Enter: Sligo!

Day Eight:                                                                                                                         May 24, 2015

Parke's Castle

         Today was a traveling day. We were mostly on the bus, except at the end when we got to go to Parke's Castle. It was really cool and very informative, but unfortunately I left my notebook on the bus. I did get pictures though! So at least that counts for something. I've been having a really hard time with one of the girls on the trip. She keeps pronouncing my name wrong and I know she's doing it on purpose because I've corrected her at least five times now. She also keeps making fun of me for my faith. She was downright rude when she found out I went to mass yesterday and she makes fun of me for praying before meals. It's very lonely being the only Catholic. It really makes me miss home. Anyway, the hotel room is really nice. It's just me and [Friend B] in this one. [Other Friend H] will join us again once we're in Galway. I think that's all I have for now. (I might get to climb a mountain on Wednesday!)

          I forgot something that I wanted to write about. We stopped at a gas station on our drive to Sligo. I was talking to a guy in the check out lane and it was really cool! He's from Ireland, but he's been all over the United States (more places than I've been to!) Really cool guy, but he talked so close to my face. I was leaning pretty far back just to maintain my bubble. These people don't believe in personal space! But it's okay, I like them.

Day Nine:                                                                                                                          May 25, 2015

View looking toward Isle of Inisfree

          Today was really cool. We visited multiple Yeats locations, including the Glencar Waterfall, Doonee Rock, and the Isle of Inisfree. It is absolutely beautiful here! So far, I am liking Sligo much better than Dublin. Don't get me wrong, Dublin was great. I'm just not suited to city life. At dinner, I sat by [Friend B], [Friend M], and [Friend C]. We were so hyper and we laughed so much I was almost crying. And then later we hung out in [Friend M] and [Friend C's] room. It was really nice to

bond with more people. ([Friend B] felt the same. I mean, we love each other, but we also want to expand to other people too). Soon, I get to climb the mountain to Queen Mabh's tomb! The rude girl wasn't as rude today, but she seems to be gravitating towards me. I'm trying to have patience...

Day Ten:                                                                                                                          May 26, 2015

          Today was amazing! (...but then I did things and didn't have time to write, so I'm a day behind, again).

Mary at the Tobernalt Holy Well

          We started with a walk to a gallery that had a lot of Jack Butler Yeats paintings. Then we went to a church that was even smaller than St. Michan's church, but that's where W.B. Yeats was buried, so of course we had to stop there. After that, we went to Rosse's Point, where I presented my poem, 'The Meditation of the Old Fisherman'. It was very beautiful there, even if it was a bit chilly. There were these bushes of yellow flowers everywhere. I want to take one home. 

         

Halfway up Knocknarea

Oh! I almost forgot about the Holy Well! I actually think we went there on Day Nine, but I'll write about it here anyway. There was a stream that led out of the area and an altar at the top. To the left of the altar was a crucifix and on the right was Mother Mary. It was so peaceful there, but it was kind of ruined by rude people. Anyway, back to yesterday. We ate at Drumcliffe and then we got to climb Knocknarea! It was exhausting, but also super exhilarating. It was so much fun boding with [Friend M] and [Friend C]. We want to see if we can be roommates in Galway. Anyway, on the other side of that mountain were some pretty treacherous stairs. [Friend B] and I went off the path quite a bit, mostly because it looked fun. And it was. When we got back we all went to the bar in the hotel lobby. [Friend C], [Friend B], and I split a strawberry kiwi hard cider. To be honest, it tasted like Capri Sun. I wasn't really a fan, but it was fun hanging with my friends, plus [Friend A] and [Friend N], who pretty much joined our group after that. It was a good day.




"The herring are not in the tides as they were of old;
My sorrow! for many a creak gave the creel in the cart
That carried the take to Sligo town to be sold,
When I was a boy with never a crack in my heart."
                                         -'The Meditation of the Old Fisherman' by W.B. Yeats

A Large Dose of Ireland

Day Three:                                                                                                                         May 19, 2015

Poulanass Waterfall

          Oh boy, do I have a lot of things to write about. First, I need to check back on my notes...

Upper Lake

          Okay, so first we got on a bus at 8:30 this morning. It was so cool getting out of the city. The hills were huge and there were sheep everywhere! When we got to Glendalough, we went to the Round Tower. It was fascinating to see the tower...it was huge! Next to it was St. Kevin's Kitchen (it was actually the ruins of a church, not sure why they called it a kitchen...) There were also gravestones everywhere, some dating back before the 1800s. There were some gravestones that were actually just nubs, because they've been weathered that much. Past the cemetery and St. Kevin's kitchen was a path and a bridge, so we got to go exploring! At one point, there were grass hills on either side of the path and it reminded me so much of when Bilbo says 'I'm going on an adventure!' in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Further along in the path we climbed up one of the hills and found a little cave. Then me and [my friend] ran down the hill, which was really fun but also probably dangerous. Eventually, we hit a fork in the road, one side paved and the other gravel. They both led to the same place, so of course we chose the gravel one. We ended up having to scale the side of the hill, using hands and feet to get to the top. It was exhilarating! The trail eventually met with the other one upriver from the waterfall. I can't even describe how beautiful it was up there. It reminded me a bit of Rivendell, without the structures. We spent some time there and I got to explore the river a bit. However, we were running out of time, and we had to move one. It made me kind of sad, but then we found the waterfall! It wasn't huge by any means, but it was very powerful, cutting through the land pretty effectively. We were going to go back to the information center, but [instructor] and [the other instructor] pointed us towards the lake. It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen (so far). I was so happy there at the edge of the lake. Again, we had to leave and it was sad. But I got to climb a tree, so that was good. On our way back, it started to rain pretty hard, but by the time we got out of the woods, it was sunny. Man, the weather here is crazy. Before we left, I bough a couple of postcards for [sister]. Next we went to the Avoca Weaving Mill (the oldest in Ireland). It was pretty interesting, but by then I was very worn out and hungry. We ate lunch there. I had a stuffed baked potato, carrot salad, chocolate cake, and sparkling lemonade (it tasted like Sierra Mist). While we were there, we got to shop. I got a hand woven scarf for Mom.

