Top of the mornin' to ya!

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Another early morning for us…after eating breakfast we took the Dart (like a subway system above ground) to the town of Greystone, about 45 minutes away.

The entire way cliffs and mountains surrounded us, along with the Irish Sea. Once we arrived, we walked down to the beach and waded in a bit. It was freezing—but this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, I can now say that I have stepped in the Irish sea!

We grabbed ice-cream and walked around the shops a bit more and then took the Dart to the town of Bray. We ate a local café, this time I had homemade a chicken and mushroom pastry and vanilla latte. Again, the food was awesome! We then walked down to the beach and took some pictures on the rocks. I noticed that on the nearest mountain, there was a cross, I wasn’t able to get a close-up picture, but still the sight of it was really neat.

We then went to the Sea of Life where we were able to hold starfish and see seahorses, stingrays, and jellyfish, amongst many other things. We took the Dart back to Dublin so we could finish out our trip at St. Patrick’s Cathedral—something I had been anxiously awaiting sine we arrived. It was about a 20 minute walk, but once we arrived, it was so peaceful and breathtaking.

On the north side of the church was a garden where people could just come and relax by the water fountain, or just sit on the benches or lay on the grass. Once we entered the church, I was simply amazed. Even though we knew the Church was very historic, it really didn’t hit me until the moment that we entered. On the north and south entrance sides were statues of famous people who had passed away. This here is a monument to the famous chemist Charles Boyle's wife:

There were plaques covering the walls throughout the church as well of important people who had passed away. Upon entering, as I turned right, was the main part of the church, where the services are held weekly. (To the left was a gift shop). Here in this picture is the main part:

I forgot to mention, the Church is shaped as a cross. So as you walk towards the main part of the church, there are two wings—one to the north and one to the south. Throughout each wing there were historical symbols and descriptions of the artifacts. To the right wing, there were mainly just artifacts, including different keys used to enter the church, dating back to the 1850’s. These next two pictures are from the right wing:

Here is a closer look as you would have neared the altar. It's sort of hard to tell, but hanging above the seats are the armor of lords and those who served in wars:

Another picture from the right wing:

In the left wing there was two monuments for the World Wars and for those who had lost their lives. Hanging above and to the sides of these monuments were flags. And not just any ordinary flag—some of these flags dated back to the Crimean War, and even farther back. I just stood there for a couple minutes taking it all in, and how awesome it was that they could preserve things like that.

A somewhat closer look at the monuments for those serving in the wars: