Musings of a Wandering Soul

24/12/2018

I put this ornament front and center on my tree this year because I wanted to be reminded of my amazing trip to Europe this past summer. Serving in Austria is always a blessing and carousing around Ireland was a life goal. I thank you all for following my travel adventures this year and I hope you experience your own adventures in 2019. Merry Christmas friends!

08/10/2018

Along with many others, I’ve always had a fascination with the Titanic saga. It may have been born from watching the award-winning Titanic movie with Leo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet but it goes…

03/10/2018

Check out the blog post I just finished about my first mission trip and my first time abroad. What an unforgettable experience!

It was my first mission trip. It was my first time in Europe. It was my first time meeting people from all over the world. These are the things my dreams were made of for so long and here in August…

20/09/2018

During my most recent trip to Vienna, I wanted to experience something new — an area of the city center I had not explored previously. With two or three places on my list, I settled on a rest…

19/09/2018

The surrounding beauty of the coastline combined with an Irish tale about a giant is enough to peak my interest. As part of our Northern Ireland tour, we visited Giant’s Causeway along the no…

05/09/2018

Ireland. The Emerald Isle. Hibernia. Eire. The Land of Saints and Scholars. The country of Ireland has many nicknames. Most of the names relate to its landscape, people or history of struggle for i…

16/08/2018

Lunch at the oldest pub in Ireland. They opened their doors in 1198. Food was delicious! I ordered a traditional Irish dish — honey mustard glazed bacon loin and mashed potatoes with braised kale & cabbage. The bacon loin was more like our ham at home but much less salty.

16/08/2018

We toured the Guinness Storehouse this morning and learned a lot about the history of the company. This was a totally different tour than AB in St Louis because you don’t see the actual production process. It’s more of a museum about the process and the history of the company. But we did go to the Guinness Academy and learn how to pour a proper pint. We even got a certificate of graduation. 😉 After pouring our pint we made our way to the 7th floor Gravity bar where there is a 360 degree view of Dublin city.

16/08/2018

After our tour we walked around the Trinity College campus. The college was founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I and modeled after Oxford & Cambridge. The buildings are absolutely stunning!

16/08/2018

The Old Trinity Library is attached to the Book of Kells. You’ve probably seen pictures of it on social media. It’s an incredible sight — gorgeous dark wood, marble statues, ornate metal spiral staircases and over 220,000 books.

16/08/2018

An early morning visit to the Book of Kells to beat the crowds. These pictures are huge replicas of actual manuscript pages. We were not allowed to take pictures of the actual manuscripts. We were able to see manuscripts from Mark 15:36-45 (800 AD), Psalm 51 (1079), St Mark (8th-9th century) and St Matthew (800 AD). These really are incredible works of art!

15/08/2018

Bucket list item checked ✅ — a shot of the oldest whiskey in Ireland from Bushmills while enjoying music in Whelan’s (pub from the PS I Love You movie). I’ll take the music and leave the whiskey. 😳