Welcome to Dublin!

During their Incantato Performance Tour 2010, the travelers of Cornelia Connelly visit Dublin. Let's have a closer look at the Irish capital:

Dublin is the largest city and capital of Ireland. It is officially known in Irish as Baile Átha Cliath or Áth Cliath; the English name comes from the Irish Dubh Linn meaning "black pool". It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the centre of the Dublin Region. Originally founded as a Viking settlement, it evolved into the Kingdom of Dublin and became the island's primary city following the Norman invasion. Today, it has one of the fastest growing populations of any European capital city. Dublin is a historical and contemporary cultural centre for the island of Ireland as well as a modern centre of education, the arts, administrative function, economy and industry.
The writings of the Greek astronomer and cartographer Ptolemy provide perhaps the earliest reference to human habitation in the area now known as Dublin. In around A.D. 140 he referred to a settlement he called Eblana Civitas. The settlement 'Dubh Linn' dates perhaps as far back as the first century BC and later a monastery was built there, though the town was established in about 841 by the Norse. The modern city retains the Anglicised Irish name of the former and the original Irish name of the latter.
Dublin is a popular shopping spot for both Irish people and tourists. Dublin city centre has several shopping districts, including Grafton Street, Henry Street, Stephen's Green Shopping Centre, Jervis Shopping Centre, Powerscourt and the newly refurbished Ilac Shopping Centre. On Grafton Street, the most famous shops include Brown Thomas and its sister shop BT2.

Performance and Get-Together: Cornelia Connelly performers meet the students of Priory School, Edgbaston, on July 1

On day 7 of their England and Ireland Performance Tour, the Cornelia Connelly School Advanced Women’s Ensemble and Handbell Ensemble will spend some time at the Priory School in Edgbaston to participate in the day of activities - including a performance. Priory School is a thriving, Catholic, independent school, which welcomes all faiths. The school was opened on its present site, in the heart of Edgbaston, in 1936 by the Sisters of the Holy Child, Jesus. It is two miles from the city centre, on a beautiful site comprising 14 acres of wooded gardens and grounds. The school is very well equipped with up-to-date facilities. From 2007, boys have been accepted into the senior school but taught separately in most core courses (eg languages and maths); boys and girls taught together for humanities (eg geography and history). The school aims to help dyslexic pupils, in particular, to achieve their full potential. Drama and art are well supported by a large number of pupils and the school was recently awarded an Artsmark Silver award. There is a range of sports, games and extra-curricular activities. A variety of outdoor pursuits is encouraged. Although a Catholic foundation, the school welcomes pupils from all faiths. The sixth form is being restructured and is due to reopen in 2011 offering the International Baccalaureate.

Welcome to Stratford-upon-Avon on Wednesday, June 30

Stratford-upon-Avon welcomes the Cornelia Connelly travelers on Wednesday, June 30, during their Incantato performance tour 2010.

Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, 22 miles south east of Birmingham and 8 miles south west of the county town, Warwick. It is the main town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers a much larger area than the town itself. The town is a popular tourist destination owing to its status as birthplace of the playwright and poet William Shakespeare, receiving about three million visitors a year from all over the world.
Stratford has Anglo-Saxon origins, and grew up as a market town in medieval times. The original charters of the town were granted in 1196, making Stratford officially over 800 years old. The name is a fusion of the Old English strǣt, meaning "street", and ford, meaning that a Roman road forded the River Avon at the site of the town. Stratford is also close to the Cotswolds, with Chipping Campden 10 miles to the south. As a major sheep-producing area (William Shakespeare's father, John Shakespeare, bought and sold sheep's wool illegally) the Cotswolds, up until the latter part of the 19th century, regarded Stratford as one of its main centres for the slaughter, marketing, and distribution of sheep and wool. As a consequence Stratford also became a centre for tanning during the 15th-17th centuries. Both the river and the Roman road served as trade routes for the town.
The town is located on the River Avon (afon or avon being a Celtic synonym of "river"), on a bank of which stands the Royal Shakespeare Theatre designed by the English architect Elisabeth Scott and completed in 1932, which is the home of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Other attractions within the town include five houses relating to Shakespeare's life, which are owned and cared for by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. These include Hall's Croft (the one-time home of Shakespeare's daughter, Susanna, and her husband Dr. John Hall) and Nash's House, which stands alongside the site of another property, New Place, owned by Shakespeare himself, wherein he died. Near to the town are Anne Hathaway's Cottage at Shottery, the home of Shakespeare's wife's family prior to her marriage, and Mary Arden's House (Palmer's Farm), the family home of his mother. Elsewhere in the district are farms and buildings at Snitterfield, that belonged to the family of Shakespeare's father. At the top end of Waterside is Holy Trinity Church, where Shakespeare was baptized and is buried. Non-Shakespearean attractions include the Stratford Butterfly Farm, which is on the eastern side of the river and the Bancroft Gardens and Stratford Armouries located three miles from the centre of Stratford on Gospel Oak Lane.

