Wonder Voyage 2009 Summer Blog

After a hearty breakfast and armed with a sack lunch we made our way into Galway. There where beautiful things in store for us today. Our first stop took us to worship at St. Nicholas Church, the patron saint of sailors who would pray there before heading out to sea.  Christopher Columbus was also said to have come here before he began his search for the passage to the West Indies. The sung Eucharist was led by the bishop who encouraged us to not be shy during the peace, as they were “not the frosty sort.”  The bishop shared packets of carrot and pea seeds as a visual way to remind us that God sees us not as we are, but as the person we are to become. Pretty fitting since our question for the day was, “What does it mean to be on a journey?”
 
Following a Sunday stroll through the narrow, winding streets of Old Galway we landed in a park for our lunch and some journaling.  The Irish say that you will encounter four seasons in one day, and sure enough we went from sunny skies to rain and back again. After more exploring we ended our day in front of St. Mary’s as our Wonder Voyage leader shared a story about a group of parishioners who rescued their church from Oliver Cromwell (during his reign of terror against the Catholic Church) by taking it apart, stone by stone, burying them in a field, and then reassembling it after he had left the city.  Ken asked us then, “So how far would you go for your faith?”
 
Seamus, our faithful bus driver, brought us back to the monastery where we were treated to a dinner of Irish stew and soda bread, dividing into groups to help set up and clean up.  It was time for the pitch and putt tournament and groups of three set out for the course of 18 short holes, with the last group walking off in full light at 10:00 p.m.! 

The pilgrims from Charlotte N.C.arrived today in the beautiful Emerald Isle of Ireland with glad hearts and prepared to drink in the culture explore a few sites and make some memories together.

Following a time of prayer and thanks for safe travel we set out to explore an ancient bronze age fort once home of the mighty chieftains of this land. We took some photos and headed off to see our first castle. We explored the monastic ruins next to the castle and took in the high cross at the center of the field between the castle and the monastery.

From there our travels brought us to our home for the next few days in the rolling hills of Esker. Here we quickly settled in to the beautiful surroundings against the soft rain that held off till we were at our “home away from home.” After a hot meal and chocolate fudge cake we quietly made a confident declaration, “this was a good day.”