We were able to sleep in again, yes! We drove to Carrickfergus Castle, which is probably the best preserved castle standing in Ireland. The castle was built by John de Courcy in 1177 and was primarily used as a battery. Over the decades, the castle changed hands many times and different parts were added. For a castle that has been standing on the coast of Ireland for over 800 years, it is in incredibly good shape. We had a tour guide who showed us around and gave us some of the history, but for now all you need to remember is that it is an old castle that is awesome! We ate a sandwich lunch outside of the castle and met some 12 year old Irish boys who took an interest in some of the guys' hacky sack. They proved to be very skilled although they had never seen it, because apparently ever kid in Ireland plays soccer. They used a lot of words we had never heard before like for juggling a soccerball they called it uppity upp. We then drove a few miles to a lighthouse, but first we had to climb to it.
It was approximately a 2 miles hike up the mountain with luscious vegetation on our left and the Irish coastline on our right. We then climbed up a rickety path up to the lighthouse which was just beautiful because as we got higher we could look down on the towns below and the sheep pastures and cute houses. On top of the mountain, we layed down in the soft grass and I napped while others sketched in their journals our just enjoyed the sunshine. Oh, did I mention that today was beautiful!! We spent a while up on the mountain then made our way down the opposite way, enjoying again the blue water and sea breeze. On the trip back we picked up an old lady whose car broke down and took her to her house while her husband watched the car. She was actually in the car ahead of me so I didn't get to talk to her, but I thought it was a good deed that I could somehow reap the benefits of through association.
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