Wow! Another amazing day in
Ballintoy, Ireland!
We started off the morning
on a rough note, six girls and one bathroom was probably not the best idea.
After some deliberating, Olivia jumped at the chance to go in Mr. Lind's
shower.. somehow managing to flood the bathroom. We proceeded on to the
conference hall to enjoy our first real Irish breakfast: poached eggs, sausage,
bacon, toast, and of course our beloved coffee. At 9:15 on the dot eighteen of
us were on the bus, except guess who..Elliott (it did not even matter because
he used up all his strikes and his ticket to Serbia for tomorrow morning has
already been bought!)
On the bus ride to Giant's
Causeway, we discussed the geology of Ballintoy with Professor Jay Lind. He
informed us of how close we actually were to home! He pointed out Lake Michigan
(The Atlantic), Rhode Island (Sheep's Island), and Hawaii (a random bunch of islands).
As we marched down Giant's
Causeway, listening to our handy pre-recorded tour guide Finn MacCool, the
hipster pics began.
For those of you who do not
know what hipster pics are:
hip·ster
pics
1 [hip-ster
pics]
noun Slang.
1.
a photo taken by a hip person
2.
every picture taken by the OPRF Ireland
students on their trip.
Example:
Then, after our search down treacherous paths,
climbing boulders, the sides of mountains, and steep cliffs, we found the
perfect spot to film our highly anticipated "wifi" Vine. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h37ZxdLX2io
The group split up, giving everyone an hour to
explore on their own before having to hop back on the bus. Fortunately,
everyone was on time except Juliette and Kristen, but we decided to wait for
them so they would not have to "whip out their debit cards and pay for a
taxi." Once on the bus on our way to Dunluce Castle, Elliott FINALLY
noticed an English flag hanging down causing him to inquire why that would be
(even though we have been discussing this since we crossed into The
North.)
Upon arriving at Dunluce Castle, we realized it was
not the Disney depiction of a princess in her castle, as we all imagined, but
the ruins of The McQuillans's castle were enchanting.
We were given a quick introduction on the
history of the regime of the castle and its territory. They gave us one
rule: do NOT climb on the walls. Although it restricted our hipster pics, it
kept us from plummeting 100 feet to the raging rapids below. Fortunately,
our only mishap was Alison's tumble down the hill. Although the scenery was
breathtaking, the sounds of our grumbling stomachs distracted us from taking it
all in.
We loaded up the bus and headed to a town resembling
Coney Island. The kids, minus the chaperone's BFF Emily, all went to an
English restaurant and ordered the closest thing we could find to American
food. After some of us began to eat, we discovered they would not take our
Euros. Critically thinking, Juliette whipped out her debit card and withdrew
100 Shillings from the nearest ATM. After devouring our food and satisfying our
stomachs after our first workout in nine days, we ventured back to the bus
awaiting the arrival of Emily and the chaperones. To our dismay, they arrived
back with ice cream in hand, unwilling to share, causing all of us to have the
"why didn't I think of that?" thought. Their ice cream topping was a
"99 flake" highly recommended by one of Ms. Holtschlag's former
students on the "Ireland Bucket List" she wrote for her.
On the bus ride home, the group discussed taking a
run to the beach, a thought that sounded ideal at the time, after an one hour
nap. When the alarms went off, only the fittest got out of bed and put on their
sneaks. The others rolled over claiming another hour to their naps *cough*
*cough* big girls.
After everyone awoke, we went to dinner at the same
place we dined at the previous night. It was interesting to see who was
adventurous by trying something new versus the picky eaters ordering the same
meal as the night before. To our excitement, we discovered that
the restaurant had a dessert menu consisting of ice cream sundaes.
Ready for bed, we waddled back to the hostel
exhausted from the long day. Somehow, we were able to make it back into the
common room for the highly praised wifi.
Sincerely,
Big Girls
(Kiley & Emily)
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