Erin in Ireland

Swimming in the Moyle Sea at Ballycastle

The castle where Monty Python and the Holy Grail was filmed in Scotland! Photo credit to Libby Perkins.

Here comes the sun... Photo Credit to random man on the street.

Nessie nibbling our toes! Photo credit to Jordan/Jackie (other Americans on Scotland Tour)

Isle of Skye. Best hike of the trip. Fear of heights again defeated!

Faerie Glen: set of Stardust.

Me and Libby in front of Westminster on Easter Sunday!

Parliament, where all the suits and pigs work.

SHAKESPEARE'S GLOBE!!!

Harry Potter Bridge in Scotland!

More Faerie Glen!

Me and Libby after swimming with Nessie in the Lochness.

Famous Rebel Battle Field.

Les Bourgeois de Calais by Rodin in London. It is one of my favourites by Rodin, and twice as powerful in real life.

Also, Abbey Road!

What a crazy couple of weeks! I just realized that I haven't updated this in almost a month.

Let me begin with spring break. Libby and I made the pond hop to London for the first weekend of break. We visited all the main attractions including the Tower of London, Trafalgar Square, The National Gallery, The Globe Theatre, Abbey Road, Buckingham Palace (on Easter Morning to say hi to the Queen), Parliament, St. Paul's Cathedral, the HARRY POTTER BRIDGE aka the Millennium footpath bridge, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and much more. We stayed in a rockin' hostel in Camden town, which is famous for it's music scene. LONDON WAS PACKED. For such a spread out city, it sure was crowded.

Next, we flew to Edinburgh to begin our great Scottish Highland Adventure. We went with a tour through MacBackpackers, which is pretty much run by college kids and people who don't want to work behind a desk. SO IT WAS AWESOME. This is what we saw:

Day 1:
- Edinburgh
- Dunkheld
- Ruthuern Barrocks
- Aviemore (Lunch)
- Tomatin (Whisky)
- Loch Ness

Day 2:
- Clava Cairns (Burial 'kerns')
- Culloden Battle Field
- Rogie Falls
- Gairloch Beach
- Eilean Donan Castle
- Skye!

Day 3:
- Slig Burn (Eternal Beauty)
- Portree
- Faerie Glen
- Quirang (Cliff)
- Kilt Rock
- Old Man of Storr (Walk)

Day 4:
- Donan Castle (shop)
- Loch of Scotland
- Ben Nevis (UK highest mountain)
- Whisky Distillery
- Harry Potter Bridge
- Glen Coe
- Castle Stalker (car scraped)
- Oban

Day 5:
- Hairy Coo Safari
- St Conan Kirk (Church)
- Kilchurn Castle (love story)
- Tynedrum (Lunch)
- Hamish the Coo
- Doune Castle
- Wallace Monument
- Edinburgh

So my favorite parts were the hikes, the story telling, and the faeries. I really felt like I was in either Lord of the Rings or Stardust most of the time. I have never felt so connected to a land and it's history. This is mostly due to the lack of Braveheart reenacting and old people. This tour only accepts people under the age of thirty, so the crowd was wild and ready for adventure. I would highly recommend the MacBackpackers Tour! After we finished the tour, we had a day to kill in Edinburgh, so we went to Edinburgh Castle to see the Crown Jewels of Scotland and the Stone of Destiny. Next, we hopped on a bus to see Rosslyn Chapel. It was under construction, but still awe inspiring. The mason work was unbelievable! Unfortunately they didn't let me and Libby into the crypt to find the Holy Grail, but at least we tried!

I think of all the places I have ventured to, I know I will go back to the Highlands...

So now, I am back in Portrush for the final two weeks here in Northern Ireland. Leaving my internship at Corrymeela in Ballycastle was difficult to say the least. I grew very close to many people that I lived and worked with at the reconciliation centre. I spent my final weeks there pulling together some of the projects that Paul, the centre director, and I were working on. I created a new welcome image for the Croi (which means the Heart in Irish). The Croi is the reflection building/place of worship. It is also used for meetings and other events. I also finished a desktop research review on spiritual retreat centres in the UK. My final weekend at Corrymeela was probably the best weekend I had during my internship. It was community weekend, so all 160 of the official community members descended onto our little hill of harmony and had a crazy, intense weekend of discussions, reflections, and music. I spent most of the weekend taking care of the kids who come with the community members...It was kind of like summer camp. Also, me and my friends Eva and David decided to start every morning during our last week with a dip in the icy Moyle Sea. I have really grown attached to the North Coast and all it's oceanic beauty. So, we would wake up at 645AM and trek down the road to the beach, which I could look out on every day at Corrymeela. After a few minuted of admiring the sunrise and pumping one another up for the plunge into the clear blue-green water, we would sprint wildly into the water. It only took about 5 minutes for my limbs to become completely numb, but the feeling of the cold, clear ocean water running down my back did more for my morning then any espresso. We then celebrated our accomplishment each morning with large omelets and toast. I think I will remember those mornings for a long time.

Nigel, our fearless leader, led us to Dublin after our internships ended. We spent the week doing a mix of touristy things and serious things including going to Parliament, Trinity College and saw the book of Kells, Kilmainham Jail, Guinness Store House (most visited place in Ireland...), Literary Pub crawl following Oscar Wilde, James Joyce and others, St. Stephens Green, Glen Cree Reconcilliation Centre, Wicklow Mountains, Mourne Mountains, and a tour of Nigels home village. Lots of fish and chips were consumed.

SO now I am back where I started in lovely Portrush! Full circle! See you all in TWO WEEKS! USA USA USA USA USA!!!