day trippin'

I've been doing a bit of traveling in my last couple weeks here! my parents arrived for a visit on monday and so I've been out and about with them, and since exams are finished I'm trying to take advantage of the free time!

adventure #1: trim
the village of trim is the site of a castle ruin from around the time of the norman occupation of ireland. titanilla and I took the bus up for a day and it was great! we walked the castle grounds and the site of the mediaeval village that surrounded the home of the king's representitive. we took a tour of the castle, as the original structure is still pretty much intact and has been restored somewhat to allow people a look inside. the spirally staircases were ridiculous, they were called trip stairs and for a stinkin good reason. they spiraled up clockwise in order to give defenders an advantage - picture swinging a sword with your right arm downwards at a dude fighting you up some narrow stairs with a wall in his way - them normans was geniuses. then we saw the ruins of a chapel called the yellow tower, and an abbey on the river boyne. also we climbed a fence into a pasture (YES Y'ALL I SUCCESSFULLY CLIMBED A FENCE) and tried to pet some sheepy sheep, but the rams were not cool with that. also we came close to stepping in lamb poop and thistles so we got out of there pretty quick.

adventure #2: belfast
catherine and I traveled to belfast because, well, what's the point of being in ireland if you don't visit northern ireland? we traveled up on a friday evening and couchsurfed with this dude named benoit. that was pretty cool, and he took us to some nifty pubs and 80s night at the limelight. woo! in the morning we went to a wetherspoon's pub (a bit like the uk version of denny's - cheap and delicious) and booked a black taxi tour through the concierge called jason at the holiday inn. jason was cool but he copped that we weren't actually guests of the hotel. lucky for us he played along. our black taxi was incredible. the driver's name was jimmy and he took us to some awesome spots highlighting the troubles in belfast. we saw murals depicting the martyrs of the still ongoing disputes, sites of remembrance, and the peace wall - a huge barrier between catholic and protestant communities. peace my eye. there are still burn marks from petrol bombs on the walls and enough security cameras to put shame to fort knox. I'll be uploading the photos soon enough so be ready!

adventure #3: the airport
this wasn't really an adventure but I'm sticking it in anyway. my parents flight was delayed something like eight hours but I did not discover this until I had been waiting at the airport for them for quite a while. long story short, I got to know the arrivals area of daa pretty well. they arrived safely just after lunchtime and at the end of the day, I fell asleep while taking off my shoes.

adventure #4: malahide
the folks and I took a bus up to the village of malahide for a nice day in the country! we got off in no-man's land and had to trek through a forest to find malahide castle, which was cool I guess but we all commented on how the tour was pretty dry and it was lame that we weren't allowed to try on the king's robes. the village was much more interesting, really quaint and stuff, and the docks were pretty awesome with all the sailboats. we had pizza for lunch! also we went to an indiana jones matinee the day before and may I say that harrison ford is still awesome.

adventure #5: dublin bus tour
this tour was cool but the day was cloudy and a bit chilly, so the upstairs of the bus was not so awesome. we stopped at the national gallery, st patrick's cathedral, st james gate (home of guinness!) and phoenix park. the gallery had on a caravaggio exhibit that was excellent! our next trips include galway, adare, the rock of cashel, and they're visiting wicklow today and the giant's causeway tomorrow because I have to work and I am no fun to be around when I have not had my sleep. trust. they are wise to be traveling far away haha.