Perfection

Some days catch us in frustrated moods due to internet issues and harsh homework loads, but the three days we spent in Sligo was a vacation in heaven.

On the way to our hotel, we stopped at Aughnanure Castle which had several dogs running around the grounds (win) and then Connemara National Park where our tour guide brought us out onto bogland. The classic Irish bog was perfectly wet and springy as we sloshed through the tour. We almost began nodding off when the guide began passing around peat turf, but those Irish clouds returned with a vengeance. Again, it took only minutes for the rain to catch us, and we climbed up the steep hillside like Simba on Pride Rock at the end of The Lion King. But, like the movie, we were rewarded with the most beautiful view. Surrounded by Irish mountains, gorse bushes, flocks of sheep, and grassy fields, the sun shone out on the breathtaking National Park. I will never forget standing atop the hill as the winds died down and the rain left us, and staring in absolute amazement at the scene below me. I even stopped walking, turned to my friends, and exclaimed: "Look where we ARE!" It was a scene from a fairy tale as we crunched down the gravelly path to end the tour.

But the beauty didn't stop there...

The remainder of the ride to the hotel will be etched into my memory forever. Mountains covered in flowers and tough soil soaring above us as the bluest of blue lakes lay at their feet. We even stopped briefly to take scenic pics of Kylemore Abbey (I tried posting pictures, but the uploading isn't working for some reason D:) and saw the bar from the Irish movie "The Field" as we passed through Connemara to Sligo.

We reached our wonderful Glasshouse hotel, for even though the color painted on the rooms was a burnt orange or a bright lime green, the food was delightful and the internet was free! Oh Sligo, you are too wonderful!

Our professor took us to the Carrowmore tombs the following day as well as Knocknarea, the resting place of the Irish legend Queen Medb. Supposedly, the queen is buried at the top of Knocknarea under a cairn dressed in full battle armor and standing up! She is facing her enemies in Ulster (or the north) in case they return to take her lands. Lesson learned: Irish women were as badass as the guys!

We were allowed one day to explore the town on our own, so we simply found a pretty trail along the lake as well as a field of daffodils that we frolicked through. Not to mention we saw the abbey that Bram Stoker grew up near, and where he got his inspiration for some book from his mother about people who popped out of their graves at night. Dracula, was it?

And, at the end of our stay in Sligo, I officially purchased my plane ticket to travel outside of Ireland while in the general vicinity. The destination....?

Edinburgh, Scotland.

YES.