Friday-
I got up super late because I knew that the bus would not leave until 2. I slowly got ready, packed and fed. When I got to the Phoenix Building (where we had to meet) I saw a ton of kids waiting with suitcases and bags. Thank goodness I was smart and just packed light (for once) my backpack and purse. done. Light easy to carry and I knew I would buy stuff so I left room as well. I also brought along 4 corked glass jars to put rock, sand and grass in at the various place were going.
There were so many students we had to take two huge charter busses. The bus was very nice and since I signed up for this trip alone I met a lot of new people. The first leg of the trip was close to 3 hours long and the first stop was Blarney Castle! I love Ireland! the view out the window for the whole 3 hours was amazing. I took pictures of mainly homes, because I am a weirdo, but I also took a lot of pictures of the landscape. There are so many rock walls in Ireland it was so gorgeous to see!
Blarney Castle is the home to the Blarney Stone. It is a huge stone mounted on the highest tower of the castle that you lay down bend backward reach out and kiss it. Now I know it is tradition and I know that I was told why people do it but I can't exactly remember. Probably something to do with having good fortune for 7 years or being able to talk eloquently for 7 years. Something like that. Well at the bottom of the castle there is a sign that talks about how dangerous the staircase is and who climbed it. Turns out Oliver Hardy and Winston Churchill climbed the tower to kiss the stone. I love Oliver Hardy! I told myself I was going to make the climb no matter what. Once I started I didn't think you could stop but all the rooms off the stairwell were so interesting I had to take a break and go see. lol I believe the staircase was about 2.5 ft wide and each step was 9x9 spiral all the way to the top! I will post pictures of them, they were CRAZY!
When I finally got to the top and around to the stone I was nervous. I didn't know if I wanted to lay down and kiss something that I knew billions of people had already done. That stone is so old. It even looked black and worn, but then I thought to myself. Oh come on Lizzie You will probably never come back here and get this chance again. If you get Herpes you can tell people it was from an ancient stone in Ireland on top of a castle! So I did it!
I walked around the grounds and castle for a while longer before we had to meet back at the bus to go to Cork where we stayed for the night. The Hostel was really nice. I was in a room with 11 other people. Metal bunk beds and only one plug, that caused a lot of controversy. Once we were all settled we went for dinner at Thomond Bar. Since there were 65+ of us we didn't get our food until close to 2hrs later. I had two berry ciders at that bar then we went to another pub called Old Oak Pub. It was neat there was an older bar in the front then a lounge in the middle and a new bar with a dance floor in the back. I hung out in the lounge with my friends. I didn't buy more to drink but I finished my friends cider because she didn't like it. We went back to the hostel and slept for 3 hour then got up, had toast for breakfast and got back on the bus by 8am.
I know I am being soooooo descriptive and writing everything! I'll keep it down for the next two days! :)
Saturday-
We stopped at Inch Beach for a quick view of the ocean before we went to Dingle for lunch. There were so many shells in the sand I took a few small ones for my corked jar, along with some sand. The smell of the ocean was so delicious! I missed seeing the ocean when I was home for a bit over the summer. Once we got to Dingle I had the feeling I was in Westport, WA. Absolutely a beautiful day for the ocean, and to top it all off I had famous fish and chips at 'The Diner' in town. We had a few more hours to walk around the piers and have a nice long look at the ocean. I also took some small rocks from the peninsula.
We drove for another couple hours before we came to our hostel for the night. I was so beat I knew I would want to eat a little bit and then go to bed. So I went over to the bar had a cider with dinner and then when my friends came in they wanted me to stay. I decided to have another cider and then go to bed. Of course, the music started around 10 then more people came in and we started playing games. Then my drink got spilled when it was just about empty, my really nice friend bought me another one. So I didn't wanna be rude, so I drank it. I was so hot and tipsy and I couldn't hear myself think over the sound of the music. I went to bed to see if I could get a few hours in before the 8am start the next day.
Sunday -
I woke up knowing I was going to the greatest natural phenomenon in Ireland! The Cliffs of Moher! I have been wanting to see the cliffs for as along as I have wanted to travel. We had to travel another 2 hours to get there but it was way worth it! It was so hard to contain my excitement when I walked from the parking lot to the Cliffs. There is a wall about 20 ft from the edge for safety but I could still get an amazing view! We had great weather for the view, not the perfect in the morning but I am glad it cleared up by the time we got there. My friends and I walked along the edges to the right of the cliffs around the bend to a different view. Absolutely phenomenal! I took a few blades of grass, rocks and a flower from the cliffs and put it in my bottle. I couldn't get over how wonderful it was to see the views I have be dreaming about seeing. We only had a few hours to wander around be fore we had to head back. We went to the visitors center and I had a few coins made for my little sister. Flattened 5c pieces.
After we left we went to a small town to have lunch. Our bus driver was telling us about our next stop when I got really excited we were going to the same cliffs of rock that Harry Potter 7 was filmed. The part where Hermione and Harry were on the run without Ron. I was pretty ecstatic to be standing right where Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson were. We passed by other famous areas, like where P.S. I Love You was filmed and where Leap Year was filmed.
I had an amazing trip and a wonderful experience seeing the best of southwest Ireland. I have a bunch of pictures I will post to the Pictures tab of this blog. I also have updated the Friends and Place I've Been tabs. I purchased a lot of postcards as well for my growing collection. I am going to be going to more places and experiencing way more things before this trip is over!
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