Ireland

So...I know this is long over due but it's finally here! Bum.... bumbum buuuuuum! Another blog post.
The list of things I have done sense my last blog entry is astounding but my memory of them all is not so great. However! In my exploration of Europe I found a wonderful place that fills my heart with joy and gives me nothing more than happiness to spread to anyone who is reading.

What is the name of this place, you ask? Ireland...

In response to St. Patrick's Day we decided to go to Ireland simply to say we were there on the Irish holiday. On the night of planning I had not been present due to my much needed beauty sleep and found out later that our hostel arrangements were so far in the middle of no where that it didn't have its own address. Also, the town we needed to get to didn't even have a bus from where the ferry dropped us off and so the adventure began!

After arriving in Ireland and circling the building a couple of times in search of the train station we found out that the only way to go to where we needed was by going to Dublin. Of course! Dublin on St. Patrick's day, that is a yes! So off we went, taking in the gorgeous scene of country side before falling asleep to the rumbling of yet another bus. We had been traveling for a total of 12 hours already and sleep had not come easy except in occasional short naps, like the bus ride to Dublin.

I wish you could have seen it though! Spring was beginning to, well, spring! I have never seen grass so green or flowers so beautiful. Just driving into the country my breath was taken at every turn. After arriving at Dublin we realized we were in the middle of the City. There was a carnival along the river and there was masses of green. No, these were not rolling hills but people already starting their drunken celebration at ten o'clock in the morning. I heard one girl explain the next day that St. Patricks day is a marathon not a sprint when involving drinking. However, the streets were crawling in people dressed in green from head to toe, holding bottles and cans of all different shapes and sizes. We decided to get breakfast and soon discovered that there was the famous, world wide known St. Patty's Day parade! It was crazy, there were people everywhere and the floats were insane. After getting some floss (Uk slang for Cotton Candy) I could have sworn there was some kind of drug in it because the floats that were going through the parade made no sense. I made a joke that I could touch the sound, only to hear one of the people on the floats to say the exact same thing. It was a very trippy experience. I was lost in the most magical way.

Soon it was over and the crowds fled to McDonald's and then disappeared. We had a pint before we left the city but didn't want to celebrate too heavily due to the fact that we had absolutely no idea where we were suppose to go to get to our hostel. So we continue traveling, making a new friend on the train that is way more drunk then should be legal. Before even getting on the train he is standing on the platform, yelling into his cellphone with a plastic bag full of beer. To his knowledge, one of them is open but he sets in the bag and knocks it over as he continues to try to hear whomever was on the phone. As the beer begins to spread across the cement, filling the plastic bag as well a polite police officer walks up. He taps the man on the shoulder and kindly points to the bag and begins to tell him to pick it up. However, the man is so immersed in his conversation that he turns to the policeman and tells him to "Shhhhh!"We were mesmerized by the scene that was happening and continued to be when he sat next to us on the train and explained that it was only eight o'clock and the celebration hadn't begun.

Soon we arrived at our stop and carefully stepped out into the dark main street in search of a cab that could take us to an unknown address with only the name of the place in hand. It was a lot easier than expected and we soon were loaded up into a tiny bus with another couple who were going to the high class resort near by. After twenty minutes of turns and twists in the, now drizzling, dark we began to turn into a promising drive way. We all let out a sigh of remorse when we realized it was the resort with its chandeliers and valet parkers. By this time we had already thought of every possible place that our hostel could be and ended up with creepy old people who would throw us in the freezer until we froze to death, chop us up and eat us because they were really zombies. Another good twenty minutes later we come up slowly to where the hostel was located and to our amazement it looked to be the safest and most friendly place we had seen since we had arrived in Europe.

By morning we were excited to actually see what surrounded us after our horror film bus ride to the middle of no where the night before. We opened the door and there it was...the most gorgeous view that you have ever scene. Rolling mountains with green grass that went on forever, yellow flowers covering every inch of the bushes and sheep roaming the pastures. We instantly dressed to go exploring, soon finding a river that ran through the valley of where we were staying. The fresh air did everyone good and the exercises put a the rose back in our cheeks. I could not have asked for better weather.You know that feeling when you are looking at a view and it is simply too much to take in? Your heart swells and your throat gets tight as you stare off into the beauty of the world, not altered by a human touch. When the tears spring into your eyes and you can't help but smile because you are getting to see this world of beauty, this purely natural beauty. That is what I felt when I stood on that mountain top and looked down over the land that so joyously proved that life is wonderful. I was really sad to go back to London. I must admit a tear or two slipped down my cheek as we drove up to the ferry location to return.

I never once imagined that I would fall in love with the country so much but you never can plan when you are going to fall in love.

With hugs,
Hope