Dublin Days 8 & 9

The second week began with the students seeming a little worn out. This is understandable considering Dublin is a lively place to spend the weekend. This is also understandable because Monday was their first "quiz" in my class and they were nervously studying their notes as class began (I might have admitted Friday that this was actually an exam, and that I was calling it a "quiz" to try to make it less stressful). The students blamed me for their stress and tiredness, but this faded away as we put the exam - I mean quiz - behind us. This week is going to be the busiest yet in Ireland.

After class we head out for lunch and a visit to the National Gallery of Ireland. We made afternoon trips like this optional, but everyone decided to come. We must be fun to be around.

I have been put in charge of navigating, which means we walk through the Dublin streets in a line, trying to make the green walk signs together, which stay lit for 2 seconds.

We stop for lunch at a traditional Irish pub and restaurant, and have excellent open-faced sandwiches. Darci tells us she chose the place because great Irish literary figures met here. I tried to convince the students I was eating James Joyce's favorite sandwich. 

 Gallery hall in the National Gallery of Ireland

 The students admiring a stained glass exhibit. 

A mirror from the 1750's. The students and I were thinking the same thing: we are looking into the same glass that someone famous from long ago used to check their teeth for food. 


 Around midnight our time between Days 8 & 9 Ian hit his first little league home run. Luckily Mom caught it on camera, so I am putting it here as a proud parent who misses his people back home.


We booked a trip to Northern Ireland on Day 9, and it was our most amazing day yet. We met before 7:00 for the coach bus to take us North, and the first stop was Belfast. Belfast is home to the Titanic Museum (the Titanic was built in the famous Belfast shipyards), but the significance of this trip is the political tour of Belfast, with an in-depth look at The Troubles (the war between Protestants and Catholics that lasted nearly 40 years).

 Although we didn't enter, meeting at the Titanic museum meant a photo op.

Traveling with UW-L gymnasts means photo ops can turn into amazing skill demonstrations. 

The highlight of the trip to Belfast, and the reason we are here, is a "Black Cab" political tour of the city. 

The tour was led by an Irish-Catholic who lost his brother and father to British soldiers. Listening to his stories was one of the most moving political experiences any of us have had. 

 The city is a work of art, with murals on every building remembering tragic events and the people who experienced them.

 A hero of the Irish-Catholic resistance is Bobby Sands, elected to Parliament in prison, and dying on a hunger strike there.

Due to threats of violence, a wall still separates the Catholic and the Protestant areas of the city between 6:00pm and 6:00am. 

One of the gates that closes every day at 6:00pm.


 During the tour, our guide pulls out a marker and asks us if we want to write a message on the wall. We all consider how profound it is to live through and learn about this history.

A memorial to the 10 heroes of the resistance who died on hunger strike in 1981.

It is another hour on the bus after Belfast to drive to the Northern Irish coast for some of the best scenery on earth. The spectacular cliffs include unique geological features, and are also where the Game of Thrones is filmed. 



 The students explore the Giant's Causeway

Gymnastics breaks out 

Spectacular feats cause a scene as people are impressed with the athletic ability of our gymnasts 

They are even willing to train their professors

 We were really hoping no one would get hurt
 The rope bridge made me nervous. The students started calling me "Dr. Dad" because I was always worried that they were too close to the edge, and because I am known for making what they call a "dad joke".

Apparently "Hey, look... its the orange buoy from Game of Thrones!" is a dad joke.


We really like our students. It is a great group to travel with.


 Darci has taken so many pictures of flowers, I had a try one of grass.





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