 4 blocks from the station but they forgot to mention they were all up hill blocks. We dragged our suitcases up (remember I've got 7 weeks of stuff with me in 1 bag and a backpack) and found we were staying right on the royal mile half way between the castle and the palace. The royals were actually staying in Holyrood so it was closed to the public.

Olympic Rings in Edinburgh

 We walked down to the Hard Rock so Rob could get some pins and Scott began his 4 day adventure of eating Haggis. He had it every morning with breakfast. Said it tasted like meatloaf. We spent Sunday exploring Edinburgh on the hop on hop off buses and quickly learned there is a lot to see here. This is another beautiful city with lots of hidden glens and well worth exploring. We did the scotch whisky experience learning about how the Scots make it and all decided we like Irish whisky better.

Inside St. Guiles

We went to visited St Guiles, Edinburgh's cathedral. Many old regiment flags hung in

there. The tradition is that when the regiments returned their standards were hung in honor "until they fall". Many were rather frayed and holey but still were hanging. We went to Evensong at Old St Paul's just about 3 blocks further down the street from St Guiles. It was followed by Benediction which is a time of prayer and blessing. I've felt very blessed to have had the chance to make this trip.

 We tried a few places for dinners but found that with the Eurocup final that night everywhere was packed. Picked up some takeout and had dinner in while watching the match. Wasn't even close with Spain crushing Italy 4-0. Turned in early as Monday was a 12 hour bus tour to Loch Ness and the highlands

Last day in Ireland

For our last full day in Ireland we took a trip down south to Waterford and Cashel. Waterford is a major seaport and a very cool town. We visited the Waterford factory where they do still make and cut their presentation pieces and some of their more specialized pieces. Therese joined us for the day. We were 5 of the 8 people on the trip. We saw many special pieces including the National College football trophy that Alabama broke. Ok, we saw a replacement trophy. We also saw several bowls celebrating the Olympics in London. One of the pieces made in Waterford is a centerpiece bowl with shamrocks and Celtic knots engraved around it. The craftsmen were making these bowls and we had a chance to see the bowls being made. I decided this would be a great souvenir from my time in Ireland. (sorry mom but I did buy a piece of Waterford) The bowl was also presented to Barack Obamma. We then went onto the Rock of Cashel. This 9th century site was the home of the high King of Munster who gave the hilltop castle and church complex to the church in 1101 to prevent it from ever being in the hands of his rival king. The complex was breathtaking. 5 years ago workmen uncovered a fresco from before the reformation that had been lime whitewashed over during that time. It preserved some of the mural. The chapel of Cormac was almost complete and again some of the early fresco survived in the chancel We also went to the ruined Castle at Dunamase and climbed among the ruins. From the top we could see far into the Irish countryside. Back in Dublin we had dinner at my new favorite chicken restaurant, Crackbird, which has the best chicken ever. Finished the night at Madigans having a pint with the family and listened to a traditional Irish music band. The evening was topped off when 2 of the patrons decided it was karaoke night and sang. As we were leaving we ran into 2 of my younger classmates and had a chance to say goodbye and wish them well. It was a great last day in Ireland. Hard to believe I am leaving after 7 weeks. I love Ireland and its people. They are warm, welcoming, friendly and proud. They honor and respect their history as a nation and as a people. I can't wait to come back!

The gang arrives

Rob and Erin came in Friday the 22nd. Now we had been having terrible weather with gale force winds for several days and their flight was delayed at least an hour. They were due in at 3:30 having arrived at Heathrow earlier in the morning. I didn't hear from them from Heathrow but knew wifi didn't exist there. I was going to shower later and had just made lunch when by chance I checked my email. I had a message from Erin that said "we are Here". But where was "here"? London or did she mean "Dublin". Turns out she meant "Dublin" and they were in 3 hours earlier than I expected. I threw some clothes together and went to the airport. After 6 weeks on my own with my own time schedule wouldn't you know reentry with the family would be not as planned. Got to the airport within 30 minutes. I gave them each their 5 day bus pass and introduced them to Dublin public transit. Bus dropped us off right in front of the hotel. Gave them a quick tour, took them to my favorite pub, Madigans for dinner and a pint and they were asleep by 8. About 5 hours earlier than I was use to. So I watched some Eurocup and did homework. Next day Scott flew in from Austria and we all took the bus. We had a great day walking around Christ Church, Trinity, Temple Bar and Grafton St. Sunday we went to my student housing complex to do Scott's laundry, then toured Kilmainham jail and the Guinness storehouse. My flat mate Therese joined us. We all graduated from the Guinness Academy after learning to pour the perfect pint. Therese and I think we will hang ours next to our ASU diplomas. Wonder if that counts as a double major? I had to work the rest of the week and had class so Rob and the kids found their way around. They even got out to John Kavanagh's pub which is known as the gravediggers pub since it is located next to a major Dublin cemetery. I finished up school work Thursday and posted my final reflections then was READY for holiday.