The picture and the map are from the official website of the town.

Welcome to London!

London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It is the UK's largest and most populous metropolitan area and the largest urban zone in the European Union. The Cornelia Connelly singers will arrive in this amazing city on Saturday, June 26.

• A major settlement for two millennia, its history goes back to its founding by the Romans, who called it Londinium.
• London is a leading global city being one of the world's largest financial centres.
• London's influence in politics, finance, education, entertainment, media, fashion, the arts and culture in general contributes to its global position.
• London hosted the 1908 and 1948 Summer Olympics and will host the 2012 Summer Olympics.
• London contains four World Heritage Sites: the Tower of London; the historic settlement of Greenwich; the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; and the site comprising the Palace of Westminster, Westminster Abbey and St. Margaret's Church.
• Buckingham Palace (picture) is the official London residence of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality. It has been a rallying point for the British people at times of national rejoicing and crisis.
• London has a diverse range of peoples, cultures and religions, and more than 300 languages are spoken within its boundaries.
• In July 2007 it had an official population of 7,556,900 within the boundaries of Greater London, making it the most populous municipality in the European Union.
• The London Underground network, administered by Transport for London, is the oldest and most extensive underground railway network in the world.

Explore Royal Tunbridge Wells (UK)

Royal Tunbridge Wells has been attracting visitors for 400 years and has become a landmark in Kent's history, ever since the chance discovery of the Chalybeate Spring by a young nobleman in 1606. Its reputation as the place to see and be seen amongst royalty and the aristocracy over the years makes the history of Tunbridge Wells one of the most colorful in England. Soon after Lord North's discovery, word of the purported health-giving properties of the spring water soon spread, and visitors from London and elsewhere flocked to 'the Wells' to try the waters. Coffee houses, lodgings, shops, taverns and gaming houses soon sprang up in one continuous line near the Spring joined by a covered colonnaded walkway which later became known as the Pantiles. This pretty and well-known colonnade is still to be seen today - full of interesting boutiques and antique shops, open-air cafés, bars and restaurants.
In Georgian times particularly, Tunbridge Wells became a well-known and popular spa resort, a rival to nearby Brighton. Its visitors alternated between Bath for the summer season and Tunbridge Wells for the winter season. The lively social scene in Tunbridge Wells was famously organised by the dandy Richard Beau Nash who also divided his time between Tunbridge Wells and Bath and made sure that residents and visitors alike adhered to the 'rules' of social behavior.
In the early 1800s Tunbridge Wells became a very desirable place for rich business and professional people not just for a holiday, but also in which to live. A great deal of building was undertaken to the north of the small spa as large villas and family houses were built - many of them by the architect Decimus Burton. Evidence of this grand period of new architecture in Tunbridge Wells still survives today.
2009 it was the 100th anniversary of 'Royal' Tunbridge Wells. King Edward VII officially recognized the popularity of Tunbridge Wells with its many royal and aristocratic visitors - including his mother, Queen Victoria - over the centuries by granting the town its "Royal" prefix. In 1909 the town became known, as it is to this day, as Royal Tunbridge Wells, one of only a few towns in England to be granted this title.
Today Royal Tunbridge Wells, or Tunbridge Wells as it is more commonly called, remains a popular place to live and to visit as it maintains much of its original charm and elegance. Surrounded by beautiful countryside and just a short distance from London it is an ideal destination for a short break.
As part of the celebrations in 2006 marking the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the Chalybeate Spring, a Heritage Walking Trail of the town was launched taking in some of the most interesting and important historic aspects of the town, including a series of special commemorative plaques marking buildings of significant interest or with a connection with interesting figures from the past.

Shopping in Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells shopping offers an unique experience. The combination of specialist shops with big high street names in a charming and historic setting make the town a popular destination with all kinds of shoppers. Local Farmers' Markets take place in Civic Way outside the Town Hall and Museum buildings in Royal Tunbridge Wells on the second and fourth Saturdays in the month and on the first and third Saturdays in the Pantiles. Late night shopping in Tunbridge Wells is on Thursdays until 8pm and Sundays 10:30am - 4:30pm in Royal Victoria Place and some shops in Calverley Road and Mount Pleasant Road.

