I’m finally feeling better after I was attacked by a vicious, monstrous, spike-wielding infection in my ear canal that has since spread to my other ear and throat. Good times! Well, never one to disappoint–given enough time–I’m adding details to the trip Julie and I took to visit the land and people of Ireland, with a brief stay in London for good measure.
We arrived in London around 11 am on Saturday, March 18th. Yes, we were sad we missed St. Patty’s Day in Dublin, but after speaking with Dovie, we were glad to have missed the crowds. Anyway, after we landed we caught a train down to Raynes Park and met up with my old friend and sometimes-college roommate Devin Howard. We had a great time with him that afternoon and evening. Well, I did. Julie, I think, would say that she mostly did except for the bitter cold. We first went to Greenwich Village and saw the Maritime Museum and the GMT clock. Then we headed back to and wandered around London, went through Green Park, up and down some residential streets and made it to Harrods just after 7:00 pm… right after it closed. This was something Julie had hoped to do, though it wasn’t important. We just really didn’t have anything planned that night. We had stopped by the Apple Store earlier.Well, after the non-event of Harrods, we decided to find a place to eat and warm up. I suggested curry, and everyone was in favor. Along the way, we stopped to find a place to watch the Texas A&M v. LSU game, which we did (kind of) and continued on down Strand to a curry place near Devin’s office. Really good stuff! We then took a break at Ye Olde Chesire Cheese to wait until 10:40, when the game was supposed to start. YOCC is a very old pub. It was rebuilt in the 1600′s and has a totally unique atmosphere. We left there and fought the even more biting cold to get back to the Sports Bar where we learned that the game would not be shown. So much for staying up late! We headed back to Devin’s flat and caught a much-needed night of sleep.
We woke up around 10 am the next morning and, after a quick breakfast, headed back into London where we visited the National Gallery and saw Monet, Van Gogh, Renoir, etc., to whom we gladly said, “Hello!” and “Very pleased to meet you!” Of course I’m joking. But the National Gallery is well worth the visit, and a large portion of it is free. We had to take a lunch break in the middle.
After the National Gallery, we went to St. Paul’s Cathedral to listen to an organ recital. There are pipes in that place like you wouldn’t believe! You’d have to ask Julie, though. I’m not so much the expert on music, much as I try to show off on the banjo. Don’t be deceived! 
The last piece played in the half-hour recital included trumpet pipes in the back of the cathedral (over the entryway) and the other pipes in the front. I can’t remember the name of the piece, but it was a discussion or a discourse or something, and it very well seemed that way. It was really cool!
After the recital, we went down to Elephant & Circus to catch the evening service at the Metropolitan Tabernacle. We had seen a sign in the tube advertising the church, and then I remembered that was where C. H. Spurgeon had once preached. The Metropolitan Tabernacle was fantastic. The evening service was their evangelistic service, where they had people at the tube stop and on the streets inviting people in, and we chatted with one guy who came up to us for the fifteen minutes before the service about the history and function of the church. Everyone was so friendly, and it was such a picture of the heavenly hosts. A great diversity of ethnic groups was in attendance, as well as a great range of ages. The sermon was really good, and the music consisted of hymns. The hymns were terrific! Everyone there picked up at just the right moment and there was a feeling of passion as people sang. I believe an organ accompanied the singing, but the singing was so resounding… it was just incredible. I don’t believe I’ve heard hymns sung like that before. Afterwards, we chatted with an elderly gentleman who talked more of Spurgeon, the church, the Sword and Trowel, and the bookstore, which we also visited. Quite a wealth of great volumes were in there.
We met up with Devin (what a great host!) again after the service and had dinner in Wimbledon, then went back again to his place to sleep. We awoke early the next morning to get to the airport and catch our flight on RyanAir to Dublin. Once in Dublin, we met up with Emeka and Wemi and headed back to their flat. They live in a really nice place, and we had a really great time staying with them. The first day, they took us into Dublin on the bus, helped us get bus passes for the week, took us by Trinity College, and through some shopping areas to help us get a little oriented. Afterwards, we went back to their place and had a Nigerian meal. Yum!
On day 2 of our Dublin vacation, we took a bus tour around the city and visited the Book of Kells exhibit at Trinity, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and the Guiness Storehouse. We had a great time at every spot. The Guiness Storehouse, in particular was a marvelous architectural piece. We really enjoyed the view from the Gravity Bar at the top. We also had lunch at O’Neill’s pub. I had traditional Irish corned beef and cabbage, and Julie had a ciabatta sandwich. The food was amazing! It was so much better than any pub food I’d had before.
The next day, we had planned on taking an easy day to read and relax. So we were a little surprised to find that it was actually quite sunny! So we hustled about to find a day tour to take advantage of the clear skies. We chose one (well, we really had limited options at 10 am) that took us down to Avoca and Glendalough (pronounced Glen-da-lock). Avoca was the sight of a tv series called Ballykissangel, and the show ended up refurbishing the Church of St. Mary and St. Patrick. Also, the Avoca Handweavers are found in Avoca (who knew?).
After Avoca, we went down to the ruins of an old monastary and the two lakes of Glendalough. It was very pretty there, and we took a lot of pictures. We had a nice walk around and then got back on the train back to Dublin, where we had dinner on Temple Bar at Gogarty’s. The food was pretty good. Much better was the traditional Irish music played live downstairs and via stereo upstairs. Thus ended Ireland: Day 3.
If you’re looking for more, you’ll have to wait. I’m sure this’ll keep you busy for awhile. 
Now maybe you see why I haven’t written more previously!