NUI Maynooth and My Time in Ireland: Isle of Anglesey, Wales: Trip and Day 1

After hours of studying and test taking the completion of finals finally came around. With that, NUIM granted all of us students a week and a half break before the start of the second semester. Taking advantage of that, with many thanks to my Grandma Ruth, I set off from Dublin Port on a ferry to Holyhead on the Isle of Anglesey. The Isle of Anglesey is an island off the north west coast of Wales and the largest Island in the Irish Sea. Arriving in Holyhead I made my way to my spacious hostel of Anglessey Outdoors and settled in for the night in preparation for the following day...

Stepping out of my hostel in the early morning, the sun rising up from the windswept hills, I took in the fresh, crisp sea air and made my way up the road to the trail head; my day would consist of a 12-mile hike on a trail going in a circle around holyhead. Reaching the trailhead, (a wood ladder over a stonewall into a farmers field) I took my first steps onto the saturated, mucky, more water than grass trail which would define the first couple miles of my hike. Crosing field after field, running into horses, sheep, and cows, my trek began to take a vertical change. Ascending up Holyhead Mountain was when the real journey began. Gone was the sun, replaced with a sky of gravel grey. Not wanting to be caught at the top of the cliffs when the rain started, I quickened my pace. Alas, it was not meant to be. The sky opened up and rain showered down upon me for two hours, stopping for just my last bit of hiking. Turning the last corner of the trail, the sun broke through the clouds and I was glad to bear witness to the beautiful bay which marked the location of my hostel. Returning to my hostel I treated myself to a well deserved hot shower, ate a dinner of packed peanut butter sandwhiches and a welsh cake (really just a fancy scone), graciously given to me by the lady running the hostel. I write all this thinking my bed has never looked more appealing....