Farewell to Ireland

Blessings and greetings from Ireland. Leaving tomorrow morning for Rome to continue my journey and Sabbatical. It has been a wonderful experience being here in Dublin and visiting the many sights of Ireland. This week I had an opportunity to visit Trinity College and to see the Book of Kells - Gospels illustrated by the monks in the 6th century. Visited Christ's Cathedral and St. Patrick's Cathedral - Catholic churches before Henry VIII took over Ireland and became the Church of Ireland (Anglican). Vespers service were inspiring with "high church music". Yesterday visited Kilmainham Jail where many prisoners were held; some of them going on a 12,000 miles journey to Austalia. During the Easter uprising of the Irish people in 1916 against the British army, 14 of the leaders were captured and imprisoned at Kilmainham and executed by the British. These events united the Irish to gain their independence in 1922. Another fascinating historical site was New Grange; burial grounds of the farmers in 3200 BC; before Stonehenge and the building of the Pyraminds of Egypt.

Ryder Cup

This Sunday morning Sept 24th I took the train and bus to the Ryder Cup at 6:45am. Got there early to walk around the K Club near Dublin. The golf course was designed by Arnold Palmer and looked similar to many courses in the United States. The excitement of the Europeans along with the Irish people was amazing. The folks out here loved their golf heroes. They loved to cheer their players, but also very considerate and well-mannered regarding the Americans. It is unfortunate that our players from the States did not play as well. The Europeans were flawless and played outstanding golf. Tiger Woods did well today in the single matches along with Stewart Cink, but the others struggle to keep up. Final score with Europeans 18 and half and United States 9 and half. I brought a sign today and held it up during the matches and got some cheers before the matches began when I was in the stands at the first tee. It rained in the morning and I was wet, but it warmed up in the afternoon and the weather was great afterwards. I was so grateful to be here at the Ryder Cup and to experience the thrills of victory and defeat.

London

At the present time I'm not able to post pictures of my tour of Ireland last week; some technical problems. Anyway, here's some pictures of London and descriptions of my trip to London. Just came back this afternoon from London visiting friends from Santa Cruz who have spent two weeks there. It was my first visit there since 1974 when I was there as an advisor for our student tour of Europe. I enjoyed this visit and it brought back many great memories of London. Enjoyed visiting Westminister Abbey and the National Gallery; great masterpieces of artists from 1250-1500 - many religious themes. Also enjoyed the gallery of paintings from Monet to Picasso - Impressionist school. Also enjoyed the theatre and two musicals; Billy Elliot and Avenue Q. London is a bustling city and filled with history. After three hours in the British Musuem my brain was saturated; time out for latte in the afternoon. Enjoyed the boat tour of the Thames River seeing the London Bridge and the Tower Bridge which is easy to be confused; most Americans thought that we bought the Tower Bridge which is located in Arizona; in reality it was the London Bridge, quite ordinary in structure and not as elaborate as the Tower Bridge. I have another week to visit Dublin before going to Rome to begin my Sabbatical. Will keep you posted about my adventures here in Dublin.

Tour of Ireland

It has been a great week visiting Ireland these past few days. We began the tour on Sunday in the city of Dublin visiting Dublin Castle, O'Connell Street ( looks like Market Stree in San Francisco), with all the shops, restaurants, pubs, and loads of buses and street cars. We visited Phoenix Park and Guinness - a top attraction here in the city. On Monday, we went South to the Wicklow Mountains; one of my favorite place was Glendalough, a sixth century monastery that St. Kevin founded in the valley of the Wicklow mountains. To prepare myself for this trip I began reading a book by Edward Rutherford called The Princes of Dublin - tracing the early history of Dublin and it's vicinities. Glendalough metioned in the novel which added an excitement for me having read and seen the place. Another exciting place was a visit to Waterford cyrstal factory; famous for its unique crystals. One of the crystals is given to the winner of the golf British Open. The Ryder Cup which is held this year in Dublin next Sunday on September 24 will bestow the winning Crystal trophy either to the United States team or the European team; Go USA all the way this year. Another aside - watch for a guy with a golf cap with a sign - USA HAWAII on Sunday during the Ryder Cup. You may recognize him. Another fascinating place for me was Blarney Castle where tourists and locals kiss the Blarney Stone located at the top of the castle. Yes, I did manage to climb to the top of the castle and kiss the Blarney stone - locals say that if you kiss the stone you will be endowed with the gift of eloquence - "time will tell". Another interesting place was the Cliffs of Moher, rising 700 feet above the ocean. This place attracts one million visitors each year. Dinner at a Castle was a highlight too with Medieval songs and poems.
Galway bay was another fascinating area to visit- remember the song? The Rings of Kerry was an interesting place too; mountainous and ruggged terrain along with steep slopes and beautiful vistas. Coming back to Dublin on Friday we passed fertile lands with lots of sheep and cattle too. That evening we were treated with dinner at a Cabaret restaurant with song and dance. So far I have enjoyed the sights and sounds of Ireland. An added bonus was the beautiful weather that we all experienced during our trip during this time of the year.

