101 Reasons to attend #congress_2018 - Sydney Opera House

There are several Australian sites on the World Heritage List. When in Sydney for Congress stay an extra day or two so you can visit the Sydney Opera House that was inscribed on the World Heritage list in 2007.

Read all about it here: http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/world/sydney-opera-house

Consider an Opera House tour while you are in town. https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/visit-us/tours-and-experiences/english-tour-1718.html. 

Tombstone Tourist

Even when I'm not chasing ancestors I'm a bit of a Tombstone Tourist. Luckily Mr GeniAus likes  tramping around cemeteries too.

Glasnevin Cemetery - a Sea of Celtic Crosses

On our recent holiday we visited several cemeteries but one in Dublin stood out. I wanted to visit Glasnevin Cemetery to photograph some ancestral graves for my cousin but, when I read on Tripadvisor, that Glasnevin was a popular tourist destination I made sure we included it in our itinerary. The Glasnevin Cemetery and Museum is ranked 2 out of 455 things to do in Dublin!

Family graves found and photographed

We found a beautifully maintained facility not far from the CBD with on-site parking. Having located the family graves within ten minutes of arriving at the cemetery we booked in for one of the walking tours at the modern visitor centre and museum. While waiting for the tour we spent time absorbing the material on display in the cemetery museum that is housed with gift shop, cafe and facilities in this modern purpose built building.

Cemetery Museum and Visitor Centre

Our tour guide gave us a lesson in Irish history as we visited the graves of many Irish patriots and other famous and infamous Irish folk. One of the highlights of the tour was a visit to Daniel O'Connell's crypt. Our guide told us that it was good luck to touch O'Connell's lead-lined coffin so we made sure we did so.

Detail in O'Connell's Crypt

O'Connell's Lead-lined coffin can be seen (and touched) through decorative openings

O'Connell's crypt is underneath the tall tower in the centre of the cemetery

Although the heavens opened during our tour we soldiered on because it was  such an informative and enjoyable tour. I came away with a greater appreciation of Irish history and the turbulent times faced by my Irish ancestors.

The rain came down

Several of the people on out tour were regular visitors, they indicated that they learnt something new each tour as the various tour guides had different favourite tombs and tales to share. I will definitely  return for another tour if I get an opportunity.

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I would definitely recommend a visit to Glasnevin for visitors to Dublin.

Once a Librarian...

...always a librarian.

Church History Library

My first degree is in Library Science so I was in seventh heaven today when, as a Rootstech Ambassador, I was treated to a behind the scenes tour of The Church History Library in Salt Lake City. I didn't even realise that this institution existed until I arrived at The Church History Museum for the tour and was told I was in the wrong place. Luckily I was early so I made the tour at the building up around the corner just in the nick of time.

Our guide was a librarian who giggled with me about how we love putting things in alphabetical order.  We firstly descended in the lift to the bowels of the building where we saw the temperature controlled vaults where original documents are stored in compactus and then were treated to a talk by the chaps who work on conservation in the audiovisual area. We were able to see and hear a collection of sound recordings on all sorts of weird and wonderful media.

On ascending four or five floors we arrived at the area where conservation of printed and photographic materials takes place. This is a large airy room filled with natural light but which faces north to avoid damaging direct sunlight. One of the conservators showed us how various items are repaired.

Plays wire tapes

Recording Media

Print Conservtion Area

Item under conservation

This institution which is the archive and library of The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints is open to  the public, you can consult the catalogue and access digitised resources online . About half of the visitors are people who are researching their family history.

The tour of this world class facility was informative and interesting. Thanks to the staff, conservators and our guide who made us so welcome.

Impressive entrance foyer

Workstations

Library Resources

When an ebook is better...

As we prepare for our next holiday which includes a tour to The Western Front I thought that Mr GeniAus and I should do some background reading.

My son kindly offered to lend us his copy of the prizewinning book  "The Great War" by Les Carlyon which he says that although it's over 1,000 pages  it's an easy read. On the weekend he delivered this together with another 900 page tome for us to read. A strapping young lad like my son might be able to read these heavyweights with ease but his poor old Mum tried to bond with Les in bed the other night and I just wasn't up to the challenge.

The Great War is just too heavy for an old girl who snuggles up under the covers to read at night. Although I prefer 'real' paper books I thought that this was a case where an ebook would be better so I popped into the Playstore and bought myself a copy.

I am pleased to report that the book is now accessible from my phone and tablet  and that I have made a good start on reading it. Mr GeniAus who is stronger than I can have the printed copy all to himself.

Ancestry Tours of Scotland

Ancestry Tours of Scotland is the blog of Scotsman, Sandy Stevenson, who organises tours for people with Scottish ancestry.

The blog states " Scots have emigrated to almost every country in the world, to Australia, to Canada, to New Zealand to the USA. Many of their descendants visit Scotland to trace their Scottish ancestry, some of them have detailed, or not so detailed, information, about their roots in Scotland. I organize Scottish ancestry tours of Scotland where there is an emphasis on Scottish genealogy and Scottish family history, showing tour guests the places where their ancestors lived, and worked, in Scotland."