Created: 12.10.2017

Saturday, June 2 - DAY 1 - DEPART USA - We depart our local airport to connect with our overnight flight to the Emerald Isle. While aloft we enjoy beverages, in-flight movies, dinner and breakfast. Sunday, June 3 - DAY 2 - DINGLE PENINSULA & TRALEE - After the usual customs and immigration formalities at Shannon Airport, our driver and guide welcome us to Ireland and take us, via motor coach, through Limerick to the picturesque village of Adare, which is famous for its main street of thatched houses. We then journey into the mountainous country of Kerry and through Tralee, continuing along the Dingle Peninsula which juts out into the Atlantic to claim Ireland's most westerly point. Here, majestic hills soar green and purple over vast unspoiled valleys, glittering mountain streams tumble down to lakes, hedgerows blaze with fuchsias, and soft, golden beaches stretch for miles. The peninsula is Gaeltacht, an area where the Irish language is preserved. It is also home to some 2000 sites of prehistoric and early Christian remains. We stop briefly in the thriving, colorful fishing port town of Dingle before returning along the peninsula to the town of Tralee.  Opportunity for Mass before hotel check-in. Dinner and overnight in Tralee. Monday, June 4 - DAY 3 - RING OF KERRY TOUR & TRALEE - This morning we travel around the Ring of Kerry, one of Ireland's most popular and picturesque drives. With its spectacular scenery, unusually mild climate and rapid changes in light and weather, this is a bewitching place of intense beauty. Ireland's highest mountains, the Magillycuddy's Reeks, raise a jagged edge to the sky while at their feet rest three still lakes, studded with little islands, set among forests and lush glens. We drive through the remote villages of Cahirciveen and Derrynane to Sneem, a village of colorful houses grouped around two squares, and continue through Moll's Gap, with its views over the three lakes. We stop briefly at Ladies' View for another spectacular view before returning to Tralee for dinner and overnight. Tuesday, June 5 - DAY 4 - BLARNEY CASTLE & DUBLIN - This morning we continue on towards Cork to visit Blarney Castle.  We climb to the battlements of the 15th century castle to kiss the famous "stone of eloquence".  Shop at the Blarney Woolen Mills which offers a wide range of quality Irish merchandise before proceeding to Dublin, Ireland's capital city. Hotel check-in, dinner and overnight in Dublin.  Wednesday, June 6 - DAY 5 - DUBLIN CITY TOUR - This morning a city sightseeing tour will introduce us to this capital city with its many historic buildings, delightful gardens and lively shopping streets. We visit St. Patrick's Cathedral where author Jonathan Swift was once Dean and then Trinity College where the Book of Kells, an early Christian manuscript of the four gospels, is housed. The afternoon is at our leisure to shop and sightsee independently at any of the department stores and boutiques which abound throughout Dublin.  Our evening is free to choose from the many restaurants, theaters and pubs that Dublin has to offer as we enjoy dinner on our own.  Overnight in Dublin. Thursday, June 7 ??? Feast of Corpus Christi - DAY 6 ??? DUBLIN / KNOCK & COUNTY MAYO - Leaving Dublin this morning we travel from east to west across the country and through the heart of Ireland. Visit Strokestown Park House, which dates from the 17th century.  This fine mansion shows the lifestyle of the affluent owners and also the conditions of the servants and farmers of the area during the past centuries.  The Famine Museum contains displays and description of the Famine of the 1840???s, a time when many Irish emigrated to the United States.  We also visit Knock Shrine, a center of pilgrimage, where an apparition of the Virgin Mary appeared to 15 people from the village on August 21, 1879. Opportunity for Mass before dinner and overnight in County Mayo. Friday, June 8 - DAY 7 -  COUNTY MAYO / GALWAY & LONDON - This morning, we drive to the coast of County Clare to view the Cliffs of Moher. This impressive wall of rock rises to heights of almost 700 feet above the Atlantic and stretches for five miles along the coast. After our visit, we continue through the rounded limestone hills of the Burren country and along the shores of Galway Bay to Galway, the capital of the west of Ireland, before catching our short, late afternoon flight to London. In London, we are met by our Unitours tour manager and proceed, via motor coach, into London where we may have an opportunity to view some of the world's most famous landmarks - Trafalgar Square, Nelson's column, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and Piccadilly, Westminster Abbey, and the River Thames before our late evening arrival at our hotel. Overnight in London. Saturday, June 9 - DAY 8 - LONDON - Today we enjoy a full day guided tour of London to take in the most famous sites blending the traditions of the past with all the vibrancy of a modern millennium city. We will enjoy the color and pageantry of the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace (subject to availability and weather), as well as visit Westminster Cathedral, which was finished in 1903 in the Christian Byzantine style. Cardinal Manning chose the site in 1884, which had been in disuse since the Reformation - remember that freedom for Catholic worship was not allowed until 1828. We???ll marvel at vastness and fine proportions of this Catholic cathedral and such interesting items as the 15th century alabaster statue of Virgin and Child.  In the afternoon, we will visit the ancient Tower of London and see the crown jewels, as well as visit Sir Christopher Wren's architectural masterpiece, St. Paul's Cathedral. Our final evening is at leisure with dinner on our own. Overnight London Sunday, June 10 - DAY 9 - RETURN TO USA ??? This morning we transfer to the airport for our flight home with unforgettable memories to cherish always

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