The Emerald Isle

Cliffs of Moher

  Ireland is absolutely the most gorgeous country I have ever seen. The people are incredibly friendly. Olivia, Deanna, Kyle, and myself flew into Cork Wednesday afternoon. This is the second largest city after Dublin. We stayed at Creedon's Bed and Breakfast. It was run by the sweetest people ever, Danny and Annette. It was also ideally located 5 minutes from the bus station and right on a main street. Cork is a city but it has a small town feel. That evening, we went to an Indian restaurant (my first meal in Ireland was Indian...hmm) and then wandered around the city a little. It was perfect.

Blarney Castle

  Thursday was an early morning as we took a bus for 15 minutes to the town of Blarney, home of the Blarney Castle. We battled the rain for these few hours, but it just added to the adventure! The Castle was awesome and we all kissed the Blarney stone.  To kiss the stone you have to lean backwards over a (grated) opening to the wall on the top. There is a person to help you, but it still is a stretch! Once you kiss it you are blessed with the gift of gab and eloquence of speech. Kissing the stone is on the Top 99 Things to do before you die list, so that's pretty cool. That afternoon we went to the Cork City Gaol (jail), known to locals as the Women's Gaol. When catching a taxi to get back to our B&B (it was raining reallly hard), our driver did a flat fee of what it would be to get us back and then took us on a tour of the city. It was really cool. We ate dinner and wandered a little more.

baby Cliffs

     Friday was also an early morning as we joined the PaddyWagon tour bus to a visit to the Cliffs of Moher. For only thirty euros we had a ten hour tour of the Irish countryside, seeing King John's Castle in Limerick, the Poulnabrone Dolmen (a tabletop tomb older dating back to between 4,200 BC and 2,900 BC. It was surrounded by a landscape that just had rocks everywhere. It was unlike anything I have ever seen and was breathtaking.The landscape differed from one side of the road to the other, sometimes rolling hills (in the most incredible shade of green), flat areas, stone covered ground, or cliffs. The West Coast is incredible. We made a few other stops along the way (such as at baby Cliffs) until we reached the Cliffs of Moher. It was incredibly windy and a bit rainy as we were there. But that did not take away from the beauty of these momentous Cliffs.  They were absolutely fantastic. The day was amazing. Just the drive around Ireland was incredible. Paul, our tour guide, told us so many interesting things about Ireland as we drove around. We also listened to some traditional Irish music, songs that I grew up listening to. Hearing these songs as we drove through gorgeous Irish countryside was so cool. That evening the four of us dressed up and had a fancy night, going to a restaurant and then a pub to listen to live music. It was a great ending to an incredible day.

Cork, Ireland

St. Brigid of Ireland's cross

  Saturday morning we stayed in Cork (we flew out in the afternoon) and went to some churches, the English Market, and an authentic Irish store. I realized just how much the Catholic history has impacted Ireland when I found rosaries in this large store in Cork. It was filled with Irish paraphernalia including quite a few books that I had to pull myself away from. I did find some of St. Brigid of Ireland's cross, which was pretty cool. She is my Confirmation saint. It was sad to leave and I cannot wait until I can get back to this wonderful land.

Cliffs of Moher