Venturing up North

After four days of travel up to northern Ireland, our group has returned safely to our home away from home, Greystones. We were able to see Derry, Sligo, and Donegal while up there. We stayed at an incredibly nice hotel in Donegal for all three nights. It had a hot tub, sauna, swimming pool and workout center! I know this doesn't sound that exciting but when you haven't swam or really worked out for two months, it's heaven! On top of this the trip was really fun! On the first day of our trip we left Greystones bright and early and drove for five hours all the way to the northwest coast. We hiked up Slieves League which are the highest cliffs in Europe. This honestly has made my trip to Ireland so far!


We luckily had a great day to hike! It started out rainy and cold but by the time our bus made it to the trail head the sun was out and things were warming up! Hiking up to the top was such a humbling experience. We were fairly close to the cliff edge all the way up. This gave us a great view of the ocean below. It was super windy and at some points I was almost blown to the ground. I have never seen anything so beautiful before! The views from the top are indescribably. It was simple put: awesome.

We were also able to see Lough Derg, which is a pilgrimage site that St. Patrick used to use. It's also called Station Island by the famous Irish poet William Butler Yeates. Since we traveled up north for our Irish Literature class, we learned a lot about him. The Island was pretty cool. Yes, it literally was an island in the middle of this lake and we had to take a ferry to get out there. Now it's just used as a place for people to go and meditate.

We were able to see a 'ring fort' in Donegal. It was located at the top of this really steep hill and somehow Brian King, our bus driver, was able to get all of us and the bus up to the top! The roads over here are so ridiculously narrow especially on the country roads. Our bus driver has to drive off the road to pass other cars. It has been a little nerve racking sometimes but anyway back to the 'ring fort'. It was an interesting ruin.

As you can see, it was really windy

The beautiful view from the top of the 'ring fort'

It was basically this large circular fort with stairs that led up to the top of the wall. It was cool because once you climbed to the top you could see the three county's surrounding it. The view was great but it was again very windy once we got to the top.

On our third day, we ventured up to Derry in Northern Ireland. The entire city is walled. This is where Bloody Sunday occurred, and 14 protesters were shot dead by British soldiers in 1972. We walked the walls of the city, saw paintings and graffiti from IRA supporters. Brian King, our bus driver, gave us a walking tour around the city and it was really good!

This was some of the IRA supporting graffiti on the city walls in Derry.

Time is flying over here! Spring break officially starts this Thursday and Luke, Colin and I are headed over to London to stay with some family friends. It should be a really great time. I absolutely love Ireland but It'll be nice to get away for a little while. I can't believe that in a little over a month, this semester ends and I'll be on my way home. I've been learning so much about life and have really been changing for the better. I know that I will return to the states a different person. It's for sure an exciting thing! But for now, I'm just going to soak up as much of Ireland as I can!

6 Nations Rugby!

So, I have been lucky enough to follow Ireland's national rugby team in their search of a 6 Nations Rugby title. Each and every game just seems to get better and better. Last Saturday night, a brave group of us decided to venture into Dublin to watch the match between England and Ireland. Everyone and their brother, were there crowding the pubs, streets, and any sort of local transportation. It was crazy but incredibly fun none the less! We ended up watching the match at the Purty Kitchen in downtown Dublin. It was a very nice, new-age, pub and was covered in flat-screen tvs. The game was intense and Ireland pulled out with a victory. The final score was 14-13. I have to say that rugby is the most intense sport I have ever watched! It was an incredible feeling to be immersed in a culture where literally everyone stops what they're doing, and supports their team.

Here's a few shots from the game last Saturday that I pulled off the web. This is Brian O'Driscoll, the captain of Ireland's team. He's absolutely incredible. He took a few cheap hits from England and that almost ended the game for him but he somehow continued to keep playing.

I just thought this picture was awesome! This is Irelands kicker, Ronan O'Gara, taking a hard hit from England.