Week 2 of 2 with the Rents... and MORE!!

So if you're reading this right now, I'm assuming you either honestly read through the entire Week 1 post, skimmed through the Week 1 post, or were more interested in reading about my time with Jonny that you skipped over the entire Week 1 post. Not too worry, every and all answer is acceptable, though I will say that I personally would also be more interested in reading about my time with Jonny than my parents... no offense Mike and Kristi ;).

If you read my last post, you would know that I got little sleep on the start of this next adventure, but my boy JB was here so I was extremely happy. Once we picked up Jonny and Mary and got the rental car, we headed towards UCD to exchange some of my stuff for the next leg of the trip. My brother stayed in England for a few extra days to hang out with his friends from Hull, so we headed South to the places that he has already had the opportunity to go to. Our first stop was the Rock of Cashel. The ruins and guided tours were amazing. It was very interesting learning about Cashel’s history and the preservation of Cormac’s Cathedral. After Cashel, we visited Blarney Castle and Jonny kissed the Blarney Stone! The castle itself was really cool, and we had loads of fun exploring all the little hidden nooks and crannies in the castle. After the castle, we walked in the gardens and saw the Blarney Manor House. My favorite part of the gardens was the Fern Garden because it looked like we were in another world. It was so neat. After the gardens, we drove the two minutes to our hotel, the Blarney Castle Hotel and had dinner and enjoyed the rest of the night.

Jonny and I at Blarney Castle!

Dad, Mom and I at the Rock of Cashel!!

The next day was Saint Patrick’s Day, and we celebrated accordingly by going to the Blarney Woolen Mills, the Dingle Peninsula and Doolin. The intention in the Woolen Mills was to spend about an hour there, we ended up staying two hours and purchasing several items between the five of us. Though it set us back a bit, it was totally worth it!! We had dinner at Fitzpatrick’s, a pub in Doolin, and I had a traditional Irish stew and a red ale. It was delicious and very fitting for Saint Patrick’s Day!

The next day, we ventured over to The Cliffs of Moher, The Burren, picked up Joe from the Galway train station, headed north towards county Donegal. The scenery and the drive was absolutely beautiful. I really enjoyed getting to drive through the Irish countryside and take in the changing environments. Our next stop in the crazy long tour of Ireland was at The Rusty Mackerel in Teelin Bay. The food at the adjoining pub was excellent, and we all enjoyed getting to sit back and enjoy the live music. About a 5 minutes drive from our hotel was Slieve League, a set of insanely tall cliffs that are just as good as the Cliffs of Moher, just less well known. Due to the close proximity and supposed beauty, we decided to go up there the next morning. Unfortunately for us, it was super foggy, and we were only able to see the sheep grazing on the hillside and not much more than that. But from the pictures I’ve seen, it is a beautiful view and the cliffs are spectacular.

After our time at Slieve League, we continued the day with a hike around the scenic Glenveagh National Park, a small stroll through Donegal (the city where my dad’s grandmother is from), and a memorable walk along the Derry Murals in the Bogside. As I have just completed several books that go into more depth about The Troubles and Northern Ireland, it was really special for me to get to experience the actual places in real life. These past six months, I have read Belfast Diaries, Trinity, and Angela’s Ashes, and they are all fantastic but sobering books. If anyone is looking for more information about The Troubles specifically, I highly recommend Belfast Diaries.

The Bruen Fam (minus Emma) at Glenveagh National Park!

We then pressed on to our next lodging in Bushmills. We stayed at the Ballylinny Holiday Cottages, and it was absolutely brilliant. The whole feel and layout of the cottage was what I imagined my dream home would look like. It was way cool. We made spaghetti for dinner, enjoyed a fire in the fireplace and Jonny and I played a few rounds of Cribbage. The next day we headed to the Giant’s Causeway. This had to be one of my favorite stops thus far. It was gorgeous and so amazing. The formations are unlike anything I have seen before. If you have any opportunity to go to Ireland, I would highly recommend going there. After we finished hiking and climbing (see attached photo) around Giant’s Causeway, we crossed the Carrick-a-Rede bridge which was super fun! I have never walked across a bridge suspended over the ocean, so it was a really neat experience. Then we headed to the Dark Hedges to check out the legendary filming site of Game of Thrones. Though Joe was the only one who had seen the show, we all enjoyed walking all the demanding tree line. We ended the night in Belfast in the two up two down home that we rented. Before heading to bed, we walked to the C.S. Lewis park that was nearby. It had many characters from Narnia which was really cool to see. C.S. Lewis was from Belfast, so we figured it only makes sense to visit his park while in his birthplace.

Mom and I at the Giant's Causeway!

The next day was an early start with a black taxi cab tour through the Falls Road, the Shankill Road and the Peace Wall. It was a very interesting tour, and we learned a lot about The Troubles. At the end of the tour, we even got to sign the Peace Wall! How cool! Our next stop in Belfast was the Titanic Museum. It was really neat being in the exact place that the Titanic was built and learning all about the different things that went into building a ship like the Titanic. After the museum, we started our drive south with a stop at Tollymore Park. Again, this is another filming location for Game of Thrones, so I figured we had to stop for Joe. And boy am I glad we did. All of the walks were absolutely beautiful, and it was such a lovely day for a hike. Once we all stretched out our legs, we got back into the car to finish the short drive to Dublin. Returning the car, riding the bus, and finding our rental apartment took awhile, but we finally made it to Dublin, my home turf. We ate dinner at Nando’s and dessert at Murphy’s. A fine pair if I do say so myself. The rest of the night was spent chatting and getting ready for our last day in Dublin together.

Fun in Tollymore Park!

We started out the day at The Book of Kells. The Book is an illustrated print of the Four Gospels made by Irish monks in the 9th century. It was so cool to see the Gospel from hundreds of years ago and know that God was working then and continues to work in us now. We have such an amazingly cool Father. After the Book, we did some shopping and ate lunch. Our next stop was the Guinness Storehouse. As this was my second time through in the past two months, I kind of hung back and watched everyone’s reactions to the different parts of the museum. It was really fun. At the top, we all enjoyed a Guinness, and I got to witness Jonny trying his first ever Guinness, such a special moment… haha! After the tour, we got some fun gifts and headed to UCD to take a quick tour of campus and pack up some of the stuff that my parents brought home for me. It was really fun getting to show them all around Dublin and UCD. Once we got back to city centre, we ate dinner at The Old Storehouse and spent the rest of the night chatting and getting everyone packed up for their flights in the morning.

Good time for a Guinness!

The next day was short and sad as I had to see off everyone that had come to visit me. Their visit, though short, was very sweet, and I cannot wait to come back and tell them all about my adventures from the second half of the semester. The rest of Departure Day was spent relaxing by myself watching Netflix, until I met Ciara for dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant. I am so thankful that the Lord has given me such a thoughtful friend. She knew that I was having a rough day and did all that she could to keep my spirit up and having fun. We enjoyed some yummy food from Pho Viet, and then decided to go to a movie! It was such a fun weekend, and I’m so excited to see where the next weekend will take me. Until next time Mike, Kristi, Joe, Mary and Jonny! Thanks again for coming to see me!!!

I am so thankful for such a supportive family, and I will always be thankful for the time they took out of their busy lives to come and visit me in Ireland! (Side note: Jonny and I won't see each other until the end of July, so any and all prayers would be appreciated. It's very hard to be apart for so long, but we know that the Lord is working through us, and we ask daily for strength and courage to live out our lives according to His will. Thanks a million :) )

* Weekly Tea Trivia: Antioxidant content: One cup of white tea = 10 cups of apple juice.

Cheers,

Anna