Day 6: Church in Wales & Llandudno

No matter where I attend church, I am always amazed by how much it feels like going home. As soon as we walked in the doors at church today, it felt like coming home to friends and family. The branch here is tiny and they happily welcomed us in their doors. As I sat there listening to the speakers today, I felt so close to my heavenly father and I felt the spirit tingle through my body. Tears came to my eyes when we sang the opening hymn and I felt completely overcome by the spirit. There is something very simple about life here. While there are less members of the church here, they are all very closely knit and they all have very strong testimonies. They showed parts of the missionary work world broadcast last week during the third hour, and again I felt overcome by the spirit. Being in Ireland and hearing the members speak about their desire to do missionary work really made me excited about it too. While I'm not planning to serve a mission, being here has ignited in me a desire to do as much missionary work and fellowshipping as a member that I can. 

One of my favorite things about this trip has been getting to know my professors. The Gardeners--Marv and Mary-- are the cutest old couple and I've decided that I want to be just like them when I'm older. They met two groups of people today--to Spaniards in our hostel, and a Pakistani brother and sister--who they invited to a Welsh musical fireside we had tonight with the branch here. What great examples of missionary work in action! It was so fun to talk to these four people and have my ideas about the world cultures broadened. I loved that.

Today, I also walked around the city we're staying in (Llandudno) with Bonnie and Abbey. It is a costal town, and it reminds me so much of main street in Disneyland and of the house in Marry Poppins on Cherry Tree Lane. It is so beautiful! These pictures just can't do it justice. This town is known for being the summer retreat of Alice from Alice in Wonderland. A little girl named Alice, who was the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland, came here during her summers. They have a beautiful beach with a cute pier. It was a fun Sunday stroll! 

The white rabbit

The mad hatter

Can you see the windmills?

Isn't it a cute little town?

I will marry any man who will buy me that white house in the corner!

Flags on the pier

Building on the pier!

Our hostel! Isn't it adorable? I feel like I live in the Victorian era just by staying here!

Day 5: Arrival in Wales!

Today I woke up at 6 AM. That was so painful and my body has been hating me all day for it. The reason for getting up so early was to board a ferry to get from Dublin to Holyhead, Wales. Can I just say that I LOVE ferry rides? They are the best way to travel. Sitting at a table in a comfortable chair with wifi and food...can't get better than that. There was also a theater on board and plenty of things to do. I got through a chapter of my book before passing out on the table for a short nap.

Our ferry ride!

Arrived in Wales

Wales is very similar to Ireland. The differences I see are that the houses are more commonly made of old stone and look like old cottages, rather than with colorful paint like in Ireland. There seem to be more mountains (not like Utah mountains, but big rocky hills) and the landscape feels more meadowy and less woody. It's beautiful like Ireland, but also different. 

Our only stop today was at Conwy Castle. This is a huge castle built in 1287. This castle looked most like how I've always pictured castles. Conwy city still has the ancient wall that was once used to surround the city. It's amazing to me how old everything is here! America truly is a young country. 

Entrance to Conwy Castle

Isn't Wales beautiful?

 We had a pit stop at this city with the longest name in the world. Cool, huh?

Day 4: Dublin

Today we spent the day in downtown Dublin. We started out by going to see the Book of Kells in Trinity College. This is a book made in 500 AD comprising of the four gospels. The book was given to Trinity College in the 1200's. I found this amazing not just because they've had it for so many years, but that the college has existed for that long! The book has been beautifully preserved and the colors are still vibrant on the pages. Today the book was turned to a page in the Bible where Jesus describes the tree of life. After that, we went to this library area with lots of old books, statues of philosophers and scholars, and other museum items. It was a breathtaking room!

After we were done at Trinity College, we were free to explore Dublin for the rest of the day. I branched off with Bonnie and Sarah, and we ate lunch from food we got a grocery store. I've decided that I need to buy more food at grocery stores because it supplied me with both lunch and dinner for a price cheaper than any other meal I've had on this trip. On top of that, I really think I will be happy eating a baguette for every meal on this trip.

Then we wandered around the city and went into random shops in Dublin. I bought my one souvenir from Ireland--a thin leather watch from a vintage clothing store. We went back to our hostel to drop things off, and ended up taking a two hour nap instead of going back out. Eventually, we did though. I spent the last of my euros at Penny's--a store similar to Forever 21 with cheap clothes. I could have spend so much more money there so it was good that I only 10 euros left to spend.

We had to spend some time today doing homework--which consisted of interviewing locals about Gaelic and Irish dialects. We talked to this old man named Cirean who was very friendly and eager to talk to us. I've said this before, but one of things I loved the most about Ireland are the old men here. They may all love their cigarettes and alcohol, but they are the funniest, friendliest people in the world.

My conclusion about Dublin is that it is a dirty, crowded city. I loved seeing the country much more than I've loved the city. But Dublin has good shopping and food--just like any other city which is always great. I find it interesting that the city isn't very vertical like cities are in America--meaning that Dublin doesn't really have any skyscrapers or large buildings. It has very old and beautiful architecture though, which is fun to look at as you walk by. And just like all the other towns we've seen in Ireland, it has lots of beautiful bright colors.

Tomorrow we head to Wales. I'm sad to leave Ireland, but I'm excited to see Wales, too!

