Fox Gloves and The Legend of Blue #7

(The following events happened on SATURDAY July 13, 2013)

    We started the day with a surprise. I had a small case of jet lag and got lost while the rest of our group faced the not so lavish breakfast we were hoping for. But, we refused to let that kill our spirits as we boarded the bus to Powerscourt Gardens, a beautiful place with so many different species of flowers it would be impossible to count the variety. My amazement turned quickly into nostalgia when little fox glove flowers came into view on the little walking path. Memories of the silly name and its feature role on one of my favorite childhood shows, Dragon Tales, flooded through my mind as I got close. I'll probably remember seeing my little fox gloves forever. We then ate lunch at Lynham's, a small restaurant (founded in 1776!) that served us small finger sandwiches and this amazing soup!

     Then came the bus ride to Glendalough, (Irish for "land between two rivers"), one of the monastic sites in Ireland with a rich history and a beyond beautiful landscape to match. We spent our time there marching up the scenic routes with lush green hills and trees whose height can only be matched by skyscrapers. At the end of the passage we arrived at the lake. The view was breathtaking. The perfect clear water and the green grassy land surrounding was really a sight to see. We spent the ride back to UCD counting the horses and sheep as they passed and simply people watching. 

     We finished out the day in the UCD restaurant eating dinner and headed for the bowling alley! At the Stillorgan Leisureplex we played in groups of 5 or 6 and showed our competitive spirit. I almost won second place, but after a few rounds of all gutter, my spot was taken easily and I dropped to 4th place. While my only strategy was to hit the pins, Erin teamed up with Sheridan, a new friend from D.C., to create the duo SHERIN! But I think the real fun started when a few of us decided to play a game of Quasar, a version of laser tag where we split into color coded groups. We played for about half an hour with a victory for the Blue team (my team of course). As much as I would like to say I was the backbone of the team, the exact opposite is true. I've probably gotten shot at least 100 times and had to charge every other minute. Now, unlike Laser Tag back home where each player picks a nickname, each player was identified by their team color and number on their gun. As we left and got our scores, we discovered that the highest scorer Blue #7 never picked up their scores. They had scored 20,000 more than the next highest scorer and we had no clue who to thank. So now we have the Legend of Blue #7, Terror of Irish Quasar, to thank for our victory that night.