Victories Christi

The Beach at Bray looking towards Dublin Bay

My internship was with a Catholic lay mission organization who trains and supports individuals who want to serve in areas of need in developing countries. The org has been in business since 1960. I met some of the most interesting people as VC graciously welcomed me. I met Mary who was a nun in Uganda during the reign of Idi Amin and who was kicked out of the country by him also. A feisty women who continues to support the orphans in that country. I had the great pleasure to meet Helen who uses art as therapy in South Africa at the girls school she works at. She had lovely pictures of the girls she teaches. SA has a large number of children suffering from fetal alcohol syndrome and also many orphaned by aids. Helen was back in Ireland for a few weeks then returning. I met Marie and Maura home for 2 weeks from Juao Parisa Brazil. They work in the poorest area as educators in a town under constant peril from drug lords. Their bus was often robbed as they tried to get to the school and they resorted to buying a car to have safer passage.

VC - Helen, Rita, Paula, Sally, Charlie
Ann and Martina at Bray

The staff works very hard to train the people before they go on what to expect. They also help them secure funding to live overseas and assist with visas and travel planning. Sally, who is the development person writes up grant applications, served as a special needs educator in Ethiopia and Uganda. She works part time, about 50 hours a week. Martina runs the office and manages the training program. Rita, the receptionist and office assistant has worked there 9 years. Ann, who runs the finance stuff commutes 1.5 hours each way to work. Colette, who does pr for the org works from home. With only these few people they support 20 overseas workers. Some have been in the field for over 15 years.

Brayhead Trail to Greystones

 My last week the VC staff took an afternoon out to the seaside town of Bray. We were joined by the Council president Charlie. Charlie is an educator and was in charge of his schools end of term exams this year. Helen also joined us. We walked along the Brayhead trail. After another of the council members invited us all for dinner at her home. Tina and another women, Mary, fixed dinner for 12. It was a great meal of chicken and broccoli with mashed potatoes. The VC staff was very kind and supportive during my time with them. We worked to capture 25 years of the organizations history electronically and produced some new reports for council and Colette for PR.


My last day they gave me a beautiful Irish bronze nativity or crib as they are called here. A creche I learned is a child care. They also gave me a claddah necklace. When council presented me with a monetary gift also I was overwhelmed. The nativity had me close to tears. I asked that the money be given to Helen for art supplies for her girls. Charlie begrudgingly agreed. I hope to continue to support VC when they visit the US for fund raising.

A whirlwind of events

So keeping up with schoolwork became a full time job not to mention the internship job the last 2 weeks. Our research class hit full stride with designing an observation, conducting it and then doing the write up. Even with our choice of the oldest pub in Dublin, The Brazen Head, it was not quite as much fun as we had imagined. After 2 hours of watching groups come and go and basically spying and eavesdropping to get details of origin, purpose and age we got to write up our observations and interpretations. Many people were unnerved by 5 women furiously writing notes about them but only the group of Americans asked what we were up to. Interestingly they were in Dublin to present some qualitative research of their own and completely understood. That paper was followed by a couple tests and a survey design and observation then presentation.

Marienplatz - Munich  (Glockenspiel)

     During the middle of this I took the opportunity to go to Munich and see Scott's choir from Loyola Marymount. I had 2 days to wander before he arrived. Munich is a great city with a strong effort underway to rebuild some of their historic buildings. Which is tough since most were destroyed in WWII. My hotel was right across from the farmers market which was awesome. Going without a decent kitchen and seeing all the fruits, meats and vegetables was tough. Did some sightseeing around the city and even found a cuckoo clock for Rob. Scott's concert was awesome. The church was very ornate with the altar modeled after St Peters in Rome. The church was destroyed in the war and just finished being restored in 2000.

