Ireland - Day Seven

After breakfast this morning, we reluctantly bid farewell to Kilronan Castle Estate and Spa to start our drive into Carrick-on-Shannon. Here we enjoyed a one-hour private cruise of the River Shannon aboard the Moon River, complete with live music and refreshments, all while taking in the beautiful scenery, including a picture-perfect rainbow!

After disembarking the Moon River, we made a brief stop in downtown Carrick-on-Shannon to visit the Costello Memorial Chapel, which is the smallest Chapel in Europe and the second smallest Chapel in the world. Sixteen feet long by twelve foot wide, the Chapel was built by Edward Costello in 1877 as a devotion to his wife, Mary Josephine, who died that year at age 47.

Both Edward and Mary Josephine are interred in the Chapel on either side of the altar.

After departing Carrick-on-Shannon, we continued our journey into Dublin, where we were treated to a very special tour. The Deerfield Residence is the home of U.S. Ambassador to Ireland, Claire (McLaughlin) Cronin '82. Although Ambassador Cronin was stateside during our visit, she arranged for us to have a private tour of the Residence. Located in Phoenix Park and built in 1776, the home sits just across the road from the official residence of the President of Ireland. Once through security, we were greeted by Brian Fitzmaurice, the Deerfield Residence house manager. Brian showed us around the home and beautiful grounds. Of special significance is a beautiful sculpture in the gardens

dedicated to those who lost their lives on 9/11 which includes a section of steel beam from one of the World Trade Center towers. We wrapped up our visit to Deerfield Residence with a group photo in the grand foyer.

Next, we checked into the Trinity Hotel in Dublin, the last hotel on our tour, to freshen up before heading out to Taylors Three Rock a delicious meal accompanied by a night of traditional Irish song and dance.

One of our own, John Lynch '77 even got into the action on stage with the musicians! After the dinner and show, we returned to our hotel to get some rest in preparation for our final full day in Ireland.

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Barcelona - Dos

Day two in Barcelona has been fantastic! Jose gave us lots of information on the artist Gaudi - not born here but arrived in 1852 to attend the university. His artistic style and influence can be seen across the city. We stopped at Park Guell which was an amazing outdoor area Gaudi designed near the home he lived in. Inspired by nature, fairy tales and classical legends the park is beautiful. With its kissing benches, 'candy house', salamander and plaza with the longest bench in the world it is a work of art in itself. Some of us made the walk up to the top where the three crosses are - and found even more breathtaking views of the city. From there we headed back downtown for a short walk to La Sagrada Familia cathedral. Design by Gaudi and still not yet finished, it is very unique and ornate. Just walking around the outside, Jose had enough informatiion to share about its intricacies that it took some time. The line for entrance was nearly wrapped around the ch

Cordoba

First our morning started with an alarm - or a lack of one; as Mary Jane and Pat's room never received a wakeup call. So everyone else was on the bus ready to go when they finally got a knock on the door. What troopers they were, though! In 15 minutes they were on the bus with everyone and not long after they were able to laugh at the 'chaos' of it all. Our local guide Isabel was just delightful - and clearly has a love for her city. She tells us that filmmaker Pedro Almodovar is from here as we begin our walk. First we go through the old Jewish center. Nearly all of the city's buildings are white-washed (originally by the women we hear). We stop at an old Jewish synagogue and learn some history of the area. Then we stop at the statue of a famous rabbi ( can you name him ?) which legend is that by rubbing his foot and then touching your own head you will get taller and wiser. most of us did that - some hoping for extra height, others for a bit of wisdom!

2011: Day 4 - Vienna

Another great day! We had a 6am wake up call - but it paid off! Our tour director, Robert, secured the first reservations of the day at Shronbrunn Palace - which meant we were the only guests in the Palace for the most part. We went room to room with our own local guide, Gabi, for a nearly private tour! A one-of-a-kind experience for sure. The Palace and Gardens were beautiful. 1,441 rooms and acres and acres of grounds. We learned about Mary Theresa (and all of her 16 children). This was the summer palace for the Hapsburg dynasty. We then switched gears and went to see modern art at KunstHausWien - what a creative artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser was. And a man who epitomized eco-friendly living and work. A very different experience after our tour of the Palace. Next was a driving tour of some of the city's monuments, etc. with a stop for lunch along the way. We ended with a walking tour to additional historic spots and a tour of the downtown palace - the winter residence of the

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