Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, Ireland

So, I made an executive decision!  Trier, Germany, from early July (2 months ago!) can wait.  Let's see Dublin first.  It is too much in my blood right now to stand waiting.

But, because our two "boyfriends" from England (Chris and Chad, from our Shutterchance blog) are arriving on Tuesday, staying till Friday, I can only give you an appetizer today.

In fact, this is how I ended my short Dublin stay this past Sunday-to-Tuesday...with the Christ Church Cathedral, just a 10-minute walk from my hotel before heading back to the airport.  My girlfriends, Catherine and Robin, were already off separately for the day.  I was on my own....

Isn't she a beauty, facing the sun like that!

Born in 1030, she's the elder sister of Dublin's other medieval cathedral, St. Patrick's, from 1191.
(Let's save St. Patrick's for when Astrid can join me.)

Upon entering any church/cathedral, I always go for the "first impression" of space.

Heighth (68 ft.) and breadth, front and back, ceiling and floor.

Then the details quickly follow!

And because design enthralls me, I was mesmerized by the medieval mosaic floor tiles.

And the chairs!

Astrid was the one who noticed the 3 together...for Catherine, Robin and me.

And Astrid wasn't even there (unable to take time off work)!

Besides the pulpit (bottom center), I saw 3 lecterns.

The one near the pulpit (top center) is medieval...old enough.

But the one on the right, in the crypt, is supposedly Ireland's oldest of them all.
(To be honest, I'm confused...because the one on top may be a replica?)

Speaking of the crypt, it's the largest not only in Ireland but in all of Great Britain.

It's also Dublin's oldest surviving structure, from 1172-1173.

It houses the 2 oldest known secular carvings in Ireland
as well as memorabilia from King William III and James II.

But what takes the cake is the mummified cat & rat, found trapped in an organ pipe in the 1850s.

And that was the end of my short Dublin trip!
Soon you'll see the rest, with these teasers...

This is from Catherine's phone, taken by the Murphy's ice-cream man.
L-to-R:  Ginnie, Robin and Catherine.
Did I mention we're all from Vision & Verb?
Catherine is Irish and Robin lives in NYC, on a business trip with her hubby.

See.  Bloggers really DO meet up and have loads of fun!
Robin is the one who visited us in the Netherlands a year ago,
but Catherine was a "first" for us both.

And because I promised myself at least one Guinness,YES, I DID IT.

As we say, the proof is in the pudding.  (Thanks, Robin.)

(Actually, I think I've already acquired the taste.  HA!)

To be continued....