Tour of Dublin

I have been here for three days already and have seen so many sights of the city and the surrounding country side. We were blessed in having great weather with sunny skies,and warm temperatures for this time of the year. Our Marianist community here at Ballybrack is just 25 minutes from downtown Dublin. Yesterday I took the DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) similar to BART in the Bay area of San Francisco to downtown Dublin. Took the city tour of Dublin and enjoyed the many sights and sounds of the city. The brother's residence is just 10 minutes walk to the Sea of Ireland too. Spent an hour along the shore enjoying the great weather and beauty of Ireland. Tomorrow I'm going on a tour of Ireland for a week; looking forward to this trip.

Ireland

Blessings and greetings from Dublin. Arrived here this evening from San Francisco via London. It was a great trip, except for all the security checks at San Francisco, and especially at London. I was getting excited about leaving SF as the plane taxied on the runway only to cruise back to the terminal. We found out that there were two luggages that were on board without the passengers. After an hour and half and solving the problem we were off to London. The plane trip was nine and half hours with two meals and lots of movies on board. I was tired and excited to land in London; security and off to Dublin. We took the bus to the Marianist residence at Ballybrack which is half hour from downtown Dublin. It was a thrill seeing downtown with Trinity College, National Museum of Ireland, etc while riding on the bus. Took several pictures on the bus; notice the picture advertising the Ryder Cup, golf event in two weeks here in Ireland. Let's cheer on the Americans.

Farewell to Newman Center

Aloha and Mabuhay to all my friends, students, graduates, staff and advisors of the Newman Community. I will be leaving the Newman Center in Santa Cruz after ten wonderful years on Wednesday, September 6, 2006. It has a been a blessing and a gift to be able to minister here at the Newman Center. I want to thank you all for the opportunity to serve you in this ministry and for your loving support and prayers during these past years. Know that all of you are in my prayers and I carry you in my heart as I journey to Rome via Dublin and London. I will get an opportunity to travel, rest and participate in a renewal program in Manziana outside the city of Rome in October through December. Will be spending Christmas with our Marianist brothers at our Generalate in Rome. Take care and God bless. Stay in touch.

Farewell to California

Today is Friday, the lst of September. Officially, my ten year term as Director ended on August 31, 2006. It has been a wonderful time here at the Newman Center having spent ten years as Director of the Newman Ministry. We had a BBQ gathering on Sunday with several of the staff members along with graduates of the UC Santa Cruz who have been active throughout these years and friends of the Newman Community. It was great to reminisce about our time together and to support our new Director of Newman Community. Bro. David Betz begins his first term as Director today. I went to the Camadolese Monastery at Big Sur last Tuesday for a couple of days for retreat and relaxation. It was great to be able to pray, reflect, and be thankful to God for having the opportunity to serve the students here at the Newman Center and to minister to the people here in the Monterey Bay area. I will miss the students and parishoners here in Santa Cruz so much. Now it is time to move on as I begin my year of Sabbatical. I leave on Wednesday, September 6th for Rome via Ireland and London. I'm so grateful and excited about this coming year and will keep all of you in prayer as I travel and experience the wonders and beauty of my Sabbatical.