first trip outside of dublin and then ireland

the first time we got to got out of the city was a few days into the trip, we went up to the town of bray, it was about a half hour trip on the dart (ireland's amtrack) and we got to run around the town and climb a small hill, i decided to take a nap in the sun, but i was awoken to dark clouds that looked like they were about to open up with rain and a breeze, i learned very quickly how at the drop of a hat the weather in ireland can change, it began to rain and we all went to eat, took the dart back to dublin, and that was the first time leaving the city, exciting, i know.

my first trip outside ireland was not as exciting as i was imagining it, neither was my first trip to the uk, but we went to a cave system in northern ireland, (in which the country side is beautiful) and since i was taking a class entitled "the history of northern ireland" i was a smidgen nervous while crossing the boarder, because beforehand i knew little to nothing about northern ireland, and what i can come to know was there were a lot of car bombs and 20 years ago they never would be taking us there.

but the caves however were very interesting, and if you don't necessarily appreciate geology, it makes it a lot harder to spelunker through the caves.

the trip however was pretty basic, we drive two hours north, look at caves and rocks, take some cool pictures, head back to dublin, pretty straightforward, and i got to say i had been to the united kingdom, which is a notch i have wanted in my belt for a very long time.

one of my favorite photos that i have ever taken was in these caves, there was a set of stalactites over a small body of water, and since the water was not moving it reflected up in the most beautiful of manners, it looked like a medieval walled city with a castle, and i found another rock that resembled a human skull the way the light hit it. even though the trip was for educational purposes, it was a photo-graphical success.