Ireland! (and other neat stuff)

I went to Ireland last week and it was fantastic! Greer, over in Melton, wanted to go and invited me to travel with her. Since it's not like I can come to the UK every year, I jumped at the chance.  Since Ireland isn't an actual part of the UK, there were all kinds of fun new lines at the airport, but since we weren't UK citizens, our lines were a lot shorter.

A part of the trip I:

Rode a train for the first time EVER

Wandered through an open-air market in Melton that smelled like the HOT Fair and Rodeo (because they were selling livestock too...)

Got to see the Book of Kells! (It was beautiful-- the colors were so rich and it is a 1300 year-old illuminated text!

Rode in a nifty tour bus all around Dublin (we really only saw Dublin-- we need to go back and see Ireland!)

Tried to learn Irish from all the street signs

Visited the Guinness Factory-- and decided that while Guinness itself is not very nice at all, Guinness stew is awesome!

It was free-- I took a sip and it was soooo bitter-- we were the only ones who didn't finish our drinks though! Thank goodness for the choice of sodas up top where the complimentary pint was served.

Visited vaulted Cathedrals and lovely church grounds, though none of the cathedrals or castles in Dublin were as great as our own Lincoln Cathedral and castle

Walked all OVER the Temple Bar district (which is not actually a bar, though it is full of pub-- it's an arts/shopping/cultural center) (there is a pub called the Temple Bar too)

Acted like a total tourist and bough scads of cool souvenirs and post cards. Also, Greer and I bought a chocolate bar just because it had the odd sheep on it that turned out to have it's own (the sheep had, that is) souvenir line-- that I cannot find anywhere online sadly. This was the most colorful cartoon sheep ever. For realz.

Of course I found the Disney Store! I couldn't find it a second time though...

Made Greer take tons of pictures because A) my camera battery died and B) I sort of fail at taking pictures anyways.

Existed on less than eight hours of sleep from Tuesday through Thursday (Tuesday bedtime was midnight, then up at 4 AM, down at 2 AM the next morning, back up at 6 AM because a girl in the hostel had her trunk under out bunk, and thankfully asleep by 10 PM the next night.) I managed to function and even be pleasant-- the Irish air helped I'm sure. 

I loved wandering all over this ancient city and learning about Celts, Vikings, Normans, and the dreaded English (apparently Ireland used to rise up about every 30 years to through off the oppressive bonds of the British. And failed. Every time.) The accents were lovely and lilting and we even went to the pub where parts of  P.S. I Love You was filmed. While I did not fall for a dashing Irish boy, I did have a lot of fun dashing around Ireland and being a tourist for two days. Next time, you should come too!

Internationally Yours,

Cait

PS: I'm done with school! Thanks for all your prayers so far-- I can slow the pace a bit now but Holiday Club is coming up and I am second-in-command for that. Please pray things go smoothly, the kids have fun, and that they actually come up with a deeper understanding of Jesus. How can I be praying for you this week? (you do have to tell me, or else I just pray over my five followers... Hi Mom! Love you!)

PPS: This is easily my favorite song right now. And my favorite singer/songwriter/musician-- he's just really cool! :)