Cork to Dublin

On Sunday we got up early and walked to a nearby church to go to mass.  I don't remember exactly what it was but I feel like the mass was a little weird.  Like people didn't know the responses or couldn't come to a consensus on whether they were going to stand or kneel at various parts or something.  It was still mass though.  And when we finished there we grabbed some lunch to take with us on our trip to Dublin.  I felt like I was creating a new sport walking to the bus stop.  I had my backpack on my back and my duffle bag across my shoulder and I was wheeling my big suitcase in one hand while holding a fountain drink in the other.  And of course it was raining.  It was quite the accomplishment just making it to the bus stop.  But make it we did.  And then we were off to our next and final destination.  Dublin.

It wasn't too long of a trip but that was only part of the job we had in getting to our hotel.  We had looked up directions from the bus stop to the hotel and knew it would be a bit of a hike but we had each found different directions and therefore became lost and confused after awhile.  Just when we began to turn around and retrace our steps and try a different route a guy came up to us and asked us if we were lost.  It was rather obvious that we were.  But he was nice enough to point us in the right direction and we had not been too far off course after all.  We were quite tired though after dragging our luggage around for almost a half hour to find the hotel.  But it was nice and new looking and the room was a decent size and comfortable.  But we couldn't spend a bunch of time just sitting in the room.

So we picked up a map and head out toward what was supposed to be a main shopping area in the city.   As far as souvenir shopping went we really only seemed to have one choice though.  There were a ton of the same shop located in various places throughout the city.  And not usually too far from one another.  Nothing was open too late though since it was a sunday so we weren't really sure what we were going to do.  We had just begun thinking about getting something to eat when it started raining for real.  It's always drizzling, but this was a real downpour.  So we hurried into the nearest restaurant and got a quick little something and waited for the rain to stop.  It didn't really so we decided to go back to a movie theater we had stopped by earlier and opted to see battleship.  It was pretty good and the theater was cool.  There were a lot of seats and it was one of the screens where the curtain goes up before the show and all that.  We even splurged on some popcorn.  It was a rather enjoyable night.

The rain had let up after we got out of the movie and then it was back to the hotel. The first half of the walk was through a well populated area and then came the sketchier part where there wasn't really much around and it was really dark.  But we got back and nothing happened so it's all good.  And it was off to bed before our final day in Europe.  It was hard to believe that that could be possible after more than 3 months over there.

Blarney Castle

On this day, Saturday I guess it was, we got up early to get the first bus from cork to blarney.  The bus wasn't right on time so we were a little worried about making sure we got on the right one and all that but we did find it and it wasn't too long of a ride to blarney.  From the place the bus dropped us off it was just a quick ride to the castle itself.  We got there right when it opened so there weren't many people in there yet when we got in.

That meant we didn't have to wait long once we made it through the rest of the castle to get up to the top and kiss the blarney stone.  It was kind of scary since you have to lay on your back and like bend backwards to kiss the stone.  But you've got to do it.  Something to check off the bucket list.

After kissing the stone we got to spend a quick minute admiring the view from atop the castle before making our way back down some more narrow winding staircases.  And then it was time to visit the poison garden where all these incredibly poisonous plants grow.  It was especially fun recognizing some from harry potter.

After that we spent some time walking around some of the various paths there are through all the beautiful trees and plants.  It really makes you think you're walking through an enchanted garden, like something out of a fairytale.

There's also a house on the property that is normally open to visitors but it was under renovation or something while we were there so we had to settle for the view from outside.  It was after going through these gardens and such that we walked to the other side of the park and got to see the things that really are straight out of stories and legends.  A particularly fun one was the wishing steps.  You walked up then and then back down them, backwards, concentrating on your wish.  If you made it up and back your wish is supposed to come true.  And of course there were stories of witches and fairies and all sorts of things along the way.

Soon it was time to say goodbye to the castle and make our way back toward the bus stop.  We did make one more stop at a shop since we had time to kill before the next bus was due to be heading back to Cork.  Then once we got back to the city we made a stop at our hotel to drop off some purchases I think before heading back out.

