Ruins are more beautiful than adorned castles, for ruins are the cathedrals of time

- Ben Caesar

So we rented a 1976 Volkswagen bus - all original, down to the motor and the roll down windows. Her name is Poppy and Poppy is freakin' awesome. I mean, if you are going to get lost in the Irish countryside, you might as well do it in style. Poppy never let us down once, happily chugging along bumpy, knobby, winding, steep roads and roads we were not quite sure we would fit down. Initially Cody was not sure about the whole thing - going all the way to Ireland to rent a dubious looking bus and sleep in it - when you could just have easily found a nice car and a hotel bed? My answer to that was and still is -  where is the fun in that? Especially once we picked up Poppy, and the owner showed us the Just in Case Bag. "This bag" he says, "has everything you need that road side assistance will not have, in case you break down - Volkswagen bobs and bits - but you should be fine". I started to wonder just exactly what we were in store for. The Just in Case Bag doesn't much assuage the 'what have I got us into' feeling.

In the end, Poppy was everything and more. I wanted to bring Poppy home.

Anyways - first stop in Poppy was Dunluce Castle - built in 1500.  Perched precariously on top of some sheer cliffs - Dunluce defies time. Dunluce stands in the center of some dramatic Irish history including tales of a local banshee. And how the castle kitchens fell into the sea one stormy night in 1639.

 Every castle needs a banshee, you cannot be a castle in ruin without banshee lore.

Wandering around Dunluce, with the sea spread before you - makes you wonder just what it was like to live in a place of stone, brazenly daring the elements to knock your kitchen into the sea.