Stone Circles and Ancient Forts

We started our day in search of on search of one of the 200 stone circles - sparse boulder rings left over from the people who lived in Ireland before the Celts.  

During the Bronze Age, Ireland was populated by farmers who put a lot of time and effort gathering huge rocks and arranging them into ceremonial circles for use in rituals.

We were the only people other than the Shepard mediating at the circle.

We also stopped at Grianan Aileach Ring Fort, an Iron Age fortification originally build around the time of Christ.  The fort we saw was mostly rebuilt from the 1870s.

Donegal: the Northern Part of the Republic

We planned this trip with Brian and Heather so we could spend time at his childhood home in Donegal.  We rented a card, adapted to driving on the opposite side, and headed north.

Our first evening we hiked along the beautiful coast line next to his house.

Dublin Food Tour

In order to preview the city, learn a bit of history, and of course absorb the food culture, we took a tour with Delicious Dublin Tours owner Ketty Quigley.  She provided a thousand years off history through the lens of cuisine in a a few hours.  We learned the history of the potato and the positive impact of the EU formation - lots of new food varieties melding in with the Irish stews, soda breads, and sausages.

Irish Coffee:

Scones and Preserves:

Irish Stews and Soda Breads:

Ice cream (every country has it!):

Irish Whisky:

Feeling perfectly full, we moved on to Trinity College where, despite torrential rain falls, we laughed through the campus with a lively student guide.

Ireland: Day 1 in Dublin

For our summer escape, we flew to Dublin to spend a week in Ireland with Heather and Brian.  The first day we checked into our hotel and immediately sought Five Guys.  Knowing it would likely be another year before we enjoyed a greasy lil' cheeseburger, we savoured every bite.

After dinner, we strolled back to the hotel taking in the people, sounds, and energy of this lively city.  So different from Vienna.....

Last Baseball Game of the Spring Season

Last Week of School

Emily ended her year with a one hour student led conference.  She showed us a poem on how she grew, a project on expressions and equations, and her favourite art project focused on shadows and lights.

Ready for summer......