We decided to make another out of town stop and go to Cobh, which was the last stop the titanic made before it sank.  So we walked to the train station and got on the next train.  The titanic museum is basically right at the train station in Cobh so that was really convenient.  And they had a little cafe of sorts where we got some lunch.  It was really interesting to read all of the information and see all of the artifacts they had from the titanic and all the history they told about transatlantic journeys and the progress of ships from years and years ago up to the titanic.

We spent a decent amount of time at the museum and then it was back to Cork.  I think we did a little more walking around and found some churches to check mass times for the following day before heading out of town.  Then it was back to the hotel for the night to get rested up for another early morning and heading off to our next and final destination, Dublin.

Long Overdue: Galway to Cork

So...  It's been awhile.

That's kind of an understatement.  I've been back in the states for months.

Based on this blog though... I've been stuck in Ireland for quite awhile.

Not that I'd mind that too much if it were true...

But it's not.  So this is what really happened.

The next day we had to check out of our hotel in the morning but we didn't plan on taking a bus to our next stop Cork til a little later in the afternoon.  So we left our luggage at the hotel and spent some time walking around the city and looking into all of the various touristy souvenir shops on the main street.  I think this was the day that I got my claddagh ring.  I was very excited about that.  I've wanted one for awhile and Galway is where the original design comes from.  So naturally I had to go to the original shop and get my ring.  It was more expensive than the ones you can find in other shops but I like that it has "original" stamped into the back of it.  And none of the other ones sold other places can look exactly like it.

Once we got through all the shopping we wanted to do I think we might have picked up subway to take on the bus with us for lunch... That may be a fabricated memory, but it could have happened.  We picked up our bags at the hotel and then made the short walk to the bus station.  It was early afternoon by this time.  So it was probably like a 12 or 1 o'clock bus that we took.  And it was a few hours ride to cork.  I probably slept some of it.  Or we might have watched something on my laptop.  It's the little things like that that are getting fuzzy in my memory.  But we got into cork in the late afternoon/early evening.

The hotel was a pretty short walk from where the bus let us off.  It was different looking on the outside, had a lot of character.  The lady at the front desk was really nice I remember and the room was pretty big compared to some of the other rooms we'd stayed in.  The bathroom was still pretty small but that was fine.  And the color scheme was red I remember that.

After we got settled in we decided to take advantage of it being a Friday, a late shopping day.  So we walked around the city looking in different shops.  We also got something for dinner.  I think this might have been the day that we went somewhere that Emily could get irish stew.  We also may have stopped by a little minimart to get some little things to eat for breakfast the next morning.  Then it was back to the hotel to spend some time on the internet to check bus routes and times for our journey to the blarney castle the next day.

This might have been more detailed and more accurate if I had posted it 4 months ago... but you've got the gist of it anyway.

The Burren and the Cliffs of Moher

On our full day in Galway we took a tour of the burren and the cliffs of moher.  The tour took up most of the day and we got to see some pretty cool stuff.  We drove by a castle, the ruins of a castle mostly.  The first stop though was a family farm located in the burren.  The burren is basically this rocky area made up of limestone.  So you’d think it would be kind of barren and desolate but there’s actually a lot of plant life that grows there that usually only grow in alpine and Mediterranean climates, but they happen to grow here as well.  And so that is the setting for the tour we went on and the land we were exploring just happens to belong to the tour guide and/or his family which is pretty cool.  And for an added bit of fun his name was John Connolly. 

So John showed us around the farm.  We saw some cows and some sheep.  And it’s springtime so there was lots baby cows and baby sheep as well.  And then we were off hiking up the rocky path of the burren area.  He pointed out some flowers that we starting to bloom and we also saw a fairy tree.  People used to come to the tree and would tie something like a ribbon or a piece of string to the tree and it would symbolize leaving their problems on the tree.  Kinda cool.  I didn’t have anything to tie on there though.  From on top of the hill you could also see the ruins of this abbey that was built back in the 12^th century.  You can also see the ruins of these 3 churches in the area called 7 churches.  There were only ever 3 churches there…but the celts like the number 7.  It’s a good number.  So they call it 7 churches.  The Irish seem to have lots of fun stories like that.

