I really like the UK. I had previously only been to London and I really loved it, but this past week I can add Glasgow, Scotland and Belfast, Northern Ireland to the list, and I loved it even more! We took a trip to Glasgow which is supposedly where the Howie’s come from, and it was so fun to explore. We took a boat cruise around Loche Lomond, visited Sterling castle, tried haggis, as well as fed and pet highland cows. It was a whirlwind day, but so so much fun!
We had 5 hours of sleep before going back to the UK for our trip as a group to Belfast. I loved the titanic museum! I (like many people) went through a titanic obsession when I was little. It was such an immersive experience and I really enjoyed the little ride that they threw in the middle. After the museum we had time to explore the city and I really like smaller cities with a population of around 300,000 and Belfast (as well as Granada where I studied abroad in the spring) is like that. We had delicious seafood from the port city and headed off to learn about the religious tensions in the region from a black taxi tour.
The following day was lots of nature as we walked the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge and went to the Giant’s Causeway. I had been on many suspended rope bridges before so I walked across in awe taking photos and spinning around to get different angles rather than holding on and trying not to look down. The Giant’s Causeway was unlike anything I had ever seen and the folklore behind it was incredibly interesting to me. We had such a lively guide who is just one generation of a family of storytelling guides in the Giant’s Causeway. You could tell his love for the place and the tradition as he even caught us tearing up at the end when he talked about finding our own place of home like he has there.
With only 2.5 weeks left, it’s hard to not be counting down and savoring the days left. It gets harder and harder to live in the moment when you know your days in a place are numbered, and of course that’s when being in the moment matters most. I’ve been learning this lesson throughout my life, but it is no more in your face than when you are studying abroad and seeing your time in Europe slip away. I know we have so much more excitement here left to come, and I can’t wait to continue learning and exploring around Ireland!