Ireland, Day 4

Sunday June 13, 2010

This morning (which feels like so, so long ago) began early. 6 am wake up, in order to meet at the hotel in Dublin at 7:45. Once there, we packed up and drove off, with much fewer driving incidents than the day before. However, it was still rather terrifying at times. I tried to sleep in the backseat, but the driving was so jerky, and we kept hitting the curb, so I was on edge most of the way to Portrush.

We stopped at McDonald's for breakfast (John’s idea) where a kind employee stopped working for a bit to drive and lead us to the Causeway Coast Vineyard Church. (This is the Church where the amazing worship leader/songwriter, Kathryn Scott, leads worship.) It was different for me to be at a new Church in such a large group- I’m used to visiting Churches by myself, making easy to meet people. But in a group of seven, I think other people were intimidated to come up to us, and I didn’t really try to approach anyone. Essentially, I blew my chances of finding a lovely young Irish lad. Shoot. We were semi-announced, however, and one girl (originally from the Anaheim Vineyard, of all places) connected with us. Her name is Sydney. She was great. We’re facebook friends. :) We headed out shortly after the service, to finish the journey to the coastal town of Portrush.

We checked into the Bed and Breakfast, (they didn’t have any hostels here.) and exchanged our money for Northern Ireland Pounds. (They’re part of the UK up here, but had their own special pounds, and not the Bank of England pounds.) Afterward, we went on a very long and backtracking trip to find some ruined castle. We didn’t have very good directions in the first place, and the signposts didn’t help much either. Thanks to the Moore’s stubbornness, we eventually found it.

This was where it truly began to feel like Ireland—the Ireland I had always dreamed of. It was gorgeous, green, fantastic flowers, the deep blue coast, and of course, castle ruins. I was happy. It also inspired me for the idea of a future trip with Mary Kate. I’d love to go back and take more time with photography, and she can paint/draw explore as well. It’d be super cool!

We went to dinner at the Ramore Restaurant, it was recommended by Rick Steves and by the locals. It was in the marina, so by the boats. (I LOVE boats!) Afterward, we walked down to the harbour, where I got some fun photos and watched some boys doing flips off the bridge. Awesome. I was in an introspective mood, so I lagged behind to photograph while the others walked on ahead. We stopped at a pub and a cafe where we got some drinks, then headed back to the B&B. Although still semi-light out, and not very late, we all turned in. At this point a few had allergies and I was still sick, so the energy level was low. We were keeping ourselves very busy, as well, so I think we were pretty worn out.