Ireland: Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge

The walk to the rope bridge on the coast of Northern Ireland in Country Antrim.

 Our leader Marty's wife, Sylvia, crossing the rope bridge.

 Maura followed by the others in our group! The bridge was very stable, but they do shut it down sometimes due to wind and rain.

 The rope bridge from afar.

 Some of the dysfunctional group on this trip. This was the best picture out of six others, believe it or not.

 Aron being the model of the group, this grass on the hillside was so comfortable, it was like a big bed!

 Turns out we were on private property up here, but the sign was on the bottom of the hill, we saw it on the way down. Rebels.

Ireland: Belfast

So our classes have addressed the issue between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, but they definitely did not prepare us for what Belfast was going to be like. We had two bus tours when we arrived in Belfast: one by a Catholic and one by a Protestant. They both explained to us the struggle on their side of the Peace Wall (seen below) and it was pretty intense. In this picture, we are on the Protestant side. Our tour guide on this side said that in 1993, he was sitting in a pub with his friends when a bomb went off in the building next to his and he had to run over and help dig out bodies of people who he knew in his town. The youngest body they pulled out was a 7 year old girl. That was only 20 years ago. 15 years ago, the peace treaty was signed to bring peace between the two sides, however nothing has changed. There is less violence but both sides say that they are scared of the other. This is why the wall has not been taken down just for that reason. The wall is grafitti'd with messages of peace and art of the peace wanted between the two sides.

"Peace for Belfast, Peace for the world."

 On a brighter note, an Oregon sticker! Northern Ireland, represent!

 I know this isn't the best picture, but these gates up ahead are what separate the two sides at the end of the peace wall. They lock shut at 7pm and open again at 7am. I felt like I was in a movie or some kind of movie set. It is insane to me that Ireland can contain a place with such history that still lies between two conflicting sides. However, the two sides do want peace, they just are scared of the other side. As long as no one makes a move, these gates will still close and lock the other sides from each other.

 There are tons of murals in Belfast as well, painting pictures of the Revolution and conflict. Bobby Sans is featured in many of them. He was one of the leaders during the Revolution. Belfast was definitely an interesting place. We talked to some people in local bars in the Belfast City Center and they said that the conflict is not a big deal, so it still is only very prevalent within the peace wall limits.

Ireland: Walking Tour

Colin and Zoe! These two together are a hoot, if you couldn't tell.

 On our walking tour through Dublin, the clouds rolled in and overtook the blue skies, this picture I thought was awesome and very telling of the weather in Dublin.

 Jim Larkin, the leader of the 1913 Lockout. This statue is on O'Connell Street on the North side of Dublin.  We went to see The Risen People, a play preformed at the famous, Abbey Theater, and it was an amazing telling of the 1913 Lockout.

 O'Connell Street

 The House of the Mayor of Dublin

 And his awesome blue door.

 This man was the President of Trinity College in Dublin, and when the college was first founded, no girls were allowed to study there. And the President said that girls could study here only over his dead body. So, when he died, he was cremated and his ashes buried under the entrance of Trinity college, so when girls first entered the college, they literally entered over his dead body. This photo was photobombed by Tessa.

 The National Bank of Ireland, Obama has been here!

 The podium, the chandelier is made out of 206 pieces. It is gorgeous.

  
This doesn't really go along with the walking tour, but Zoe and I love to go to Goose on the Loose, especially for lunch. They have a student discount and the soup, crepes, and omelettes are divine!

Ireland: Howth

Howth is the cutest little seaside town in Dublin. My friend Zoe and I took a spontaneous trip via the DART (Ireland's railway) and ended up in this town. As we were approaching Howth we saw a full rainbow over the beach. It was incredible and we couldn't wait to get out a snap pics. But then right as we got off it started raining, and not just normal rain but crazy winds and insane amounts of rain. It was hurting our faces to be in it. So the rainbow was gone and we took shelter in a little cafe. After the rain stopped we ventured outside into the harbor.

 Zoe, the model.

 Me, the awkward non photogenic model.

 Howth has a few lighthouses, this one at the end of the jetty!

 The island off of the harbor of Howth.

 The Zoester.

 So we took a 45 minute stroll trying to find a B&B, and ended up walking through the residential areas. Howth is kind of a well-to-do town but there are definitely little cute areas where the houses aren't insane. Most of them looked like this, bright houses with bright doors, winding up hills with little parks and churches.

 Football!!!

 More football!!! We actually stopped on this little turf field where three boys were playing football and we kicked around a flat ball for a bit.

 We finally made it to the hike that goes along the coast of Howth and it was gorgeous. Oh and the torrential rain happened twice but we lucked out and found places to hid until it subsided. The rest of the day was fine and our hike was muddy and beautiful!

 So the houses near this hike were the very nice, ritzy ones, but this is what their backyards look like!

 Before I pushed her off.

 There were lots of groups taking this trail too, tons of kids who were getting bribed by candy bars. Naturally, I tried to sneak into the group but ended up empty handed.

 The wind was so strong we could lean forward and the wind held us.

 The mud was so bad at some points it was like a slip n slide on a narrow path over a cliff. Yeah, super sketchy.

 "Try not to slip and fall off"

 "Look, mud."

 Another lighthouse! Our stay was awesome and we were in a B&B where each room was named after a lighthouse in Howth, the breakfast was awesome and totally Irish. And the bars weren't half bad either. This won't be the last time I see Howth, I love it!