Bonfire Night

Remember, remember the fifth of November,

The gunpowder treason and plot,

I see no reason

Why the gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot.

November 5th is a holiday in the UK known as Guy Fawkes Day or Bonfire Night. Last year I blogged about the history behind this day, but in case you needed a quick re-cap, here goes: In 1605, Guy Fawkes was among a group of men who tried to blow up the House of Parliament and the King. The plot was foiled, and Guy Fawkes and the other conspirators were hung for their crime.

Nowadays, the Brits celebrate the foiling of this conspiracy by having Bonfire Night, during which they burn an effigy of Guy Fawkes on a huge bonfire, and top it off with some fireworks. We went to a local town called Masham with our friends, the Dales, for Bonfire Night this year. It was raining a little bit, but not enough to spoil our fun. As you can see from the pictures, the bonfire was HUGE! Much bigger than we expected! The kids had fun with some sparklers, and the fireworks were as good as any we had seen in the U.S. of A. A fun night for all!

Last Day in Ireland: Wicklow Tour

Before we went to Dublin, my friend Kathleen Webber from back in MD suggested that we take a tour of an early settlement called Glendalough. We found a touring company that included this village in their tour of the Wicklow area, which was south of the city. On this tour, we were supposed to see some incredible views, including mountains, lakes, and waterfalls. Of course, we expected to see lots of rolling green hills (isn't that all that Ireland is made up of?). And although Ireland wasn't as green as we expected (it is Fall after all), we certainly weren't disappointed with what we saw.

These pictures were taken at our first stop, where we could overlook the city of Dublin in the distance. Not a bad start.Next, we were driven to a lake that was up in the mountains. The land surrounding it was marsh. It was almost like a swamp set up high in the mountains with lots of low-lying brush. Very tricky to walk in, but worth it to see this lake.On our journey, we drove past this area which is where they filmed parts of Braveheart, Saving Private Ryan (the Normandy scene), and P.S. I Love You (a more recent film that I haven't seen yet). We then stopped at a small waterfall which was the start of the River Liffey (the river that flows through the city of Dublin).Our next stop had an increible view of a lake and mountain range.
(Isn't this a beautiful shot?!)After lunch in a small village, we stopped to see a larger waterfall,
and then we headed to the village of Glendalough. Glendalough (meaning "Glen of Two Lakes") was a 6th century Monastic settlement founded by St. Kevin. We entered the settlement through the originally-built gateway. We were able to see the cathedral,the round tower, and a building known as St. Kevin's Church.In this picture, our tour-guide Tony, was explaining the design of the Celtic high-cross to us. Did you know that early missionaries to Ireland combined the Christian cross symbol with the symbol (ring/circle) representing the sun-god? They did this to help the pagans understand that the Christian God is the one who gives life (like their version of the sun-god). I never knew that before.

We finished up out time at Glendalough with a lovely hike before heading back to the city.This picture is of Maddie with her "iPod Rock." Hey, it's cheaper than a real iPod! :)
Once back in Dublin, it was time to head to the airport.

Our trip to Ireland was a whirl-wind three days for sure! As always, the challenges of traveling, (including flying) with three kids were exhausting at times. But, it was certainly worth it! Looking back, I am so pleased that in just three days we were able to see so much of Ireland, not just the city of Dublin. It was a great trip!

Ireland: Day 2 - Newgrange

On our second day in Dublin, we decided to take a tour bus north of the city to a World Heritage Site called Newgrange.

Newgrange is a Neolithic Passage Tomb that is approximately 5,000 years old. That makes it older than Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids of Egypt!As we approached the tomb, it appeared to be a pronounced grass-covered hill surrounded by large rocks. Our tour guide led us to the tomb entrance and gave us a little background information about what we were looking at. She admitted that very little was known about the people who built this tomb, except that they were most likely farmers who had settled in the area. Much of the stone was found locally, except for the large stones (called kerbstones). They suspect that they were brought in by raft via the local river, and hauled up the hill to be put in place.
Newgrange lay hidden until it was discovered in 1699 by a local resident looking for some stone. However, it wasn't officially excavated until the 1960s, which meant that the tomb lay open for people to take pieces from it for many years. Some graffiti from Victorian times can even be found within the tomb.

What is so remarkable about this tomb, is that it was designed in such a way that on the five days surrounding the winter solstice, at sunrise the sun will shine right through the window above the entrance and eventually flood the whole tomb with light. When they excavated the tomb, they found evidence of human remains. This led them to suspect that the people who built the tomb designed it this way so that as the sun beam retracted, it took with it the spirits of the deceased. While inside the tomb with our tour guide, she used a light to try and re-create what it looks like on the winter solstice. It wasn't a very strong light beam, but it helped us to appreciate the design.

