It was sad to leave Ennis. I miss the yellow and blue flags! County Clare has a hurling competition in Dublin tonight--it's a big deal, it's the finals! I miss the kind people the most; people from County Clare are just genuinely amazing. We started off this morning across Ireland to Dublin. The roads are so narrow; our fantastic coach driver clips the hedges as he drives. Everything is so beautiful. We had to get out of the hostel so fast because we wanted to get into the Boyne valley pretty fast. We passed a lot of interesting things I couldn't photograph, including a cylindrical tower, which can only be found in Ireland and which pre-date the vikings. We also passed the castle where Braveheart was filmed, which is the largest inclosed castle in all of Europe.
We went to Newgrange, one of the most sacred spots in Ireland. Newgrange tombs are 500 years older than the pyramids. Newgrange is this incredibly preserved burial mound, which we were able to actually go in. What an experience! The feeling inside was just incredible. We got to see a small demonstration of what happens there at the Winter Solstice--this little tiny bit of light snakes through the chamber, bit by bit, until it fills the whole room, brightening everything for just one moment. What an amazing feeling, knowing that, on the darkest day of the year, the ancient people would go there to see the light fill the room, just on that one day. It did feel, I don't know, holy I guess, in a way. I wonder what all those ancient people knew. Brother Merrill talked about what a struggle they had to understand the meaning of life. Being in there, though, I wondered if maybe they understood life well enough, and if it's us that are all struggling still to grasp it.
We went to Knowth, next, which also was an amazing experience. All these ancient, ancient places, with such rich history and mysterious background.
