Picture it: Ireland, 1999

A tour of western Ireland is one that is hard to forget. It’s said that your senses are tied to memory and this is proven to be true after a tour such as this. As you look across the horizon, the land is flat and a plethora of shades of green. Each square of farm land has a different colour grass, usually complimented by a stone house, or what is left of a house. The stone of the house is rough and jagged, worn over time. The houses that are still standing have roofs covered with grass, which has become dry and brittle.






















As you travel further towards the coast, the land becomes full of trees and hills. You can see a large building hidden between the trees, with its windows reflecting the shining sun. As you approach the building you notice it is a large church, now a tourist attraction, with soft vines running up the stone walls. While walking on the rock covered trail, you can feel the pebbles roll under your feet. The sound of water soon enters your ears and you notice a blinding light coming from the right.
















As you walk closer you can see that it is the sun reflecting off the calm water of a pond. A smooth, flat rock sits beside the pond. The water sounds and looks so peaceful that it is impossible not to stop and enjoy the calmness. When you sit on the rock, the warmth from the sun shining on the rock all day goes through your body. The smell in the air is one of pureness and an environment protected from the harsh pollutants of the city. There are birds all around, singing their songs, which makes it hard to continue on with the tour. The thought of leaving this place and going back to the daily grind is unthinkable when you are this comfortable. But the tour must go on.















As you continue on and enter the old church, you can smell the mustiness of the building. It is the smell of old books and aging wood. The church was so big that the sound moved around very easily and hung in the air. If you listened carefully, it was like you could hear an organ playing and people praying. There are old cloaks and memorabilia of priests who had lived there before. The cloaks are soft and detailed, but slightly discoloured, which only adds to their authenticity. Everything looks so fragile that you feel like you can’t get too close or something might break. There is an intensity in the air that when you leave the building, you can almost feel it lift off of your shoulders. You hate to leave such a peaceful place but the final stop of the tour is still to come.

As the bus pulls into the parking lot, you can smell the ocean in the air. The salt hits your nose and lips. For the rest of the day you can taste the salt water on your lips and it provides a sort of comfort. From the parking lot, all you can see is a small castle-shaped building. When you head up the path towards this building you can start to see the deep blue of the ocean. The waves are crashing causing whitecaps to form.















The sound is incredible and so loud for something that seems so far away. The wind off the water hits your face and you can feel its crispness. Your cheeks and nose turn a shade of red, but it feels so refreshing. At the top of the path, there’s water as far as the eye can see. If you stand towards the edge of the cliff, you can look down and see just how far up these cliffs go. It is nothing but jagged rock all the way down to the ocean. With each layer a different colour and texture of rock is exposed, which helps you see the age and imagine the lands history.
















As the bus pulls away, you can see the land change from cliffs and hills, to the flat farm lands now deserted and grown over. As the bus tour comes to an end and you drive back into the city, the sound of traffic and people rushing around wakes you up from the peace you experienced all day. You lick your lips again to taste that salt air that brings you back to such an amazing place and time. You know once you step off that bus, all your lips will taste like is dust from the sidewalks from all the hustle and bustle of the city.