Day 4 ~ Ireland

Got up at 5am and went on another day tour. We went to a small town that had the house of a guy that hundreds of years ago, long before the animal rights movement, used to punish people who shot animals on his land and helped start animal rights things in the UK which I thought was really cool. We also went to a really old church (cant remember the name because im dead tired) that Christopher Columbus truly went to  when he was a teenager. I wish i could retell all of the amazing history and names of things we saw but there was so much it was a lot to take in, I have it written down back in the room. We saw the remodel of a castle that had the hanging window (theres a famous story that goes with that). The town used to be really big for trading things because its on the water. Our tour guide was really funny (haven't they all been). Then we drove through the most winding up and down road I've ever seen. I was exhausted already and I could barely keep my eyes open so I let myself sleep on the bus to avoid getting sick, though I was very dizzy at certain points. Like room is moving around me dizzy.The drive was about 3 hours and we drove past the most classic "Irish country" scenes you could imagine. Miles and miles of green rolling hills and flowers and small farms with walls made of stone and small wooden fences and fields of hundreds of sheep and cows and a couple llamas.  If I could I would have loved to have spent eternity just laying in one of those fields, I think they might be the most peaceful place I've ever seen in my life. That's how animals should live, not the horrific cruel way they're treated in the US. I saw baby calves nursing from their mothers, other cows and sheep sleeping in the shade and walking together in the sunshine. Some calves were jumping around and clearly playing and they looked so full of joy it made me want to cry. So many animals never get to feel that, I don't understand why the rest of the world can't be that way. Our world can be so horrible sometimes, I wish I could have stayed in that peaceful bubble of happiness forever. On top of everything the sky was amazing, such a perfect day. It was bright blue with big white fluffy clouds. We ended up in this tiny coastal town in a pub for lunch that was so crowded we ended up sharing a table with some early 20 something's that were staying in a hostel in Dublin for different reasons. I heard stories of their experiences there and though they had a lot of complaints about the place in general I loved the way that they had started out strangers and bonded over being travelers together there. I think my next trip abroad I'd definitely like to stay in a hostel for a chunk of time, I've already made some friends on this trip just by being friendly so I can only imagine the sense of community that comes from living with other adventurers. After lunch we continued up the winding roads past more rural farms and several castle ruins. At first glance the ruins didn't look like a lot but the history there is hard to wrap your mind around. We stopped at the top of a mountain and had a view more amazing then any postcard I've ever seen. We were high up with nothing in front of us so from this mountain we could see all of the tiny towns surrounded by green below with mountains off in the distance and the ocean (i think it was the ocean? some huge body of water at least) surrounding it. After another 45 minutes or so we made it to the cliffs of Moher. I think it's impossible to be there and not believe in some kind of higher power or magic. I've seen the best and most beautiful things I've ever seen in my life this week and this was by far the most incredible thing I've ever seen in all of my existence. I don't know if I'll ever see anything that will top it. It's indescribable. No pictures do it justice nor could they. We hiked all the way to the top of the cliffs right next to it to get the best view and just stood there for a while. It was hard to leave and get back on the bus. I slept most of the way home and when we got back at 8 30 we completely lucked out when we got into Dublin because the tour bus dropped us off on the wrong side of the river from our bus stop and we saw our bus sitting there. We knew the next one wouldn't be for a while and the schedule wasn't exactly reliable so we ran over and got to the bus just in time. Seriously, we got on, sat down, and the bus pulled away and left. I was so tired I fell asleep in my clothes on top of my bed when we got back