LMU choir singing at Alte Peter - Munich
Scott is the one in the black vest and tie

      I had a little trouble leaving Munich as I realized at the entrance to the underground to the airport my passport was in the hotel room safe. Scrambled back to get it then missed the train to the airport but remembered there were 2 routes. Unfortunately I then got on the right train headed in the wrong direction. Adjusted course and then depended on German efficiency to get me to the airport 30 minutes before the flight left. Breezed through the immigration stuff and was at the gate 20 minutes before the flight left. Whew!  More Munich pics on my facebook page.

International Eucharistic Congress and my pilgrim walk

The 50^th International Eucharistic Congress was held in Dublin during June.  This is really a Catholic event, and in a country where 90% are Catholic, this is a big deal.   There is a week long series of masses and events happening around the city.  One of the very cool things is that they put out a pilgrimage route of 7 of Dublin’s oldest churches.   

St. Ann's

Our Lady of Dublin Chapel 

Pilgrim walks are a long tradition in many faiths.   It is a time of reflection where the journey is as important as the destination.   IEC issued a beautiful booklet as a passport to have stamped in each of the 7 churches. 

I started in St. Ann’s which is an Anglican church.  It dates to 1707.  In 1723 a wealthy Lord left a bequest of 13 pounds annually to supply bread to the poor of Dublin.  To this day the bread shelf contains loaves of bread to be taken without question by those who are hungry.  I had seen St. Ann’s on my first day in downtown Dublin and was pleased to find it Anglican.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel is a Carmelite center.  While the current building dates to the 1820’s the property was part of a medieval Carmelite Monastery of St. Mary from  the 13^th century.   There are relics from St. Valentine there.  There is a shrine to Our Lady of Dublin and an absolutely beautiful balacchino (elaborate domed structure over the altar) that reminded me of several I’ve seen in Rome.

St. James

St. Mary of the Angels is a Capuchin Friary established in 1689.  The Capuchin Order is one of 3 founded by St. Francis of Assisi.  Capuchins have been in Dublin since 1615 and built at the current spot in 1689.  Today the Capuchin’s serve the poor of Dublin.  6 days a week they provide 2 meals a day to over 600 people and weekly they hand out over 1000 food parcels.

The oldest parish here is St. Michan.  It was originally a hostel dedicated to St. Michan  for travellers between Tara and South Leinster.  There was a faith community here before the Norman Invasion.

The pilgrimage only lasted  2 weeks and I was leaving for Munich during the final weekend.  I decided to finish the last 3 churches after work on Thursday.  One problem though, it was raining.  And not that California sissy rain, but real rain.   I took the bus out to St. James.  This chapel was once at the city gate where pilgrims leaving on the Camino de Santiago de Campostela to Spain.  Early 11^th and 12^th century pilgrims left for Spain by this gate and had their passports stamped with the symbol of the pilgrimage route, a scallop shell representing St. James.   My IEC passport bears a similar stamp of the scallop shell and the name of St. James, Dublin.   It is very cool.  

Chapel of Mary at Thomas Lane Friary

Next I walked about 15 minutes to the Augustinian Friary at Thomas Lane.  Again the exterior did not give a hint at the beauty inside.   The friars were beginning compline or Benedictine (not sure which is sung at 7:00pm) but the music flowed from above in the cloisters and was soothing and peaceful.  I lingered a little long here and had to walk the 45  minutes to St Mary’s Pro Cathedral quickly.   Now walking in the rain is interesting.  Eventually you give up on the umbrella because the wind keeps turning it inside out.  And you give up on the hood because it just keeps falling in your eyes and you are wet anyway.

My certificate of completion with a Mary
and Mother Theresa medal.

Altar at Thomas Lane

Altar at Mary of the Angels

I got to St. Mary Pro at 5 minutes to 8 and the gates were just being shut.   I called out asking them not to close up yet.  They let me in and I got the 7^th stamp.   The lady at the desk looked at me and declared me “just a puddle”.   I dripped over to say a prayer and took the bus home.  I got back about 9 after 3 hours of being out in the weather.  To my great fortune Therese had decided to cook dinner that night and a warm, delicious meal was waiting for me.  

Since the journey is the important part, I look back fondly on my walk in the rain around Dublin and know it is an experience that will stay with me