The Orion and sailing away: 

The day started with a breakfast of coffee and scones. We then repacked and organized for our day.  After breakfast we gathered our luggage and made the 30 minute walk to the Westin hotel. Here we checked our luggage and met fellow travelers in a lounge room where we were offered coffee and various pastries. We chatted away until it was time to gather our luggage and board a bus for a city tour.  

Our first stop was Trinity College to visit the Book of Kells and the Library’s Long Room. 

Over 1000 years ago when the Book of Kells was written, Ireland had a population of less than 1/2 a million people living along the coast and waterways. During this time the Irish Church was largely monastic in it’s organization. The Monks lived in communities devoted to the study of Gods word and manual labor. At this time, the word of Christ was spread via gospel books. The scribes and artists held an honored position in Irish Society as they were the transcribers and illustrator of the Gospel. The book of Kells contains the four Gospels and is highly illustrated. The Book of Kells is believed to have been  produced on the Isle of Iona off the West coast of Scotland. Iona was attacked by Vikings and the Book was moved to Kells. During the Cromwellian period, the Book of Kells was sent to Dublin for security reasons in 1653, to protect the book from invading Norsemen. 

It is simply an amazing piece of history and the illustrations are beyond words. It is currently stored in an environmentally sound case which, in the event of a fire, would drop into a fire proof vault. 

After viewing the Book of Kells, we went to the main chamber known as the Long Room of the Trinity College Library. The 65 meter long hall contains more than 200,000 books and is still a working library. Students may use these books for research with controlled supervision. Here one also finds the Harp of Brian Boru, the High King of Ireland, who united Ireland. The harp is believed to be oldest harp in existence, dating from the 5th Century. Hence one finds the harp as a symbol of Ireland, where it is found on currency as well as Guinness. 

We boarded our motor coach and traveled to the Temple Bar area. We were provided lunch at the Old Storehouse. This was a great meal where our choice was either fish and chips, bangers and mash, or an Irish Stew. All were excellent. 

Pied Wagtail 

After lunch we were driven about Dublin to give the crew time to prepare the ship for our arrival. 

We soon arrived at The Orion and were quickly checked in and escorted to our cabin.  Lynn and I decided to explore our new home and did a walkabout taking photos. Soon it was time for the Safety Drill followed there after by an introduction to the staff and expedition staff. More on them later. 

Our Room 

Lounge for briefings 

Bar/Lounge Excellent Service

Out Door Cafe 

Zodiacs at the ready 

Snacks in the library Observation Lounge

Photo Work Station

(Apple Computers)

Small but nice gym

The Bridge is open 24/7

The Dining Room

Lynn doing the safety drill

Soon it is time for dinner and we have yet to unpack. An amazing dinner of lamb, for an appetizer, I had a corn chowder and Lynn had squid. All was excellent. Dessert was a panacotta   with fresh fruit and a strawberry macaroon. 

Back to the room we went and unpacked in an effort to get organized. 

Enjoy and stand by for more of this amazing trip. 

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