So Ireland was an incredible vacation. We left from London after a field trip to the British War Museum on Thursday. We walked to the nearest tube station and purchased Oyster cards, the most effective way to travel London, and set out for the town. Our plane was going to leave London's Stansted Airport around 6:30am the next morning and our plan was to board a bus to the airport around midnight and sleep at the terminal until check in at 4am. So we had a lot of time to kill.

Our vacation started at a tiny Chinese buffet in China town near Piccadilly. Five pounds bought us an all you can eat dinner, the perfect start. Then we decided to see Les Miserables, one of the most famous musicals in the world. It was stupendous! Afterwards we hopped around London on the underground and eventually learned the late night bus schedules. We made it to Victoria bus station and after about an hour of probing, discovered where and how to get to Stansted. We arrived a little after 1am, not too bad.

We tried to sleep in the airport which looked like a refugee camp of weary travelers. However, apparently every time we attempted to sleep somewhere, that was just where the airport was just about to open some new gate. So our sleep was constantly interrupted. Arrrggg. It was around 3am that I discovered I had a pocket knife and over 5ooml of shampoo, which would both be confiscated at security, so I spent time trying to think of how to keep them. Eventually, I found myself in the airport chapel and proceeded to stash the contraband in a broken cabinet that faced a wall. I prayed they'd be there when I returned five days later.

We boarded the flight, and we asleep before take-off. Landed in Dublin, already exhausted, and went to get our rental car. Upon reaching the counter, we discovered that the website we had gone through didn't reflect the policies of this particular rental company who did not rent to anyone under 24... after an hour of negotiating with the home office, it was acceptable for me (23) to rent the car because I was American and we get our licenses usually around 16 instead of 18 like it is in Europe. U-S-A, U-S-A!!!

Thus began one of the most stressful weeks of driving in my life. The car was a stick, but of course it and the steering wheel were both on the wrong sides. We drove on the wrong side, so now left turns were wonderful, but right turns were horrible. But by far the worst part was that Irish roads are so narrow. Highways were just like the colonies, but country roads, where we spent most of the trip, were barely a single car width, and we would often meet cars nose to nose.

We drove through Dublin, which was horrible, I hate European traffic and drivers, to get south to a beautiful place called Glendalough (Glen-Del-Lock). It is famous for being truly Irish. Its the greenest, cleanest, most pristine place I've ever been. There is an ancient monastic village there with a round tall tower that is in most Irish post-cards... you can see a picture of it above. Glendalough also has two lakes that are simply gorgeous. It is everything you'd think of being Ireland.

We left Glendalough about midday, and drove through the Irish country side for about three hours, eventually coming to a highway that led us to Limerick, the biggest city on the western coast. We got there around 11pm our first night. Now I hadn't slept real well since the night before, although we took a 2 hour nap at Glendalough, however my friends, Bryce and Nick hadn't slept in two days since they had put off their final papers until the night before, so they were in desperate need of beds. However, the whole week leading up to our trip I had wanted to plan it out, while they didn't want to take the time... I didn't like that until I found out we had a car, at which point I thought I'd sleep in the car the whole trip... not too comfortable on the back, but sure is nice on the wallet, and requires no planning. Well a total lack of planning results in no beds in Limerick at midnight... so it turned into all of us sleeping in the car that night. However, I wasn't tired yet, and decided to drive on south to Tra Lee.

We woke up in Tra Lee and went to a pub for coffee around 10am. We had actually slept pretty well, but the guys wanted beds the rest of the time so we were going to book hostels for the rest of the nights. In the pub the owner came up to us with our coffee and noticed we were trying to plan a time in Ireland. He asked us how much time we had in Ireland, about 4 more days, and then he proceeded to grab our map and explain exactly what we should do and see to get the best Irish experience and see what the tourists never get to on their buses. Patrick, which is what we named him since we never got his name and he turned out to be such a saint to our trip, turned the whole week around.

Going off Patrick's advice we drove the Dingle peninsula, the South Western most tip of Ireland. To get there you drive up a mountain pass, with Ireland on one side and the Atlantic and the Dingle Peninsula on the other. The Dingle peninsula is very cliffy. The views were breathtaking, and the video below shows the scene. Dingle is as close as you can get to the states. It took a whole day, and much more stories than you can take.

That night we drove to Killarney, a tiny Irish town in south Ireland. I had booked the guys a hostel and when I went to check them in the clerk noticed that I hadn't checked myself in. He asked what my plans were and I told him I'd sleep in the car to save money, he offered me a free bed, so how could I refuse. Killarney was a wonderful tiny Irish town. Then the next day we went to church the next morning in Killarney Cathedral. And walked in Killarney national forest.

We left Killarney by driving through the massive national forest, by this time I felt pretty secure on the roads, which was good, because every road in Ireland is a twisty-turny experience... I now understand the massive appeal of driving porches through roads like that. We proceeded to the Beara peninsula, which is the south-eastern most peninsula or Ireland. Ireland has three main peninsulas Beara, Kerry, and Dingle. Everyone goes to Kerry cause its the largest and most easily navigable by bus, but Beara and Dingle have very narrow, hair-pin curved roads, so most tourists never get there. We stopped every few miles to take in the scene. It too was gorgeous. We even drove down a farmer's access road to get to the edge of one outcropping.

After a long day on the Beara penninsula we drove into Cork, another major southern city on the south east coast. Our hostel that night was above a pub and we spent the evening listening to a local Irish band (my favorite type of music) and watching Rugby... it was crazy cause Ireland was playing Argentina in the Rugby world cup. It was intense, especially when they lost, but most people handled it well.

The next day saw the most variety of sites. We drove from Cork down to Cobh which is famous for being the last port of call for the Titanic, so the last land the ship saw was the cathedral at the port of Cobh. I got a great picture of where the ship was docked. Then drove to Blarney to see the castle and kiss the stone. From there drove up to Cashel the location of a famous castle called the ROCK of Cashel... it too was breathtaking and a fun time. Then finally we ended up in Dublin, and enjoyed the city. The next day we woke up, drove to the airport said goodbye to Molly, that's what we named the car, and eventually boarded our flight. Arrived at Stansted, recovered my stashed knife and shampoo, and made our way back to Oxford.

Believe it or not but this was just a short overview of the vacation. I can't hardly put it into words. It was stressful driving and at times God really protected us, because we were close to being in several wrecks. It was also way more expensive than I had been planning but in the long run I'm glad I did it and it was worth it all. I have incredible pictures, but sadly can't post them all. Ask me about it.

When I got to Oxford, I really experienced "homesickness" for the first time. I greatly missed my friends, Shelby, and my family. I think it was a result of actually returning from a vacation, which is what this whole experience has felt like, and realizing that I'm still not home. I went through a debriefing of sorts, like after every long vacation but still wasn't home with the people I love... so that was a difficult time for me. While waiting for the plane, we watched the tv show The Office, which is a tradition I had with my best friends at Tabor, and all I wanted was to be back with them watching the Office again. But such is life.

Ireland was incredible, the people were so nice... nicer than the British I am willing to say. We watched soccer in a Dublin pub and were immediately included in the family. It is truly as green, pure, and wonderful an island as you've heard. I understand why lucky charms are so charming. St. Patrick's day will take on a whole new meaning for me.