My Motto: Try Everything!

Today was Day 5. This post is being written at 9:15pm. Today was a fairly rainy and wet day, but that didn't stop the fun!

       My grandpa once said "Ashley, you've got a once in a lifetime trip you are going on" and as any 19 year old granddaughter might say I nodded in agreement and assured him that I knew. He then reminded me and gave me advice to "do it while I'm young because I might never get the chance again." During the time leading up to the trip I developed this motto and this outlook that I was going to try everything (every time I say it I instantly start singing the song from Zootopia). I knew there were going to be adventures on this trip that were going to be downright terrifying, but good ol' grandpa once again knew exactly what he was talking about, and boy was he right. The point here? Today I faced something that was absolutely terrifying to me and there were moments when I was a little bit afraid to climb to the very top or cross the rope bridge, but I knew I had to do it because I very well may never have the chance to return to Ireland, and IF I do, I likely won't have the same opportunities.
        Now that you understand a bit about where I'm coming from writing this post, I can get into more of what "actually" happened today.
        Today we ventured out to the northern coast of Ulster where we made a few stops for pictures and eventually found ourselves touring the Bushmills Distillery. We were able to see how the ever so famous Irish Whiskey is made (yes you can smell it while walking on the tour) and then we ended with trying a shot of the whiskey itself. In addition, we got a complementary drink and were able to eat lunch at the distillery. Following this experience, we continued our bus ride and stopped at Giant's Causeway which was an amazing view and involved quite a bit of rock climbing. Due to the rainy whether the rocks were quite slippery so we were warned to be careful and we were. A few nursing major and I may have had to bandage a finger of one of the professors, but there were no impactable injuries so all was well!
        We made a final stop at the Carrick Rede Rope Bridge and bravely walked across said bridge. It was quite terrifying (I feel like it honestly wouldn't have been bad if it weren't for the gusting winds swaying the bridge), but again, I had to do it because I didn't come all this way to chicken out! The travels from the bus to the rope bridge and back were quite the hike indeed, but provided for more great photo opportunities and I loved every minute, stunningly beautiful it was!

The majority of us students slept on the bus ride home we were so tired which is why I am in bed at such an early hour! Tomorrow is a free day so I can only imagine the adventures and great experiences that will bring!

Stay tuned!

Ashley