Day 3: Blarney Castle & Rock of Cashel Castle

Today we started by leaving our hostel in Kilarney and traveling to Blarney Castle. The Blarney Castle is home to the infamous Blarney Stone. This is the only place in Ireland that I’d heard of prior to traveling here. Legend has it that if you kiss the stone, you’ll receive the gift of eloquence of speech (or as some say, the gift of gab).  Near the Blarney Castle, there is also the Blarney house, fairy gardens, lake walks, and several other activities. We only had about an hour and half there, so when we walked in, I said that I thought we should go straight to the castle and kiss the stone in case there was a long line, and then do the other things if we had time. It turned out that getting through the castle took 45 minutes, so it was really good that we decided to do that first (our two professors even jumped in line with us so that they would have time to get through). The castle was cool, but it all of the other rooms in the castle were definitely overlooked in the thrill of kissing the stone. By the time we got to the top of the castle, the view was breathtaking. I will never get tired of seeing views of Irish fields and animals grazing nearby. It is the most picturesque view I’ve ever seen! Here is a view of the Blarney House from the top of the Blarney Castle. 

            We kissed the stone and it was a really fun experience. I was the only one who really got a picture kissing the stone, unfortunately. While it was fun to kiss the stone, afterward I felt like my lips and hands were so dirty from touching all of the same things that hundreds of other people have. On a sign on the way in, it said that this castle is the most visited and photographed site in all of Ireland...and I believe it. We joked about how we would all get cold sores from kissing the stone. They rush people through there so fast that you hardly have time to even do it! Needless to say, it was the quickest and most hurried kiss I’ve ever had! :)

           

            Then we got back on the bus to go to the Rock of Cashel Castle. Every time we get on the bus, I end up falling asleep almost instantly. That’s probably because my body is used to sleeping at this time of day, and also driving always puts me to sleep. I woke up as we arrived at the castle, which made me somewhat grumpy. We’ve seen four castles in the last three days, and I hate to admit that I’m already getting sick of it. But this one actually turned out to be my favorite one so far. It was built in 1235 as a cathedral. There is immaculate detail and beauty all over the castle. I loved the barrel vaulted ceilings and all of the ancient stone throughout the castle. There’s a really old graveyard outside the cathedral. Most of the headstones aren’t legible, but the oldest one I could find was from 1789. Amazing! The view outside of the castle is absolutely amazing, too.

            Now we’re on our way to Dublin for the next two nights, after which we head to Wales. I’ll be sad to leave Ireland—I love it so much more than I ever thought I would! It hasn’t rained on us once since we arrived—it’s been sunny skies and clear weather the whole time. I look around at all the lush trees, bushes, plants, grass, and flowers and I really think that anything could grow here. Every inch of this landscape is covered with a shade of green. Flowers grow wild here and tiny daisies and buttercups can be found on every lawn. I will be very sad to leave Ireland on Saturday!  

Irish sunset from last night. :)

            

Day 2: Tralee, Dingle, Muckross House, Ross Castle, Kilarney

I think a part of me has always known that I would love the British Isles. Today, we were driving from Tralee (a tiny city we spent the night in last night) to Dingle and I had a moment of overwhelming joy, contentment, and peace. The bright blue ocean was on my right, and the quaint rolling hills of farmland were on my left. I was listening “Sweet Baby James” by James Taylor and I started thinking of my sweet Grammy. It seemed to me that she would absolutely love this beautiful country. It dawned on me that it actually is the country of her heritage—and also mine—and so it makes sense that I would love it so much. Tears swelled up in my eyes—I don’t know if this was from missing her, from wishing we could experience this moment together, or just from the overwhelming beauty of scenery. Regardless, it filled my heart with peace that stayed with me for the rest of the day.

Today, we spent a lot of time on the bus. I think I’m not as adjusted to the time change as I thought I was yesterday. There were moments today where physically couldn’t keep my eyes open on the bus and I found myself asleep before I realized it. The main sights we visited today were the Muckross House and Ross Castle. The Muckross House is an old house that has been owned by rich families for hundreds of years. Queen Victoria visited the house back in the 1800’s so it’s a very lavish and fancy house. It reminded me almost exactly of the house in Downton Abbey—the fancy staircase, the lavish dining room, plain servants quarters—it was kind of awesome. I almost loved the gardens around the house more though.

We also went to Ross Castle. It’s an ancient castle that’s been restored with original furniture. I have to say, I wasn’t that impressed. It was cool to walk around in, but it wasn’t my favorite part of the day. What really caught my eye today was the bright colors throughout Ireland. They love to use bright colors on their houses, on their boats, on their storefronts…it’s very picturesque. 

We ended the day by walking up to the ruins of an old Abbey and graveyard near our hostel. The sun was setting, so it made for a beautiful scene. The abbey doesn’t have any sort of restoration, and so it really feels ancient. There were tombstones in there from the 1700’s, and even more that were unreadable, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they were older than that. I feel like my mind can’t even comprehend how old these places are. I am so in love with Ireland that I can’t even handle it!

Day One: Bunratty Castle

Today, we went to this beautiful old Irish castle...our frist real destination in Ireland. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here comes my flood of pictures. Plus, I'm way too tired to write.

Needless to say, I am in love with Ireland.