Free week was a blast. Amy Smith and I decided that we were going to go to Ireland for our free week. It was just a gorgeous country and a real testament to God's handiwork. We flew into Dublin and stayed there most of the time. The food was great and we went to a few pubs to get a real taste for the Irish food such as Irish stew an Shepherd's pie which were my favorites. We got in from our plane really late so it was a little nerve racking to be walking around the city of Dublin at 1 in the morning trying to find our youth hostel, but we made it there safely. One of the coolest things we saw in Dublin was bog men in Ireland's history museum. They were these people who were sacrificed by the Norwegian kings to the gods and then had their bodies thrown in the nearby bogs where they were perfectly preserved. One of the bog men that we saw had his organs intact as well as a full head of curly red hair and a beard and mustache as well as fingernails. They looked like they could come to life at any moment. There is a lot of Viking history in Ireland, in fact the most well preserved Viking settlement was found in Dublin, but to my horror I found out that the government was too interested in building there city hall that they bulldozed it. Theystill have a lot of Viking artifacts that we got to see in the museum which was really interesting for me to see because often in history one does not hear to too much about the Scadinavian history beside the fact that the Vikings were feirce seamen who often pillaged the towns of Europe. While we were in Ireland, Amy and I took a day tour to Giant's Causeway, 
Belfast, Derry, and a fisherman rope bridge over the Irish sea. The rope bridge was the most exciting part, however it was rather narrow and was easily blown around with the strong winds. Walking across was crazy, but so worth it. Derry was a beautiful little port town, with a huge wall wrapped around it like Nurnberg. They still had the English cannons up on the walls from the revolt that occured in the town in the 1900s. We also went to Galway while in Ireland, which was another little quaint port town and apparently the home town to the cladaugh symbol. We also we to a cemetry we found while walking outside the town with graves as old as from the 1600s. Most of the graves were marked with tall celtic crosses. We also found a well that supposedly was St. Augustine's well that had cured the town people's eye and ear diseases once they prayed and drank of the water. it was really close to the shore line of the Atlantic so at high tide the well was submerged in water. We stayed in Galway one night before going back to Dublin for our flight out. All in all it was a wonderful trip with only a few bumps in the road. Amy and I were very blessed.
Belfast, Derry, and a fisherman rope bridge over the Irish sea. The rope bridge was the most exciting part, however it was rather narrow and was easily blown around with the strong winds. Walking across was crazy, but so worth it. Derry was a beautiful little port town, with a huge wall wrapped around it like Nurnberg. They still had the English cannons up on the walls from the revolt that occured in the town in the 1900s. We also went to Galway while in Ireland, which was another little quaint port town and apparently the home town to the cladaugh symbol. We also we to a cemetry we found while walking outside the town with graves as old as from the 1600s. Most of the graves were marked with tall celtic crosses. We also found a well that supposedly was St. Augustine's well that had cured the town people's eye and ear diseases once they prayed and drank of the water. it was really close to the shore line of the Atlantic so at high tide the well was submerged in water. We stayed in Galway one night before going back to Dublin for our flight out. All in all it was a wonderful trip with only a few bumps in the road. Amy and I were very blessed.
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