// a trip to have some peace

In Transition Year, we have a class where we study a local place where we make project and presentation of the place we visited afterwards. This subject is called "Local Studies" and it really enables us to get to know our local places since it often gets neglected and taken advantage since you know, it's always there.  We did weeks and weeks of research and presentation. Then we get to visit it afterwards. 

Dalkey is a small coastal town in County Dublin. The area has been inhabited since Neolithic times, but reached an incredible level of importance during the medieval period. Dalkey Island has an incredibly chequered history for a place that is so small. (Present day Dalkey is very posh lol. This is where rich people lived) Fun fact, Michelle Obama and her daughters also went here during their diplomatic trip to Ireland.

For me, one of the highlights of our trip was the ferry trip to the island. The boat was really tiny, it could only take in 5 people and the ferryman. In our ferry trip to Dalkey Island, there was Lalaine, Jericho, Naomi and I in the boat. The boat ride was really wobbly which resulted to many girls in my year screaming (lol). I admit, I was one of them since I'm not really looking forward to plummeting to the water because it's Ireland, and the water would be freezing. Despite the fear that we felt, we couldnt help but ourselves with the selfies and the videos. We also saw some seals along the way so of course I had to take a picture of it. One of my classmates called them "mini hippos" which made me crack up. 

The view from the island was absolutely breathtaking and majestic. I was feeling very grateful that I got the chance to go there to see the view myself. We brought packed lunch with us in the island and ate there. 

After having lunch, we were given permission to "explore" the island. I was wondering what we were going to do there for 3 hours. Majority of us ran to the top of the hill where the Martello Tower was situated. One of my classmates thought it was like The Hunger Games. 

Just in case you're wondering why is there a tower in the island, back in the days, its purpose was to protect Ireland against Napoleon but I don't think there was ever a record of Napoleon even go to Ireland so basically it was useless. It's not completely a waste though because tourists can visit it.

The picture above this is the Church of St. Begnet. It was built around the 9th/10th century and this was used as a base by the Vikings. There wasn't really much about the church since it was in ruins. The Vikings were supposed to have raided the Christian settlement on the island and the island was put to use as a storage point for slaves. 

We found a herd of goats when we were exploring. The first picture above was taken at the top of a huge stone. At first, I didnt want to go down to goats because first of all, goat poo and they do get crazy if you startle them and turn into demonic goats. But I went anyway because all my friends did. There also may or may not have been a time where I was making goat noises in an attempt to make conversation lol. There were bunny holes in the island but I didn't see any, sadly. 

One of my friends attempted to reenact the scene from Lion King where the monkey was holding Simba. He held up his bag instead, haha! 

Last but not least, here's a picture of me wearing my LA dodgers baseball cap which I absolutely adore. (PS I also got it the day before we went to the trip so shout out to the person who bought it for me. Thank you so much!) All in all, it was a good day out and sometimes you just need to go and have a peaceful day with mother nature. 

Let me know in the comments below if you have visited Dalkey Island or if I've convinced you to visit Ireland after reading this post. Thanks for reading! :) <3