Where to start

It's been a while and my blog has been neglected. I've spent the past month in Europe on a study abroad, and let's just say my blog was not at the top of my priority list. Now that I'm home though, I must come back to life as we know it, and face the realities of life again...sigh. As far as blogging goes, I don't quite know how to go about tackeling it. I have seen and experienced so many incredible things. There is so much to say and show. It's kind of daunting. There's only one thing to do but get started!

So, a month ago I flew out of Salt Lake City, and after saying good-bye to American soil, I found myself in Ireland 24 hours later. Ireland is probably the most green place I have ever seen. I have never seen that brilliant shade of green in nature before. It was beautiful. In our several day stay in Ireland we visited the Cliffs of Moher (a.k.a. the cliffs of insanity from Princess Bride...for real). We went to the Irish writers museum in Dublin, rode bikes around the island of Inishmore in the pouring rain, visited castles, and stayed in creepy/gross hostels, but we won't dwell on that. While in Ireland we made a stop at Trinity College where we viewed the Book of Kells, which is an ancient manuscript of the four gospels written and decorated in a remarkably beautiful way. Within Trinity College is a room called the Long Room as well, which, like it sounds, is a very long room. Go figure. What is neat and unique about this room, however, is that the walls are lined with bookshelves full of ancient books written by Socrates, Aristotle, and many other great philosiphers of old. I absolutely loved this room. Everything from the smell, to the overstimulation of the eyes trying to take in so many books, and the feeling that came over me to be in the midst of so much history. Yes, it sounds silly, but this room was one of my highlights from the whole trip. I just loved the special spirit the room contained.

Dublin Castle

The street in Galway we stayed on, and yes, many streets are cobblestone and narrow in this part of Ireland. It's pretty neat.

Overlooking the Galway Bay. You can see the city of Galway on the horizon of this picture.

The Cliffs of Moher. If only pictures could do them justice. They don't even come close to showing their majorist enormity.

First comes Ireland, then came Wales, home to some of the most genuine and welcoming people. We stayed in Cardiff and visited Chester for a couple hours where we walked along the top of the wall encircling the the city. The Romans would stand guard on this wall and watch for any threats. In addition, we traveled some more, walked through more castles, and then headed into England.

Skipton Castle

On top of the wall surrounding Chester. P.S. Just disregard any closed eyes :)

On the shores of the Atlantic Ocean in Holyhead. Isn't it beautiful?!

Rather than taking on the overwhelming task of trying to tell you everything I ever did on the trip, and to save you, my fellow reader, from reading a saga of events, I have decided to end this entry here. Keep checking back for part 2 of the European adventures of the British Literary Pilgrimage Tour. England and Paris have yet to come!