Shenanigans in Wonderland: I captured a castle and hiked a hill.

Sunrise.

First we went to Trim Castle, which is about an hour away from Dublin in County Meath. It's smack dab in the middle of the cutest little town. I just kept thinking wouldn't it be cool to say, "oh yeah, my house just up the road from the castle." It was a Norman castle apparently intended to prevent Strongbow from taking over more land. It is full of tiny windy staircases, bridges and secret little rooms. And apparently Braveheart was filmed there, so theres another place that both Mel and I have been to.

The Castle!

I wish this was a promo for a tv series...

I'm the Natives, and Kaya is the Normans... who will conquer?

Jesus?

Mikel soakin up the sun.

The top of the castle! The views are beautiful.

This was the tiny ass spiral staircase, and I totally didn't even freak out trying to get down.

After conquering the castle, we all hopped back on the bus and shipped off to Tara Hill. I totally thought, "pshh well its just a hill... how cool can that be?" and it turned out to be really flipping cool for a hill. Tara Hill is where the old kings of Ireland were crowned, where dead were buried, and is generally the heart of the "magic" lands of County Meath. The crazy thing is from the top of the hill on the top of the passage tomb (a large mound) you can see 1/5 of Ireland! I'm talking 1/5 of the entire country in a panoramic view. Climbing to the top of the mound was so gratifying and quite possibly one of the most victorious more freeing moments of my life. I didn't take any photos from there, because I would have no idea how to capture the grandeur of it. It was one of those times when you just have to yell from the top of a hill in reassurance of the fact you are alive.

Thats cows and St. Patrick.
I feel like this is an accurate portrayal of Irish countryside.

They were in the gift shop. I am kind of obsessed with Leprechaun World,
its one of the most kitsch things I have ever seen.

The super duper cute shop.

So, wandering on the hill, I felt all of these flashbacks to Pride and Prejudice. And Elizabeth romping through the wet grassy lands, leaping over puddles to see her sick sister Jane who was in the care of sweet Mr Bingley. Needless to say, it was nothing short of picturesque.

When ancient kings were inaugurated, they would walk around naked and touch this incredibly phallic looking stone. If they were meant to be king the stone would scream...so I had to touch it, of course.

grave for the nationalists

Hello! from way over there!

Pretty Emma, and the fairy tree.

The Fairy Tree! The 8 year old inside of me freaked out when I saw this. You tie anything to it as a sort of wish or prayer. (I made a paper flower from the brochure and tied it on with a string I found) Apparently, this is REALLY where the fairies live... I have been on a life long search and I finally found them!