Giant's Causeway

For 99% of our stay in Ireland, we were at a hostel called Finn McCool's. The name alone was terrifying and didn't make the hostel seem the most trustworthy. But surprisingly enough, this hostel was, without a doubt, the best one we stayed in all summer. 

My favorite part was the sun room. All glass, and it had just the most beautiful view of the sunset. I loved cozying up in that room with some tea and my journal. Having some me time, which (believe it or not, ha!) is hard to find when you're staying in hostels for multiple weeks.

The owner of the hostel was super cool. Hence the name, I'm sure. He had his own restaurant, and was always trying out new recipes. That meant that we were the guinea pigs! While we were there, he had free pizza night. He provided us with all of the necessary ingredients, most of it he had made himself during the day. He even made his own sausage! He gave us a few different types of sausages, other meats, cheese, and homemade sauce and dough. He showed us how to (professionally) make a pizza, then we all got to work making our own. He baked them for us on his patio in his wood stove and oh my lanta they were the best pizzas. And it was so much fun to sit around the kitchen with everyone staying in the hostel making pizza! He also has the cutest husky ever, who was actually still a puppy despite his size. He was such a love.

The hostel also had an ideal location. We were just down the road from the Giant's Causeway, one of the most famous places in Ireland. We were only there for two nights, so our whole day was spent exploring the area nonstop. We started off in the morning with a full English breakfast at the hostel, then headed over to the Causeway. It was beautiful, and really neat to witness such a rare natural occurrence. But I must say, from the photos I'd always seen, I expected it to be much larger than it turned out to be. It's one of those funny things where you have an image in your mind already before you get there, and it's not that reality isn't just as great, it just doesn't fit into that mold you've made. 

There wasn't much to do other than take pictures and admire the view, so we didn't stay at the Causeway long. But right before we left, we did find something really cool. On the backside, people wedged coins into the rocks and made wishes. It was amazing to see all of the coins from all over the world. Some were so old that they looked as though they were melting into the rocks. Some were shiny and brand new.