this is why Europe is cool:

it has ancient things.
like 500-year-old castles.
and 1000-year-old monasteries.
and 5000-year-old megalithic sites.
LOTS of them.

I've been having fun exploring them, particularly now that we have a car to drive!

Dunluce, Enniskillen, Kinbane, Carrickfergus...
Dungiven, Bonamarghy,...
stone circles and cairns and raths and forts and tombs and crannogs...

and you'll find them unexpectedly off the side of a road, on a cliff's edge, in the middle of a neighborhood or a field with sheep grazing on it, not listed in the guidebook, sometimes without a signmarker.  just there.  still.  300, 900, 2000, 5000 years later...

Being from Oregon, I remember thinking structures from the 1800s were super-old, and things from before that were ancient!  On the East Coast, I loved seeing things from the 1700s and was awed by things from the 1600s.  (I've been plenty exposed to Native American dwellings, artifacts, structures, etc., which of course are much much older than any of that, but I'm not used to "western architecture" that's as old as that).

Kids in school complain about history class all the time - but as far as the United States goes, there's so little history to learn compared with countries in Europe!  (if you're talking official US history and "Western civilization," which is generally what's taught, with maybe a few global history/ancient civilizations classes thrown in for good measure).

Here, it's kind of disappointing to come across a castle or church that's "only" from the 15- or 1600s!  (a regular house, like a fisherman's cottage, that's different...).  Now, 11th or 12th century, that's more like it!  I'd be really excited to see something from the 4- or 800s...and a stone circle from 5,000 years ago would do nicely...

Of course, it's all fascinating to look at, but it really doesn't have much of an impact unless you know the stories...which I guess is why historic buildings in the US can be just as cool as historic buildings here - because we know the stories about the events that took place there; the people that were there; and that's what gives it meaning, no matter what era it's from.

still...









pretty cool, huh?