And heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour."
Written on the grave of William Blake, his words describe the feeling I have as I reflect on the timeless and enriching experience I have had over the past month. Yes, I am home after a eight hour flight from Ireland to Chicago, a three hour flight from Chicago to Salt Lake City, a weekend spent there, and a seven hour drive through the desert of Nevada and into my beautiful state of California. My heart and eyes have been opened to all the greatest possibilities we have in life and I have learned so much. In the past 23 days, I have been on planes, ferries, coaches, bicycles, and have traveled hundreds of miles. I have been inside ancient tombs 5,000 years old oozing with Celtic culture, walked the paths of writers, scholars, and explorers, and have marveled at sights as great as Egypt's pyramids. In the past 23 days I have danced in Dublin's rowdy pubs with locals and people from all over the world, drank tea in Trafalgar square, and cruised on the river Thames. These things and more, I have had such an enlightening and cultural experience and have learned things that I have taken home and will apply to the rest of my life's journey.
In the last few hours of my drive yesterday, there was a beautiful sunset resting on the peaks of the mountains as I drove through the Sierra Nevadas to home. The colors were brilliant: a yellow sky contrasting against the blue and rose clouds as the sun began to descend behind the black silhouette of the mountains. I couldn't help but think about life over on the other side of the world in Ireland and England and how it still goes on even though I'm not over there anymore. Then I began to think about other continents and other types of people and how everyone in the world is living and moving on with life always, just as I am. The world is enormous! We really are so small in a world full of billions of people and different cultures. And to think about how much more of the world there is to discover! We are ignorant to ever think the world only extends to our natural habitation and selfish if we don't even have a desire to see what is out there.
"The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page." --Saint Augustine. Well, that quote makes perfect sense now. I have learned to read all the pages and to continue reading for the rest of my life. I have caught the travel bug, and I have caught it hard.
Anyways, anyone reading this is probably begging me to shut up and start posting pictures. So here is how this is going to work: I have taken over 900 pictures, and I'd rather save you and I the exhausting process that would be to post and look at almost a thousand pictures. So, I have decided to split my journey into three parts: Part I is Ireland, Part II is Wales and England, and Part III will be London, Stratford-Upon-Avon, my last day in Dublin, and closing remarks. I'll try to post all parts within this week and my pictures will have commentary, quotes, or journal entries. So strap on your airplane seat belts, here is part I--
Part I: Ireland
"I'm ready to gaze on the green, luscious planes and breathe the clover-ridden air. This is what life's all about, right? Filling it with rich and precious moments."
Flight to Dublin, Ireland
We flew Aer Lingus from Chicago for our six hour flight, flying all night and arriving in Dublin at 9am the next day. To give you a perspective of the UK and what I had to look forward to, here's a map to follow along through my travels:
After the flight, we traveled to find our coach where we met Bart, our bus driver and first interaction with those rich Irish accent. It's safe to say, all of us girls had a crush on him seeing how anyone is attractive after being awake for eighteen hours.
He drove us through to our first destination, Malahide Castle.
Malahide Castle was home to the Talbot family for 800 years. The Talbots were a family of nobles in their century with one of the strongest and longest bloodlines in Irish history. Portraits of each family member hang in the halls of their spacious house and their land stretches for acres. At the top story, you can look out and see where a Viking settlement rested, which caused a lot of threat and concern for them. But, as one of the only Irish families that were loyal to the English throne, royalty always offered them power and protection. A trait in this family that differed from the rest of their Irish co-existents who were conquered in land but "not conquered in the heart."
The castle also had beautiful gardens, which is where I enjoyed the rest of my afternoon. I also learned my first lesson-- to always have my rain jacket with me for the rest of my trip. I foolishly left it on the coach that day. *facepalm*
After this, we made our trip to Ennis, Ireland, where we would be staying that night. The trip was long, which gave me time to marvel at the beauty of Ireland's landscape. The terrain was so beautiful and lush-- just how I pictured it would be.
Ennis
I absolutely loved everything about Ennis. It was such a cute, sleepy little town. It was something you'd picture in a book-- small streets with their little church at the top of the hill. I thoroughly enjoyed staying in this town and ate at my first pub, where I had traditional sausage and potatoes. We stayed in a hostel here:
A word or two about hostels: there is one room with bunk beds that can hold up to twelve people at times. I'll just say this: the Ennis one is the nicest hostel my group stayed at the whole trip. Haha. They're more for convenience and shelter than a place to actually relax in. Hostels were not my favorite part of the trip.
Inis Mor
"Pretty sure I said "wow" over 20 times yesterday... We took a ferry over to Inis Mor, a small island with a population of 1,000. We rode bikes exploring the beautiful coastline of the Atlantic Ocean and the ruined, yet beautiful historic sites. We hiked to this beautiful grassy hilltop where we sat and ate lunch by the watch tower of the island, and felt the warmth of the sun barely peaking out from behind the clouds."
Ferry ride to Inis Mor
Kelley, cutest Irish Jack Russell around.
And, here are a couple of Italians I met at the top: Giacomo and Flavio. Yes, they were very attractive and that was the moment I knew I loved Europe. Haha!
I loved all the cute little farms around Inis Mor, and all of Ireland! I adore the traditional take to life the Irish still have, and their strong value of the past.
My heart belongs to Inis Mor.
The Cliffs of Moher
The Cliffs of Moher is a breath-taking sight that has the power to bring one to tears. Absolutely my favorite site in Ireland. Look at the photos and see for yourself.
Beautiful heights, but absolutely scary. I chose not to walk too close to the edge because that can be dangerous for someone of my stature, but it was still so breath-taking. To put their height into a little more perspective...
Boyne Valley
This afternoon we visited Bru na Boyne, one of the oldest civilization sites in the world-- even outliving the pyramids. It was beautiful and sacred. 5,000 years old, the structure of two out of the four tombs still stands: Newgrange and Knowth. In the Stone Age, ancient Irish civilizations built these domes to serve as burial grounds for their deceased as well as living structures to worship and live.
Newgrange
Newgrange's structure was designed around the Winter solstice-- where on that day only, a beam of light shines through the tomb, lighting the entire inside of the tomb. I was able to walk inside the tomb and run my fingers across the ancient inscribing inside. There were four sacrificial and ritual areas inside the tomb, with symbolic pictures and signs etched all around. It was incredible. I felt such a strong connection to that ancient culture that believed in spirituality and divinity. What a beautiful thing humanity is!
Knowth
I loved speculating what these ancient symbols meant and how exactly they helped the culture worship. I loved Celtic culture!
"I had some time to sit at the top of Knowth's domes and breathe and look out to the rolling Irish hills. I got in trouble by the site director for sitting too close to the edge (of course) but the spirituality I felt is something amazing. Even if I had just come to Ireland to see only this, it would make this entire trip worth it. How beautiful this country is. It almost feels like a dream, and I'll never forget these moments."
Last night in Dublin before the ferry to England. I loved Dublin! Irish pubs and Gelato nursed our fun night in Dublin. Just as I expected, the Irish were rowdy and partiers! My time in Dublin was some of the most fun I've had in my life. Cheers.
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