Ireland...FINALLY!

20 June 2012

I finally made it to Shannon, Ireland! My flight was about an hour and a half, but it felt like ten minutes because I slept the entire time (which is a big deal for me…I don’t sleep on planes, remember?). Once we got off the plane, our directors were there waiting for us. We walked across the street to the hotel…I’m pretty sure that was one of the longest walks I’ve ever taken! We got checked in, and I was so excited to get on the Internet and maybe even talk to my family. But of course, the hotel charged a lot of money to use it. Seriously, people? So instead, I got into my bed. A bed! Not a plane seat or a cold bench or a cement step, but an actual bed. I almost forgot they existed. You’d think that I would fall asleep in less than ten seconds considering how completely exhausted I was, but it actually took me a little while. I think it was because I’ve been a little sick. I started getting a sore throat a couple days before I left, and traveling for twenty-eight hours with very little sleep wasn’t exactly helpful. But I did eventually fall asleep.

21 June 2012

This morning, we got breakfast from the hotel. And guess what song was playing as we were eating? “God Bless America.” Don’t ask me why. I haven’t the slightest idea. But I didn’t complain. It was kind of nice. Maybe they just wanted us to feel right at home!

After checking out of the hotel, we rode a bus to Bunratty Castle. And that was awesome. Plus, I was feeling much better, so I was actually able to enjoy it. First, my friend Palmer and I wandered through the buildings surrounding the castle, including an old church. Those were all pretty cool, but none of them compared to the castle itself.

This is from the roof, looking to the other side.

In the center of each floor was a large room, probably used for banquets or something. Then there were spiral staircases in all four corners that led to bedrooms and other rooms. One of the staircases went down to the dungeon…tiny staircase. If you’re claustrophobic, you might not want to venture down there. When we followed the stairs to the very top, we could actually walk outside. And the view from the top was amazing!

Random tidbit: while we were at the castle, Palmer and I met a guy from Kentucky. When I told him we were there with a study abroad group from Utah, he said, “A bunch of Mormon girls, huh?” Then he told us that Mormons are the best people he knows and that he has a lot of Mormon friends. So that’s pretty great!

We easily spent two hours wandering around the castle and its grounds. Then we hopped back on our bus and started toward a city called Dingle. It was so fun to just sit and look at the scenery. The countryside is so beautiful! And the houses in town are so cute!

Part way to Dingle, we stopped to stretch our legs, and I met an old Irish man. After saying maybe two sentences to him, he said, “What part of the states are you from?” Apparently, my accent is super obvious. Haha. But hey, that’s alright!

When we drove into Dingle, this is what I saw:

All of the buildings looked like this in Dingle. Such a cute town!

Everything is super jam packed, but it’s really bright and colorful! I actually like it a lot. I would hate driving on their roads though. Ridiculously narrow. Our bus driver has some serious skills.

After we checked into our hotel in Dingle, I had to carry my suitcase up six flights of stairs. So that was fun. But the room I stayed in was really cute, so I guess it was worth it.

Later, some of the girls and I went to a place in town to listen to some local Irish music. It was really cool. One guy was playing some pipes that were quite fascinating. I had never seen the instrument, but I liked it a lot. But even though we were all enjoying the music, we were also falling asleep (that’s how good it was). After about an hour or so, we went back to our hotel to get some sleep.

But instead of sleeping, I finally got to Skype with my family! It was so great to see them and talk to them. It’s weird to think that I was with them the day before yesterday. It feels like it’s been a lot longer than that. Anyway, after talking to them for a while, I finally went and got some sleep. Some very much needed sleep!