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DAY
1 DEPARTURE FROM NORTH AMERICA
Enjoy full meal service on your scheduled wide-bodied flight
to
Dublin.
DAY
2
ARRIVE IN DUBLIN (1 NIGHT)
You will be met at the airport by your tour manager/guide and
transfer to your hotel in Dublin. This evening we will take a
Walking Tour to orient ourselves to Ireland’s capital
DAY
3
DUBLIN - KELLS AREA (2 NIGHTS)
Our sightseeing in Dublin will include visits to Dublin
Castle, Merrion Square, St. Patrick's Cathedral,
which stands on the oldest Christian site in Dublin and
Trinity College. In the Long Room of Trinity's famous
library we will view the 8th century Book of Kells
often described as the `most beautiful book in the world'
and is perhaps the most decorative codex to survive from the
first millennium of Christianity in Europe. Later this
afternoon we will journey to the city of Kells, from which
the famous book originated.
· Your First Concert Performance will
be today
DAY
4
KELLS AREA
This morning we will explore the ruins of the Columban
monastery at Kells and the town itself. There are five Celtic
high crosses in Kells as well as a Round Tower that was built
as a watchtower and a refuge for monks in the 9th century.
This afternoon we will visit the monastic site at St.
Killian’s.
DAY
5 KELLS
AREA - CLONMACNOIS - CLONFERT - CO. GALWAY
(2 NIGHTS)
We continue our pilgrimage with a visit to one of Ireland’s
most important early monastic settlements, Clonmacnois.
Founded by St. Ciaran in 548, the surviving structures date
from the 9th century. The monastery became the nucleus of a
medieval university and a burial place for saints and kings.
Clonmacnois was raided many times in history for its
artistic and material wealth. Excellent restoration work
has preserved the monastery’s past. We will also explore
nearby Clonfert Cathedral on our way to Co. Galway.
DAY
6
DAY TRIP TO INISHMORE (ARAN
ISLANDS)
A ferry trip will take us to the largest of the Aran Islands
- Inishmore, a wild and rugged place of cliffs and
caves and ancient monuments. We will see the remains of
Iron Age fort at Dun Aengus. Built on the edge of a cliff,
it is considered one of the finest prehistoric sites in
Europe. We will also see the remains of early monastic
settlements and what is probably the worlds smallest church
- only 10 by 7 feet! We return to Galway for the night.
DAY
7
CO. GALWAY - CONNEMARA - WESTPORT AREA (1 NIGHT)
We will drive north from Co. Galway into the haunting beauty
of Connemara. There is a brooding sense of Ireland’s
ancient culture and traditions in this mystical area where
Gaelic is still the everyday language and ponies range freely
on the moors. Highlights will include Lough Corrib and
Kylmore Abbey, built during the Great Famine and now a
convent for Benedictine nuns. We will make a stop at
the Holy Mountain of Croagh Patrick where Saint Patrick fasted
and prayed for 40 days and which is still a popular pilgrimage
site today. Time and weather permitting, the adventurous will
have a chance to climb the mountain in the footsteps of the
pilgrims and enjoy the wonderful views from the summit. We
spend tonight in the charming Westport area.
DAY
8
WESTPORT AREA - SLIGO - BELFAST (1 NIGHT)
We will make an early start and spend a day dedicated to
Ireland’s most famous poet, William Butler Yeats. The
landscape of Sligo served as inspiration for much of the
poet’s work and we will follow the Yeat’s Trail to
see the spots mentioned in the poetry. Yeats is buried in
the cemetery at Drumcliff Churchyard where his grandfather
was rector. We will visit the poet’s grave. We continue to
Belfast for the night.
· Your Second Concert Performance
will be today
DAY
9
BELFAST - LARNE - CAIRNRYAN - BERWICK ON TWEED AREA
(2 NIGHTS)
This morning a ferry takes us from Ireland to Scotland. We
will pass through the lovely Border area of Scotland and thus
pass into English Northumberland to the coastal town of
Berwick on Tweed.
DAY
10
HOLY ISLANDS (LINDISFARNE) (DAY TRIP)
We will visit Holy Island, approachable by road only at
low tide. It was on this island that Saint Aidan founded a
monastery and became the first bishop of Lindisfarne. Under
his successor, St. Cuthbert, Holy Island became one of the
earliest and brightest centers of Christianity in England.
The marvelously illuminated Lindisfarne Gospels were created
here. We will visit the ruins of the monastery as well
as Lindisfarne Castle, a 16th century fort cleverly
converted into a private house. Later, we will visit
Bamburgh Castle, which served for generations as a royal
fortress. Much of the castle dates from Norman times and it
was restored in the Victorian period. We return to
Berwick on Tweed for the night.
DAY
11
BERWICK ON TWEED AREA - COUNTY DURHAM (2 NIGHTS)
The close proximity of the castle, cathedral, and ancient
university surrounded by a loop of the River Wear make this
medieval treasure one of the loveliest cities in England. We
will visit the Cathedral, a superb example of Norman
architecture and site of the shrine of St. Cuthbert. In the
Cathedral Treasury, located in the buildings of the
former abbey, we will see Cuthbert’s portable altar, his
cross, and fragments of his coffin as well as other
Anglo-Saxon treasures. We will also make a visit to the
Castle, now a part of Durham University, where we can see
the 15th century kitchen and Great Hall as well as the Norman
chapel.
· Your Third Concert Performance will
be today
DAY
12
WHITBY & RIEVAULX (DAY TRIP)
We will visit Whitby Abbey, founded by Abbess Hilda in
657 on land given to her by Oswy, King of Northumbria. The
abbey was the site of the Synod of Whitby in 664 where the
Roman form of Christianity was chosen over the Celtic rite. It
is also here that the poet Caedmon sang his famous “Song of
Creation.” Destroyed by Danes in 867, the remains of the
abbey that we see today date from 1078. This afternoon we
will make a trip to Rievaulx Abbey in the Yorkshire
hills, the first major monastery built by the Cistercians.
Begun in 1132, the ruins include a complex of monastic
buildings that still give a good idea of how a monastic
community lived and worked.
DAY
13
COUNTY
DURHAM - YORKSHIRE (2 NIGHTS)
We will drive through the splendid scenery of the Yorkshire
moors to the cathedral city of York. We will tour the
Minster, the largest Gothic church north of the Alps and
second only to Canterbury in power and influence in the Middle
Ages. The Minster has the largest collection of medieval
stained glass in England. Later we will take a walk along the
marvelously preserved city walls that ring the medieval city.
DAY
14
YORK (A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME)
Today we will continue to explore York, taking time for
shopping along The Shambles. We will visit the Castle
Museum. Its splendid presentation of period rooms makes
it one of the most famous folk museums in the world. Next,
we will take in the Jorvik Center, the exciting museum
that depicts life in Viking Britain. The center contains
remarkably well preserved items, even boots and shoes, pins,
plants and insects. Visitors literally “journey” back to
Viking Jorvik, with the sights, sounds, and smells as they
would have been on an October day in 948 AD. This evening we
will enjoy a chilling Ghost Walk.
DAY
15 DEPARTURE FROM LONDON
Your enjoyable and rewarding tour will come to
an end as your tour manager/guide accompanies you to the airport
for the return flight home.
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