If you're interested in learning more, I've included this YouTube video about it (it's less than 4 minutes long):


Nowadays, they hold a lottery to decide who gets to be in the tomb during sunrise on the solstice mornings.

During our time in the tomb, we also were able to appreciate its construction. In the picture here, you can see what the ceiling looked like. Remember that these were Stone-Age people who built it, so... no tools, nothing to adhere these large stones to each other. They were just stacked upon each other until it was topped with the capstone, and they stuck some small stones in the gaps. This construction has lasted for 5,000 years, it has never collapsed, and has never even let a drip of water into the tomb! Amazing!In the pictures above, you can see the designs that were carved into some of the kerbstones. There are many theories about what the symbols mean on each of the stones, but no one really knows what they mean.

After we left Newgrange, we took a shuttle to another landmark not even a mile away called Knowth. Knowth is another passage tomb (there were a handful in the local area), encircled by 17 other satellite tombs. Unlike Newgrange which was left untouched for so long, there was much evidence found at Knowth to suggest that there were inhabitants on this mound throughout much of history. The passage tomb has many similarities in design to Newgrange, but one main difference is that Knowth was designed to recognize the equinox. A sandstone pillar was placed in front of the entrance to the tomb and would cast a shadow on the 2 equinox days each year.What I found so fascinating during our visit was the designs carved into so many of the kerbstones. I was humbled thinking about how much time it must have taken for these Stone-Age people to carve these designs, and it of course left me wondering what they were trying to say through these symbols.We returned to Dublin that afternoon, and don't be mad, but we didn't get back in time to see the Guiness Storehouse tour as we had planned. I pacified Ethan with dinner at a local brew-pub called Porterhouse, and we all enjoyed some yummy Irish burgers while Ethan really enjoyed tasting a few different ales. We strolled around the city a little more, bought a few souveniers, and walked to see the River Liffey.It had been another full day!

Ireland: Day 1

The kids had last week off from school, so we thought we should take a short trip to one of the places on our list. Our destination this time was Dublin, Ireland!

We flew out very early last Monday, and arrived at Dublin Airport before 10am (the flight from here was less than an hour). From the airport, we took a taxi to a small coastal town just north of Dublin called Howth (pronounced "Hoat"). With all of our carry-on luggage stuffed in the stroller basket and around our shoulders, we took a lovely stroll around the town, beginning with a walk along the pier. How delighted we were to have the sun actually come out than morning. Irish eyes were truly smiling on us!

The island that you can see off the coast here is called Ireland's Eye. There's actually an 8th century church on this island which used to function as a parish church for the village of Howth. Today, the island is mainly an animal sanctuary, and many seals and sea birds reside on the island.

We stopped for lunch and got some delicious take-away Fish-n-Chips which we enjoyed eating on a bench overlooking the harbor. After lunch and some time on the community playground, we found the train station and took the DART train into Dublin.

We reached Dublin too early to check into our hotel, so we decided to walk to Trinity College for some sight-seeing. The foundations for Trinity College were laid back in the late 1500s, so you can imagine what an important element it is to the city. The college was just beautiful... cobblestone lined walkways, both historical and modern architectural elements. Our main destination within the college walls was the Library (I know, it seems like a pretty boring place to go if you're a tourist). However, the library contains an exhibit on the Book of Kells, which was highly recommended.

The Book of Kells is a Latin manuscript of the four gospels from the New Testament. It was transcribed by Celtic monks circa 800AD. Historians don't know the exact details regarding its inception, but what is so remarkable about the manuscript is how unbeliveably ornate it is!!! The decoration includes Christian icons and symbology, along with what we characterize as Celtic design with its woven lines and swirled knots. We were able to read some history about the Book of Kells, learn about its symbolism, and see how the book was actually made (i.e. how they would produce colored ink during that time and how they would bind it). At the end of the exhibit, you could see a few of the actual pages on display.

Here are a few examples of what we saw:
This page is a drawing of the four authors of the gospels. You can see that they were basically mythologized in their character.And we got to see the actual page of this last example which is Christ's genealogy.After the exhibit, we headed upstairs to see what is known as the Long Room of the Library. You can see how it got its name!My jaw dropped as I walked into this room. It was the perfect image of what an old college library should look like, with thousands upon thousands of books, sliding ladders reaching to the top shelves... it was amazing!

After we left Trinity, we decided to head to our hotel. On the way, we stumbled upon Grafton Street, which is a big shopping area in the city. We also came upon a Butler's Chocolate Cafe. Our local friend in our village who attended Trinity College recommended that we try the white hot chocolate there. I have to tell you... it was heaven in a cup. Oh my gosh, was it good!!We sipped our white hot chocolate all the way to our hotel, where we settled in for the night. We only went out again to buy a ridiculously small and expensive pizza for the four of us (Dublin is expensive!), quickly followed by a trip to a small grocery store where we bought more food to bring back to our hotel room.

We all slept well that night......