I had an absolutely sleepless night after the glow of last night’s concert. I simply could not get that Mozart Laudate Dominum out of my head and kept playing it over and over in my mind—a pesky ear worm!

Today we began the long four-hour journey to the capital city of Dublin, and stopped about halfway through at the ruins of Glendalough, an important Christian monastery founded by St. Kevin in the 6th century. As we were driving through the green countryside, I was thinking, No wonder they call Ireland the Emerald Isle—everything is so green here!

Where our morning had been mostly cloudy, we were treated to a clear blue sky. Contrasted with the ubiquitous greenery surrounding us, it is absolutely beautiful here.

The best moment, though, was when those of us in Anne’s bus (our wonderful tour leader) were just about ready to leave the old stone church. At that moment, I was thinking that the acoustics in this place would be great for music! Just then, director Tim Carney gave the pitches for one of the Hawaiian pieces on the program, Makalapua, and the choir broke into song, filling the ancient place with Hawaiian song.

Oooh, it gives me goosebumps thinking about that special moment!

Tonight we had a group dinner at our hotel, the Regency in Dublin, and I was invited to sit at Buz Tennant’s table. He and I have known each other since the 70s and I remember hearing duet recitals of his with his father, a tenor. I also enjoyed getting to know my dinner companions, all new to me. At our table, Buz was the only man with five women! (One was his wife?)