This is my last blog post for the Umass Lowell study abroad program. We leave Dublin in the morning on Thursday. As much as I love Ireland I am excited to go home and see the familiarities of my hometown, family, and of course my cat. I spent my last free weekend in Europe traveling to Spain. Two of us from this program flew into Madrid and stayed the weekend. We explored the city as tourists, drank sangria and ate tapas. Madrid is an incredible city, but I think I prefer the streets of Dublin. I strongly suggest to anyone considering doing a study abroad program in Europe to take advantage of opportunities to travel between countries. It is affordable and you won’t regret it.

Today we went to visit the book the Book of Kells which is an illustrated book of the four gospels of the New Testament. It is believed to have been made around 800a.d. This was my second time visiting this attraction. This book is just as impressive the second time around. We spoke a lot about how the book was made, which is very interesting. The book’s pages are made of calf skin and the ink for the colorful illustrations are made with different minerals or berries. Coming from an Irish Catholic family I am happy to be able to say I have seen this book twice.