Another travel day with stops

Sunday 22 June 2014

The hostel we stayed at last night was very quiet--there was only one other couple that came into the dining room after we did and only one couple in the lounge when we went to use the wifi later on.  A few straggled in later after a night at the pubs, but still very quiet!  And the sign at the door said that they had no free rooms.  Weird.  But a very nice man that was very eager to help us with whatever we needed.  Even gave us free towels to use when I asked if towels were available (often you need to pay)!  No breakfast offered though, so we left hungry and drove to Belfast.  There we followed signs to the city center, parked and walked.  We (shamefacedly) went to McDonalds for a quick, cheap, filling meal, then walked around the city center.  McDonald's was one of the few places open--by about 1:00 the street was filled with people--probably coming from church--before that the city appeared very empty.  Very nice on the Royal Street; we even heard an Asian man singing "Closer My God to Thee" with a guitar and a very big speaker (must've been because it was Sunday morning).  Very nice older city buildings mixed with new buildings.

city hall

The opera house

this used to be a presbyterian church that is now the headquarters for
Ireland's presbyterian churches and a shopping mall!

This used to be a bank, now it's a Tesco's supermarket!

heading into a grittier area of Belfast

graffiti!

In Balfast, we also visited St. Anne's Cathedral.

This is writer's square, across the street from St. Anne's.  There
are quotes from writers in the paving stones.  One wonderful
one said that the people of Ireland are wonderful, except that
they are unable to live in peace with one another.  It was a
wonderful quote.

mosaic

mosaic

mosaic

Hope Spire, the top is 250 feet tall, made of
stainless steel

Next we visited Brú na Bóinne nearer to Dublin.  They have a site with three passage tombs to visit.  We only had time to visit the most visited tomb--Newgrange.  It is also the only one that you can go into.  They all have passages that are lit by the sun on specific sun-feast days (solstice or equinox).  You go to the visitors center, then when it is time for your tour, you walk about 5 minutes to the shuttle buses which take you to the correct tombs.  While you wait for your tour time, you can visit the display and see the movie they have available.  The display is very cool--with a lot of artifacts and a few interactive displays.  Great descriptions for everything.  The tombs were managed by the state beginning in the 1890s--very early for conservation!!  The group running it was very organized and everything was well managed.  We went into the tomb in small groups--squeezing sideways and ducking to get through the passage to the tomb at the end.  The tomb is from 3200 BCE.  That is incredible!  At this time, they cremated their people, so their ashes (of the important) were brought into one of three rooms in the tomb area.  They did a display of how the sun would come in on the winter solstice which was a bit cheesy, but nice to see.  There were art carvings inside as well as on the stone at the door and some of the stones around the outside.  The entire thing is a dome made of stone and earth with the tomb in the center with a domed ceiling in it.  The front of the tomb is made of quartz with round little "eggs" in it.  The front was reconstructed using the original rocks that had been there.  They picked them up from the ground in front of the tomb where they had fallen down.  The entire tomb was under ground when they excavated it.  The different types of rocks were brought from from different places, all of it far away.   They guess that the largest ones were rolled on logs from two mountain ranges away!  They are guessing with how far they had to go to get the materials that it took about 50 years to make each burial tomb.  In addition to the three main passage tombs, there are many other smaller tombs in the same area.

The entrance garden to the visitors center

Dwellings at the time went from being rectangular to circular and covered with thatch or hides.

Lights in a stone

The River Boyne

Newgrange

The entrance

Above the door.  this is the opening that the light goes into
on the winter solstice

The white stone is the quartz that was redone

In the center of that field, you can see a grassy area with another
tomb

The quartz with the egg-shaped rocks that were from far away.  The
rocks around the bottom are quite large and decorated

Posts from a later settlement and ceremonial space next to the tomb

Newgrange passage tomb

Joshua by a decorated rock

They're not sure what the art means.

These are standing stones that were added later

Shelby and Joshua

The peaceful portico that leads to and from the visitor's center.   This
 area of Ireland has leafy trees!

After visiting that, we drove to Swords, a small town right next to the airport for our early morning flight.  (Early as in leaving for the airport at 6:30!!).  Ack!  We went back into town (we're staying in a Travelodge on the outskirts less than 10 minutes down the road from the airport) to get dinner.  We ate at a Johnny Rockets which is like an American 50s diner.  At the hotel, were told to use the wifi in the restaurant (you have to pay to use it in your room) but at 10:00 the guy running that kicked us out (he's closed) so I'm finishing this in the very full lounge.  A group of young people from a tour are sitting around talking in the lobby.