Ireland Day 1 - Saturday
I arrived at the airport in Cork, where Loni and Annie picked me up in our rented vehicle. A little black Renault Elf. After spending a few hours bumming around Cork city center (I did not run into any "corkers" unfortunately) we took off towards Blarney to kiss a stone (which millions of other people have swapped saliva with) and see a castle. The grounds around the Castle are absolutely beautiful, and of course, very green.
(The old man must hold on to us to a) guide us toward the stone; b) make sure we don't plummet to our death)
However, Blarney held another unknown treasure for us - cupcakes!!! Miss Kate's cupcake shop was along the road to Blarney, so of course we stopped and grabbed a few for the road!!
Some of the many stops of Saturday included; "Ballinspittle" - we simply liked the name; a miniature version of stonehenge (gotta love those paegans and their stone circles); a little tea house in the middle of nowhere - the old man running the shop gave us free shots of home distilled whisky to try (that warmed us right up!); and an amazing chocolate shop which is (in my humble opinion) home to the best every bailey's chocolate truffle on this little planet we call earth. mmmmm! I can still imagine its deliciousness!!
We ended our day in Kilarney, finding a cute little B&B to rest our heads.
Ireland Day 2 - Sunday
This was a busy day. We began with the "Dingle Loop." There is a little peninsula called Dingle, in the south west and we drove the whole way around. The coastline and green spaces are incredible! Water so blue you would think you were in the Mediterranean, and fields so green you felt like you were a hobit, in the middle of Hobbiton.
We only got lost once; asking directions from two little red-headed Irish girls (who both looked about 12) running the one and only store in the tiny village of 10 homes we found ourselves lost in.
Once on the road again, our next big stop was the Cliffs of Moher. The name sounds ominous and scary, like there is some legend behind them. Perhaps there is. I am unaware of this legend. I found the cliffs cool, but all in all, a little underwhelming. Lots of good photo ops though!
After an interesting stop at Burger King for dinner - we are talking fries in noses, blowing bubbles in soda, wearing golden crowns made of cardboard on our heads (I think at this point all three of us were delirious from being in the car too long) we took off in search of place to sleep for the night. Because Ireland is such a large country (please sense the sarcasm here), we were able to drive all the way to Dublin on Sunday night, arriving in the big city at about 10:30. Luckily, we found a B&B in the city center at a good price, although, with an overly friendly desk clerk named Dave. I believe at one point he called us his "girlfriends." eh - oh well.
Ireland Day 3 - Monday
Last day in the land of leprachauns, rainbows and the luck of the Irish! We were in Dublin.
I, personally, don't like Dublin. Not a fan. But, we managed to find things to do before heading off to the airport.
1) Found cupcake shops, lots of them. I was on a sugar high for most of today
2) Drank Guiness at the Guiness factory
That about sums up Dublin.
Oh, and we met a man in Dublin who has a Beatles tatoo. On his Butt. He showed us.
Now Dublin is officially summed up.
Overall, this was an amazing weekend away! And just what I needed after exams! No agenda, just driving through beauty and hanging out with friends. We laughed, we fought, we sang along to the Beatles and Michael Jackson on Irish radio. Driving through Ireland is the only way to see it properly, and I will definitely be going back. I absolutley love this country!
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