Dublin, Ireland

Hey Everyone,
I am in Dublin, Ireland. The flights went well despite quite a rush in London while changing airlines. Dublin is a beautiful city. Having never been to Europe I keep marvelling at just how old so much of it is. We are staying at Trinity College, which was founded in 1592, almost two hundred years before our country was founded. The downtown also has a lot of old buildings-- a lot of restaurants, pubs, and little market stores. They use the Euro here (Northern Ireland is still part of the UK and thus uses pounds) so things are a bit more expensive but not too bad, especially because they alot us the equivalent of $10 for lunch and $20 for dinner, which is more than enough.
Yesterday we went out to the remains of a monastic community started in the 6th century. There is still a tall tower and the remains of a chapel and a gathering room. It was in the middle of the equivalent of a National Park, so we got to hike up and see waterfalls and lakes amidst the very very green hills. I was surprised that there were also sections of coniferous forest up there, but the most of it was as I had pictured---green rolling hills, and the grass is a brighter green than back in the US. It really is quite beautiful--I took plenty of pictures.
The food has been good too. We had kabobs one night (not what we call kabobs--it was a packed, dark-meat chicken in a pita-bread with a ranch sauce, a spicy sauce, and lettuce and onions. Last night we had our first group dinner and it was great--salisbury steak with salad and fries after an appetizer of chicken goujons--essentially chicken strips.
We went to Christ Church Cathedral this morning for 11:00 Eucharist. It is an Anglican church and has been for 1000 years. Beautiful cathedral and a very good service--they really have an awe and reverence for God. The music was also beautiful, with the organ and a visiting choir from Oxford. They even sang a tiny bit in Greek, which was amazing.
Well my time is just about up at the internet cafe--I will try to write again from Northern Ireland (going there Wednesday).
Cheers,
Joe