Failte!

It's just about 3:45 Ireland Time (GMT) as I write this, and 10:45 on the East Coast of the United States. The Touring Choir, staff, and parent chaperones have just checked in and are beginning to settle at the Gresham Hotel on Upper O'Connell Street in Dublin.

We arrived early this morning... very early... on Continental Flight 22 from Newark. The flight was uneventful and as we landed the lead flight attendant gave the choir a special welcome to Ireland. At the airport, we met our tour managers, Dominic who is with Clans Batchelder and Elpus on "Coach A" (as we know, we're riding on deluxe "coaches," not merely "busses"), and Liz who is with Clans Brown, McGinley, and Salamone on "Coach B."

We loaded our coaches and went from the airport through downtown Dublin on our way to the Powerscourt House & Gardens, with a quick coffee and pastry stop at a shop called Avoca. Powerscourt House is an historic castle site in a strategically advatangeous location on the road to Dublin. It eventually became a noble family's estate; around the manor grew a large series of beautiful gardens. The grounds contain a statuary, an Italian Garden, a Rose Garden, a Japanese Garden, several ponds, a free-standing castle tower, and Pet Cemetary(!) wherein lies a cow whose headstone proclaims she gave over 100,000 litres of milk. The interior of the historic house went through a tragic fire in the 1970's, and only one large room has been restored to its former glory.

We explored the house and grounds of the estate for much of the afternoon and had lunch in Powerscourt House. We then loaded up the coaches and made our way to the Gresham Hotel, Dublin, our overnight home for the next few days.

We're about to leave on our way to a walking tour of the area in Dublin immediately surrounding our hotel.

Pictures from yesterday's plane ride and today's adventures are online. Check them out (and any pictures we manage to upload) at: http://picasaweb.google.com/pgcireland