Wednesday, July 13, 2011

European Chronicles July 6, 2011

The Day We Weren't in Ireland... 

Instead, we went a bit North to Holy Island. Google it in you're interested. It's quite lovely (aren't I sounding English already?). We had to check the tides last night to figure out when to go, but if you don't, you could end up like this: 

There were signs all around the island warning us to check the tides and not get stuck. (Obviously you can drive there during low tide. Obviously you're an idiot if you try to drive in or out during high tide). 

 We got our times right today and made it out there safely. There was only one close call on the way out--Nathan was glancing at the water when a plane flew super flow, causing quite the rumble, and freaking us (Nathan) out. He was mainly freaked out because 1. He wasn't exactly looking at the rode and thought perhaps a semi was about to collapse on us and 2. His strong protective instincts kicked in because he had three ladies in the car with him. Uh huh. 

Anyway, when we got to the island, our tummies were rumbling a bit like the low plane, so we stopped at a cafe to get some food. We were (by far) the youngest there. I ordered a samich and some chips and a DIET COKE (not Cola Light) and guess whaaaaat??? It was FREEZING cold! I was a bit more excited than I should have been. I didn't realize how much I missed cold soda. Delightful to the last drop...

Then we checked out the Priory, the church, and of course, the graveyard (they have lots of those over here). We even saw a fresh-ish grave. It was from this year, had a shiny headstone, and the earth was still a bit raised up. I was slightly weirded out, but everything was really pretty. Then we headed toward the castle and it began to spinkle on us. Surprisingly, this is really the first rainy day we've had. We've been quite fortunate. Lukily, we had umbrellas and we trugged on. Nathan did a bit of planking on the stone wall leading up to the castle. We admired the castle from the outside, but didn't pay to go in.

We headed back toward the town because we wanted to see this exhibit they had of some old gospels. Unfortunately, they only had a replica there, but we did get to learn a lot about it and watched an interesting video about ancient Viking raids of the island. Then we decided to head back and beat the tide--no one wants to pay 4000lbs to be rescued! 

It started pouring on the way home and I fell asleep. When I awoke, we were close to Durham and it was bright and sunny. Delightful. Nicole went to the store after we got home and Sam and I hung out and read. I started (and finished) a really interesting book today (Nothing in My Hand I Bring by Ray Galea) about the differences between Catholics and Protestants. It was quite fascinating and (obviously) a quick read. I'd definitely recommend it for anyone on either side (or outside) the spectrum. 

Anywho, when Nicole returned, we played extra hands in the kitchen and helped her whip up some deliciousness--sour cream bake--which she learned about from Pioneer Woman's blog (hilarious and awesome--google it). Dinner was YUMMY and she even treated us to some Magnum bars for dessert. We hung out and chatted and Nathan fiddled around on the guitar for the rest of the evening. 

We're not quite sure what tomorrow will hold. York maybe? We're going to play it by ear and trust that God had bigger plans for us than Ireland. I know that's true, but I'm just really bummed that we couldn't take Nathan and Nicole to Ireland. My heart was so looking forward to that experience with them and doing something nice for them after they so graciously opened their home to us. Now they just have to play tour guide and entertain us around England. Hopefully we can make it up to them. They're pretty amazing, and I love them. :)

Thanks for reading and keeping up with my European adventures. Much love!!

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