Cornelia Connelly visits Edgbaston on July 1

On Thursday, July 1, the travelers of Cornelia Connelly visit Edgbaston and spend the day at the Priory school to participate in the day of activities including a performance.
Edgbaston is an area in the city of Birmingham and traditionally has a reputation for being one of the most affluent parts of Birmingham or "where the trees begin". In the 19th century, the area was under the control of the Gough-Calthorpe family who refused to allow factories or warehouses to be built in Edgbaston, thus making it attractive for the middle class. However, while the central and southern parts of the suburb remain ostensibly affluent, there are some areas in the northern part that are less so, with a high proportion of multi-occupancy rented private housing, as well as council-owned accommodation. Edgbaston is also home to the University of Birmingham, established as Birmingham Medical School in 1825.
The church of the Birmingham Oratory, on Hagley Road, was built in 1907 in the Baroque style as a memorial to John Henry Newman, who founded the English Oratory here. Its dome is a prominent landmark. The Church of England parish churches are St Augustine's Church, St Germain's Church, St. George's Church and St. Bartholomew's Church, also known as Edgbaston Old Church. Birmingham Central Synagogue built in 1961 is also in Edgbaston.
J. R. R. Tolkien lived in Edgbaston during his teenage years, and the two towers of Edgbaston, Perrott's Folly and the Waterworks Tower, both close to the Oratory, are said to have provided inspiration for part of his The Lord of the Rings novel.
The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, which is located on the University of Birmingham campus, is a purpose built gallery which contains a wide range of art from the masters to Picasso.
Edgbaston Reservoir, formerly known as Rotton Park Reservoir, provides a header supply for the Birmingham Canal Navigations and is an important inner city leisure amenity. There are two public gardens located within Edgbaston; the Birmingham Botanical Gardens and the lesser known University of Birmingham Winterbourne Botanic Garden.

Don't miss: The Book of Kells at Trinity College Library, Dublin - Ireland's Finest National Treasure

The Book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together with various prefatory texts and tables. It was transcribed by Celtic monks ca. 800. The text of the Gospels is largely drawn from the Vulgate, although it also includes several passages drawn from the earlier versions of the Bible known as the Vetus Latina. It is a masterwork of Western calligraphy and represents the pinnacle of Insular illumination. It is also widely regarded as Ireland's finest national treasure. The illustrations and ornamentation of the Book of Kells surpass that of other Insular Gospels in extravagance and complexity. The decoration combines traditional Christian iconography with the ornate swirling motifs typical of Insular art. Figures of humans, animals and mythical beasts, together with Celtic knots and interlacing patterns in vibrant colours, enliven the manuscript's pages. Many of these minor decorative elements are imbued with Christian symbolism and so further emphasise the themes of the major illustrations. The manuscript today comprises 340 folios and, since 1953, has been bound in four volumes. The leaves are on high-quality calf vellum, and the unprecedentedly elaborate ornamentation that covers them includes ten full-page illustrations and text pages that are vibrant with historiated initials and interlinear miniatures and mark the furthest extension of the anti-classical and energetic qualities of Insular art. The Insular majuscule script of the text itself appears to be the work of at least three different scribes. The lettering is in iron-gall ink, and the colours used were derived from a wide range of substances, many of which were imports from distant lands. The manuscript takes its name from the Abbey of Kells that was its home for centuries. Today, it is on permanent display at the Trinity College Library, Dublin. The library usually displays two of the current four volumes at a time, one showing a major illustration and the other showing typical text pages.

The pictures are from the official website www.bookofkells.ie.

Sightseeing-Highlight: The Trinity College Dublin

Trinity College Dublin, formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", and is the only constituent college of the University of Dublin. It is Ireland's oldest university. Originally established outside the city walls of Dublin in the buildings of the dissolved Augustinian monastery of All Hallows, Trinity was set up partly to consolidate the rule of the Tudor monarchy in Ireland, and it was seen as the university of the Protestant Ascendancy for much of its history; although Roman Catholics had been permitted to enter as early as 1753, certain restrictions on their membership of the college remained until 1873, and the Catholic Church in Ireland forbade its adherents from attending until the late 20th century. Women were first admitted to the college as full members in 1904. Trinity is now surrounded by Dublin and is located on College Green, opposite the former Irish Houses of Parliament. The college proper occupies 190,000 square meter (47 acres), with many of its buildings ranged around large quadrangles and two playing fields. Academically, Trinity is divided into three faculties comprising 24 schools, offering degree and diploma courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. It is consistently ranked as the best university in Ireland, and as the 43rd best worldwide in the 2009 THES - QS World University Rankings of universities. The Library of Trinity College is a legal deposit library for Ireland and the United Kingdom, containing over 4.5 million printed volumes and significant quantities of manuscripts including the Book of Kells, maps and music.

City Facts about Cambridge

The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about 50 miles north of London. Cambridge is also at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the city. Cambridge is best known as the home of the University of Cambridge, one of the world's premier universities. The university includes the renowned Cavendish Laboratory, King's College Chapel, and the Cambridge University Library. The Cambridge skyline is dominated by the last two buildings, along with the chimney of Addenbrooke's Hospital in the far south of the city and St John's College Chapel tower in the north. According to the 2001 United Kingdom census, the city's population was 108,863 (including 22,153 students), and the population of the urban area (which includes parts of South Cambridgeshire district) is estimated to be 130,000. Cambridge is surrounded by many smaller towns and villages.

The picture is from the official tourism website of Cambridge.