Wexford, Ireland

This past Friday, we went to county Wexford. We made a few stops, and learned a whole lot about the historic battles that took place for freedom in Ireland.

The first place we stopped was a museum called the 1798 museum, where we learned in more detail about the battles that took place right here in Ireland. The museum's designs were in great detail, and it was very artistically designed. At the end of the tour, we got to see some of the weapons (some were original and some were duplicated replicas) that they used in war. I'm not a gun person, but it was cool to see and actually hold the guns to put in perspective what the soldiers were working with. We also got to dress up in some clothes from that time period, which of course I took full advantage of, as did the other girls.

Afterwards, we stopped at the really awesome Irish National Heritage Park, in which replicas of ancient Ireland structures (homes, places of worship, ovens, tombs, etc) were reconstructed to represent the great changes over time in Ireland.

The tour was really cool. The entire tour is outside, and ours was guided. So you walk on paths outside, that are set up according to the time the object was built. They made it so, essentially, you're walking through time, seeing the developments Irish people made. We saw homes built by the very early Irish a few thousand years ago, special burial grounds that were unearthed, and chapels in the early monasteries. We got to see how the poor and rich lived, and how hard of a life it was for a monk back then. My favorite part though, and perhaps the coolest, was when we got inside of a viking's boat. The tour guide was really great, and helped answer any questions we had about life back then. It was a very unique experience, getting to see how things were built back then, and what were used for simple tools.

Just a short way, only 15 minutes or so, was Curracloe Beach, which Sister Mary took us to afterwards. We had a ton of fun in the short time we were there. Although it was way too cold to swim, we still dipped our toes in the water. This is the same beach that the film 'Saving Private Ryan' was filmed on, and it was incredibly beautiful.

We then took a trip to the mountains, which to my surprise was more beautiful than could be imagined, and pictures do it no justice. The mountain sides here are so breathtaking, and the horses, sheep, goats and mules run free. I guess the farmers round them up somehow, but Sister Mary said that most of the horses at least are wild, and they haven't been tamed by a farmer.

The roads are narrow, about as wide as the mini bus itself, and they are winding and rather scary, coming close to the cliffs of the mountain. The horses that I was infatuated with, ran beside the mini bus, as we disrupted their meal by passing through.

Once we actually stopped, we got out of the bus and climbed a huge mountain. Now, I'm not saying that the mountain looked easy to climb, but it definatley didn't look like it was as hard as it actually was. The wind whipped in our faces and it was raining, so the cold combined with the rain and wind really made it hard to breathe. We got to rest a little when a tiny dog came running up to us looking for a good belly rub.

It was all worth it though, the top of the mountain was gorgeous, and the storm settled once we got up there, and a rainbow appeared. It was magical.

The day was fantastic, and on the way home, Sister Mary told the bus driver to stop, and this tiny, amazing woman ran out of the mini bus to pick some wild heather for some of the girls on the bus who said they had wanted some. I just thought it was too cute, and snapped a few pictures. All in all, this was probably my favorite field trip with Sister Mary so far.