Kerry & Blarney

Hello All! It's been many moons since I've last written (or at least it feels like it). I have had some adventures since I was in Dublin a few weeks ago. Two weekends ago my study abroad group when to County Kerry to experience the Ring of Kerry Heritage Weekend. We had all of our meals prepared for us, and stayed in nice hotel rooms. A much welcome change from the "roughing-it" we do in the apartment (ha!).

The first night we learned some Irish dance, and I am pleased to announce that I am definitely NOT coordinated. At all. In lieu of steps I did a bunch of kicking and spinning, but it was good craic nonetheless. We took a few bus tours and did our share of hiking and photography (I did not bring proper footwear. Note to all: flats are not a good time in rural Ireland).

In the summer months you can take tours out to those islands and actually hike. The next time I am in Ireland I will be taking that trip. 

Kerry was a bit closer to what comes to mind when people think about "typical" Ireland. It was a welcome change to city life, at least for one weekend. I do need the occasional noisy pub and silent disco to keep my sanity though :) 

Last week my roommate had a few friends from home visit, so over the weekend we decided to take a trip to Blarney Castle. Blarney is in County Cork, and is approximately a 3 hour bus ride. Our bus left from Galway at half eight and arrived in Cork at half eleven. From there we went to the main bus station and purchased tickets to Blarney. It was 20 minute bus ride that took us directly where we needed to go. 

We started out by visiting a pub for lunch that had delicious vegetable soup, and I tried chips (fries) and vinegar for the first time. Delicious! Then we went straight to the castle. Admission was 10 euro for students, and it was worth every cent. The grounds are absolutely gorgeous. We definitely made a good choice coming during the off-season, that allowed us to run around and pose for pictures every 20 steps. Blarney was a different experience than I was expecting, I was imagining carefully roped off pathways, but it felt like a giant playground. You're free to explore caves and dungeons, or take a long walk on the grounds if you choose to. 

Totally haunted. No doubt in my mind.

Eventually we ended up at a small cafe and I was able to sample Irish Coffee for the first time. For those of you who don't know, Irish Coffee is whiskey, sugar, coffee and cream. We then continued to run around until we found an actual playground. 5 Adult females always feel right at home on a tire swing or playing in a giant pile of leaves. 

Our bus from Cork was departing for Galway at 7pm, and I'm paranoid so I wanted to get back as soon as possible to allow for error. We hopped on a bus from Blarney at half five, and it's a good thing we did. Because of my (poor) judgement what should have been a 20 minute bus ride turned into an hour and 20 minutes (oops). This left us enough time to grab a bite to eat before our bus. We arrived at the bus stop in plenty of time, and occupied ourselves with a sing off between us and the large group standing next to us (whether or not they were aware they were participating is to be determined). As we waited in the freezing cold, 7 came and went. 7:10 came and went. 7:15 came and went. Eventually we saw a man with a CityLink jacket on and he told us that the bus had broken down and they were sending a new one. In total we stood outside for a sold hour before the bus arrive at 7:45. 

Even with the hiccups, Blarney was completely worth it. Allison and I are heading to Scotland next weekend, I'll be sure to update you all on our adventures there!

Until next time!