a jewel of a surprise

I'm splitting the blogging of the last day (plus a bit) of the Memorial Day weekend vacation into two because I feel like the morning deserves its own little spotlight.

I won't claim to know a lot about Covington, Kentucky.  We spent only two nights there, and although we gleaned some things about its history and present, there is so much more we could have uncovered.  Starting with our hotel itself. 

I commented in a previous post about how much I liked our suite and the bars, but there were art installations

and wall art and more that I would have been curious to explore as well as the histories of the buildings themselves.  

Covington, it was clear to us, once had a very lively downtown and was probably at least somewhat important.  And, like so many cities in that part of the US, it had gone through a down period.  It seemed, however, that Covington was coming back.  The hotel itself was one indication.  That there were some interesting eating establishments and bars and stores

in the area also spoke to some rejuvenation.  That was heartening.  We saw just a little bit of that after Van got up, wandering over to Point Perk Coffee a block from the hotel.  A nice little coffee shop on a corner

that felt perfect for relaxing and perhaps watching the world. 

I also like that the coffee shop is part of an organization that supports people with intellectual and developmental differences by employing them in the shop.  The coffee was good, too!  I couldn't resist buying a tshirt.

We didn't venture too far from the hotel, but we did head south from it for several blocks.  After a few blocks, we came upon area that was, well, less gentrified.  Not so bad that we needed to turn around, no, but not as cool or refreshed as other parts of town.  We had a destination, though:  Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption.

Rick and Dave had driven us past the cathedral the night before, pointing it out to us.  It wasn't as though we badly wanted to see a cathedral, mind you, but it made for a good point to walk to that morning.  So we did.  And it was a handsome building.  Wonderful craftsmanship on the outside. 

And what a size.  A proper cathedral.  But why oh why does a town of 40,000 or so in Kentucky need a cathedral.  The answers were inside.  We went in, and one of the nicest, friendliest docents I've ever had the pleasure of meeting greeted us.  There was only one other couple in the building at that time, and so he was able to show us around and explain to us the history of the building.

Friends, if you had told me that a cathedral in Kentucky would be a trip highlight, I would have scoffed.  Loudly.  But come on.  No matter your faith, I think you would be able to appreciate the beauty within.   We surely did.  Wow. 

An unexpected jewel to spend some time in, and we were very very glad we did.  Our morning in Covington gave us only a meager taste of the town, but we liked the town even more for what we saw!

Ireland trip day five: Armagh

 This, friends, will be the big one.  Four - count 'em, FOUR - libraries in one day.  Our day trip to Armagh - let's do this!

I will confess, I didn't care for the look of Belfast the day before under dreary skies.  As with many other cities and towns and villages, Belfast is not at its best when the weather is dull.  Sorry, Belfast.  You looked a little better at sunrise

and as we drove out of the city and to Armagh.

Armagh, as I understand it, is the ecclesiastical capital of the island, both for the Anglican and Catholic Church.  The primacy is based there in each case.  Two cathedrals, two archbishops.  And that's all based on St. Patrick, it seems.  The town is otherwise a modest size.  It may have been a more important town because of its religious significance in centuries past, but that's no longer the case.

But it is a pretty town, and as you have seen from a past post, I did climb up to and pop into the Catholic cathedral on my lunch break. 

And it is a town of libraries.  First up for us, the Cultural Heritage Service Library, Armagh. 

First off, dig that funky ceiling in the non-public area. 

But really, good to meet with the staff there and learn about their operations.  I have struggled to equate it to a United States library landscape, and maybe it's like a regional office of state agency.  Maybe.  No matter.  A small public area

but extensive space for storage of materials

and materials passing through. 

Yes, they also had some old stuff. 

It was a nice visit to start the day.

First visit done, it was into the center of town to the Armagh City Library. 

A handsome building houses the library, but it's not all library.  And here was what I liked:  it was a working library,

and what we saw and our conversation was all about that, not about a beautiful historic building and not about cool special collections.  Sorry, I hate that I probably sound bitchy about the special things we saw, but I was just delighted to interact with colleagues from the libraries over there. 

And look at the fun programs that they have. 

While we were there, there was an activity group having tea and biscuits (the British kind that are really just hard cookies).  And look, a dyslexia-friendly collection,

which was a cool thing to see and something I'd never heard of before.  I haven't worked in public libraries in decades, and maybe a lot of other places are doing what Armagh City Library is doing, but I thought what I saw a pretty cool example of what public libraries can do for their communities, and I was intrigued to hear that the book clubs for older teenagers had more enthusiastic engagement than for younger teenagers and pre-teens.

Lunchtime!  I had a sandwich thing that I probably should have eaten only half of. 

I did my jaunt to the cathedral, we reconvened outside the library in the center of town.

After lunch we headed to the Cardinal Ó Fiaich Memorial Library & Archive. 

How interesting that the URL for the library is a .ie address and not a .co.uk.  A sleek, modern structure,

and one that lets in too much sunlight to allow for materials to be on constant display within. 

I was ever so blinded and drowsy sitting right where the sunlight hit me post-lunch!  Roddy was a good host,

and it was interesting to learn about the collection strengths, including sports.  That detail from a painting? 

That's a depiction of Irish road bowling.  It's a real thing.  That alone was enough to keep a number of us captivated.

The final visit was to the Armagh Robinson Library. 

Situated up by the Anglican cathedral -

the dean of the cathedral is the Keeper of the library and lives in quarters in the same building, a short walk to work. 

The Robinson was where we saw an abundance of cool old stuff. 

Hello indignant marginalia by Jonathan Swift!

And, with gloves on, actually got to handle them!  And go upstairs

to the upper level. 

It was more than books, though - book binding tools

and wax molds. 

Our host (I am terrible with names, forgive me colleagues on the island) was charming. 

The visit ended with our four hosts from the day coming together to talk about how their collections overlap in places and complement each other in places, and what that means for cooperation, especially in working with researchers.

The visits done, we made the drive back to the city to have dinner in the hotel restaurant.  My first fish and chips of the trip. 

Not bad, but I wish the mushy peas had had a bit of salt added.  But all in all, not bad.

To bed.  Our library visits for the tour were complete.  We had more cultural attractions to see, but that was it for libraries for us.