Sorry it has been a while since I last posted, but I have sort of lost myself in the 'vacation' side of the trip and "I'll do it tomorrows" turned in to days.
I will split up the past ten days into a few posts and try not to leave anything out.
On Wednesday I left the beautiful Karsches and headed to Mo's new home in Cork. The initial 2 hours in Ireland were straight out of a movie. Flying over the stunning cliffs and velvety green patchwork countryside was beyond beautiful. I met a fantastic old Irish woman as I helped, her carry her bags from the tarmack and she essentially broke in to the information center at the airport to get me pamphlets and coupons on a years worth of activities in the area (including a butter museum ). Ms. Marylin offered to give me a ride in the back of her son's country jeep (whatever that means), but I had a couple of hours to kill before meeting Mo at was would soon become THE WORST meeting place ever, even though in theory we both thought it was perfect. The Cork airport is incredibly small, so I made friends quickly with 60% of the workers, policemen, and locals. Everyone was outrageously nice, and Ireland was better than I had ever imagined. Then things started to go downhill. Cork is a beautiful city with two rivers running on the North and South of the area, I wasn't aware of this when I set out for the "Riverview Cafe" on Myridke Quay. The hospitality of the people at the airport gave me a false sense of security in my pocket size map and hand written directions. The Irish Bus system proved to be my vice. My first bus driver was so helpful but once I got to the bus station in the center of town things began to change.
My second bus driver was less than helpful and I spent the next 20 minutes on his bus as THAT AMERICAN. After I asked several questions and did not 'pull my ticket' as the posted sign said, I proceeded to bump a few passengers with my large backpack as I made my way to the first available seat.Clearly making a spectacle to fit into the tiny space. I was still trying to figure out where the heck this bus was going and where on UCC's (University College of Cork) large campus I was going to be dropped off, thankfully, Ms. Marylin had given me this tiny map on a brocure that saved my life several times. When I got the map out I spilled about 28 euros in coins all over the floor. Great. As I was scrambling to pick up my coins, the bus stopped and several people my age were getting off, up in the distance I saw a UCC sign so I tried to get my belongings and get off but the bus driver already shut the doors and began to drive, so I sat back down. I could feel his eyes burning through the mirror, he was just glaring at me so I decided this was indeed my stop. I rushed to get off the bus, at this point I was trying to get out of there as fast as possible. Of course, there is a red light 300 yards ahead so in about 10 steps I was walk directly along side the bus I completely humiliated myself on. It was creeping towards the light and all of the sudden stopped. The cutest guy left on the bus is hanging out the front door holding my clutch yelling "Miss! Miss!". I'm truly greatful that it was returned to me but I couldn't help but laugh out loud at this point. I was such a hot mess, and I'm sure you all know how mortified I really was because I HATE to stand out. I set off on foot with 40 kilos strapped to my back to find the cafe and after circling the area for 2 hours and 4+ miles later, I managed to meet an equally exhausted and frustrated Mo. Thankfully, this was the 'blemish' of the entire trip, so I should consider myself lucky.
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| Welcome to Ireland? Dinner the first night |
Mo lives in a great apartment with two other Irish girls. They each have their own room and bathroom but share a kitchen/dining space. Mo's two friends Susan and Chelsea (they also go to UD with us) were visiting for the week as well, so we all met up that evening. By the time we got settled in and decided to grab a bite to eat, it was about 8 oclock. Apparently restaurants close by half past 7 so we were searching the area and didn't end up finding a place until about 9:15pm. Although the food was good, it was very strange for our first meal in Ireland to be Chinese. There are a ton of asian eateries in Ireland, who knew?
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| Blarney Castle |
Mo had class, so on Thursday Susan, Chelsea and I set off to Blarney. The grounds of the area are so beautiful. There are paths, forests, rocks, and waterfalls where legends regarding the witches stone and kitchen or the druids circle. There is a tale about the wishing steps that you must close your eyes and walk up and back down the steps only thinking of your wish. I'll let you know if mine comes true or not, let's hope! Once we made our way towards the castle, it was so much fun to read about each of the rooms as you climb up the 6 stories to the top where the Blarney Stone is. Blarney is defined as speech meant to decieve without being offensive. Lucky for me I had to kiss it twice because I didn't get a picture the first time. I guess I have double the gift of eloquent speech that they say Kissing the Blarney Stone gives you. In order to kiss the stone which hangs over the edge on the outside of the castle, you must lay on your back, a kind man holds your legs as you scoot your butt off the edge and lean back into the parapet hole and grab two vertical rods as you plunge face first upside down towards the ground and plant a big one of the smooth cold stone.
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| climbing around |
There were hardly any people there but it was fun to watch some of them freak out a little or consider backing out. There are caves and dungeons with secret passages to explore at the base of the castle. We packed our lunch- true Dutch fashion :)- and ate on a bench right across from the Blarney house then went for a stroll through the forests and beside the lake. It was a perfect afternoon. That night we went out for my first Guiness and Bulmers in Ireland. Delicious. Sadly, due to certain liscenses the two pubs we were in closed by midnight.
Here are all of the
photos -the rest of the stories are soon to come, promise!
Up next: Cobh - a quaint coastal town
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