So Long, Ireland!

Our flight back home wasn't until the afternoon so Matt and I decided not to waste any time and we chose to fit in one last stop before heading to the airport.  We went back and forth with where to go, but we ultimately decided on Monasterboice.  It was a bit unique to the area, we had already seen so many castles and we thought since it was self-guided we could take as little or as much time as we wanted.

Round tower and High Cross

Ireland loves itself some high crosses and round towers.  They were everywhere!  But the high crosses as this cemetery were so pretty.  This cemetery was a mix of old and new graves and ended up being quite the tourist spot.  Shortly after we arrived two big tour buses arrived and several groups started walking around.  Luckily, we got there just in time to get some good pictures without too many people getting in the way.

Leaning Tower of Pisa - just kidding!  I took a crooked picture.

Muiredach's Cross - this particular high cross - was the main attraction to the cemetery.  It depicts Bible stories on both sides.  The reason for this was to educate those who were unable to read.  This cross was essentially a picture book on a cross to help the illiterate learn and know the main stories of the Bible.  It's amazing how clear the pictures still are and how easy it was to decipher what story was being conveyed.  Considering it was carved in the 10th century, the craftsmanship is amazing.

 Can you figure out what stories these two scenes are?  Yup!  Adam and Eve on the left.  Cain and Abel on the right.

What about this one?  Moses smiting the rock to obtain water for the Israelites.

Some of the other stories shown were the last judgment, the crucifixion, David and Goliath and the Three Wise Men.  Altogether, twelve stories were shown.

Just as we were about to leave, I happened to looked down and guess what I saw - clover!  I hadn't seen any the entire trip and was so glad to be able to see it while we were on our way out of Ireland.

We went to the airport after leaving Monasterboice and dropped off our Skoda.  It was a good car to put up with Matt's terrible shifting.  For being such a small car, we had plenty of room and it did a great job getting us from Point A to Point B.

The look of relief that he doesn't have to driving a stick anymore.

We had an amazing vacation and we both agree we'd go back to Ireland in a heartbeat.  There are places we'd like to spend more time and places we'd like to go to that we weren't able to on this trip.  We had no idea what was in store for us when we got back home, but we are so glad we scheduled our vacation for when we did and came home refreshed.

Rub-A-Dub-Dublin!

Our last full day in Ireland was spent in and around Dublin.  Matt and I wanted to make sure to explore the city, but we knew going into it, it was not going to be our favorite part of the trip.  To Matt and I major cities are all the same and offer many of the same things.  But we did want to hit the highlights so we bought tickets for a tour bus which brought you around the city to see what you might want to visit and you can hop on and off as you wish.  That was definitely worth it because even if you didn't want to spend time at a particular attraction you still were able to see it.

Our first stop off the bus was to see St. Patrick's Cathedral.  You're not able to go through all of it, obviously, but what you do get to see is beautiful!  When we arrived there was a choir from America singing in the front and you could hear them all the way in the back of the church because the acoustics were just that incredible.

Our next stop was at my request.  I enjoy learning about crime and deviant behavior and Dublin has an old jail that you're able to tour.  Back before it became a museum, it housed many political inmates and was where solitary confinement was first used.  It now operates only as a jail, but you are able to see the individual cells, the chapel, where the inmates did their exercise and even where the firing squad would do their executions.  

 Prison cell with the door closed

Most cells had a window to look out of - view from the courtyard

Those were the two main stops of the day.  We wanted our last full day to be leisurely since we had such a full trip.  We enjoyed a late lunch, did some shopping and just walked around the streets.  It was a nice way to end the trip.  Here are a few more sites we saw along the way, but for the most part, we just took the sites in and savored our last moments in Ireland.

 This is the Irish President's home

 The one and only Guinness.  We did not do the tour as Matt went on it on a previous trip and I do not have any interest in beer.  I will say it was a very popular stop so it was on most people's list of things to do.

Trinity College.  We walked around the grounds and felt really old.  Thirty-somethings do not belong on college campuses :)  Seriously, though, it really was beautiful and worth a stop.

That night we went back to our Bed and Breakfast and packed for our long travel day back to the US!