Ireland

The dizzying speed of this program left us only one day between Scotland and Ireland, a day full of classes, homework, meetings, pre-port presentations, a talk by a Scottish shamanistic practitioner (who is accompanying one of the classes on field labs to Tara and New Grange), and preparation for Ireland.

Just as Kirk was arriving from New York, I headed in to Dublin to meet up with some colleagues from Trinity College, have lunch with them and get caught up on professional issues (she has published twice in the international journal I edit). Lunch was in a repurposed Bank of Ireland building (echoes of Edinburgh: why are old banks now restaurants?). We enjoyed after lunch coffee in the Staff Club of the University, then saw the Book of Kells and the gorgeous library.

I spent the afternoon at the dazzling and select collection of masterpieces at the National Gallery of Ireland, then met up with Kirk and Janna for a few Guinnesses before having dinner in a lovely (if noisy) wine bar in town before returning, drenched and tired, to the ship.

The weather cooperated for the next few days as we trooped around beautiful Dublin.

We enjoyed Brian Friel's classic play, "The Aristocrats," at the famous Abbey Theatre.

Saturday took us to the medieval city of Kilkenny and its important castle before we returned to Dublin for a night out in Temple Bar (a lively, hip neighborhood in center city).

Kirk sped off to Galway and the foggy Cliffs of Mohr, but the last day we puttered around Dublin together. Classes resume again for three days before we arrive in Bergen, Norway.