          When we got back to the apartment, we had about an hour before we went to the parliament building. We got to witness part of the referendum on same-sex marriage, then we got a tour of the building. By that time, I was really tired and I kept zoning out, so I didn't take any notes while we were there. That's okay though, because I wasn't terribly interested in it to begin with. Afterwards, we got to go to the apartments and relax. I had a piece of peanut butter toast and a couple slices of cheese for dinner. And then I started writing in here! (I'm actually finishing it this morning, May 21st...I'm almost caught up!)

Day Four:                                                                                                                          May 20, 2015

Lia Fáil at Hill of Tara

          Alright, so today we got to go to the Hill of Tara and it was so cool! I didn't realize how hilly the place actually was. There were really deep ditches and really tall hills. At the top of the biggest hill was the Lia Fáil, which was basically this tall rock that, according to Celtic myth, would let out a scream when the one worthy of ruling touched it. I'm pretty sure I heard some sort of shout when I touched it! There was a lady (a local) up on the hills with two of her dogs, Cooper and Bella. Cooper and I were pretty much best friends. Thankfully, [friend] got some pictures of the two of us. Our stop at the Hill of Tara was pretty short, so I didn't get to stay as long as I would have liked, but there wasn't anything I could do about that. We had about an hour bus ride to get to the other mounds. We went to lunch first. I had chicken and broccoli bake, cole slaw, and some kind of caramel cake. Then I went to the gift shop and bought [brother's] pocket watch. I hope he likes it. I know I do! The Knowth and Newgrange mounds were really cool, but by that point, I just kind of wanted to go back to the apartment. I was tired and I wasn't feeling very well. Even when it was time to go back, I decided to go to the Christ Church for Evensong with [friend, friend, and friend]. That kind of gave me the energy I need. We decided to walk back and we got kind of lost, but it was fun! [Friend] made us dinner when we got back and then we ended up talking about different aspects of religion until midnight. I didn't get around to going to bed until about one. So, naturally, I'm very tired today. Hopefully I'll get to bed sooner tonight.

Day Five:                                                                                                                           May 21, 2015

The Long Room at Trinity College

          I made cheesy scrambled eggs again for breakfast and tried to catch up on journaling before we had to leave. We went to the Trinity College first. There was an exhibit about the Book of Kells. There was so much information on how it was made, from the paper, to the binding, to the ink. After I went through the exhibit, I got to actually see the book. It was so detailed! It's under a glass case and they turn the page every two weeks. It was all very exciting of course, but what I was really excited for was the Long Room. Coolest. Library. Ever. The books were all so old and beautiful! I wanted to touch them so bad! Unfortunately, the shelves were all roped off, however they did have glass cases of books on display. I found a copy of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, The Hobbit, and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. It was beyond exciting. After that we went to an archaeological museum. That was pretty cool, but also kind of boring. I wanted to go outside! Luckily, we only had an hour to spend there. We ate dinner at a cafe in the Yeats Exhibit (which was in Ireland's National Library). I had a roast turkey sandwich, which might have been good, but there were pomegranates on it. I had a fruit tart for dessert. Yum! Unfortunately for me, the Yeats exhibit was even more boring than the archaeology museum. We were in there for almost three hours. Not going to lie, it was kind of awful. The exhibit was dark and there were no windows and it was very crowded. I started to feel really claustrophobic and I felt like I was going to have a panic attack right there. I didn't, thank goodness, but it was close. When we got back to the apartments, we had about a half hour before we went to see a couple of authors talk about their books (both about the Easter Rising time period). Then we got to go to a book store! I wasn't going to get anything. I really wasn't. But then I found the beautiful Irish hardcover version of The Hobbit. Yes, now I have two copies...

Murphy's in Dublin

          After the book store, a group of us decided that we wanted ice cream, so we wandered until we found Murphy's. On our way there, there was a guy singing 'Galway Girl' and playing guitar and
harmonica. It was awesome! Once we got to Murphy's I had sea salt vanilla and chocolate. So good!






"Forget art. Put your trust in ice cream." -The Feast of Love by Charles Baxter

(P.S. This is my 100th post! Hooray!!)