After we finished up outside we went into the little cottage on the property where they have some cute sitting rooms and sell fabulous and award winning homemade cakes and coffee and tea and all that good stuff.  I got this really awesome cheesecake.  And then we sat in there and ate and listened to John sing some old Irish song.  It was a lot of fun.  And once we had finished eating and drinking we went back outside and got to see a puppy they had bought recently, it was just 13 weeks old, a cavalier king charles spaniel named coco.  There was also a little lamb that is just a couple weeks old whose mother rejected it so now they are bottle feeding it.  Then it was time to get back on the bus and move on to the next destination, the highlight of the tour, the cliffs of moher.

The cliffs are basically one of the biggest deal sort of things to see in Ireland.  One of the most visited places in the country.  They’ve also been seen in the princess bride and harry potter and the half blood.  They’re basically beautiful and breathtaking and no pictures I could have taken would have been able to convey the reality of standing on them and looking out on the water down below.  It’s just truly indescribable. 

All too soon though our time at the cliffs was over.  And then it was back on the bus and off to a nearby town where we stopped for lunch at a local pub/bar place.  I got some good vegetable soup and some brown bread.  Then we were off again.  We saw a famous dulman with a name I can’t remember.  Basically it’s an ancient tomb of sorts where archeologists or whoever studies that kind of thing found evidence that around 30 people were buried in this place and there’s these big stones set up to mark the place, kind of reminiscent of Stonehenge but on a much smaller scale.

At this point we were making our way back to Galway City.  We got to see some more beautiful irish countryside.  And then we passed by the castle we passed at the beginning of the day but this time the tide was in so we got to see it surrounded by water which was pretty cool.  Basically it was a pretty awesome first full day in Ireland.

By the time we got back it was early evening so we wandered through the city and looked in some shops and things like that.  Luckily it was a Thursday so that means late night shopping.  Thursdays and Fridays are the only days that the stores are open past 6 here.  It’s really weird and definitely very different from spain where the stores are always open til 9 or 10. 

Another fun Ireland fact to leave you with.  Our bus driver told us about the 3 different types of weather they have in Ireland.  1. It has rained.  2. It is raining.  3. It is going to rain.

And we believe it.  We’ve experienced it.  It’s not really a matter of if it will rain.  It’s only a matter of when it will rain.  Luckily though we haven’t really got stuck in it when it’s coming down really hard or anything.  Just a light fall of rain now and then that usually only lasts a few minutes.  Not anything to complain about.

But anyway, more Ireland fun to come.

And the next stop...Ireland

We didn’t have to get up too terribly early today to get our travel day started.  We had ordered a cab to come at 11 so I don’t think we got up til almost 10 to do our last minute packing and eat a little something for breakfast.   Then off we were, to the train station where we would get our train back to Edinburgh.  Then from the train station we took the bus back to the airport.  We allowed ourselves more time than necessary to make our flight.  So we wound up sitting around the airport for awhile once again but I guess I’d rather that than rushing around and running to make our flight. 

Spent my last few pounds getting something to eat and then before you know it we were boarding the plane and off to the final country in our European tour, Ireland.  The flight was quick, just 45 minutes.  And then we were in Dublin.  That’s not the final destination for the day though so once we got through the passport check and collected our bags we set off to find a bus that would take us to galway.  We didn’t end up finding the exact bus that we had found online, but we did find another one I had looked at.  It wasn’t leaving for another 50 minutes, but it worked.  So we sat on the bus awhile but we did get going eventually and we should get into galway a little after 9 if all goes as plan.  I don’t have as good of an idea of what I want to do while here so we’re going to have a bit of fun just winging it.  Hopefully all will go well.

We got into galway and everything went fine.  The hotel was just a few minutes walk from the bus station.  We got checked in and went up to the room which had a purple door which was just awesome.  Also one of the walls of the room was purple so that was pretty cool too.  We also had a little balconey which was nice.  It was already after 9 when we got in and we had had a long day of traveling so we didn’t go out and do anything that night.  We did book a tour for the next day though.  And then we just spent some time relaxing in the room.  We were definitely looking forward to the next day of seeing beautiful irish scenery though.

Stirling, Scotland

We slept in quite a bit today, but I think the sleep was needed.  And we didn’t really have any set plans so it didn’t really matter.  We did eventually get up and moving though and the first item on the agenda was to see the Wallace national monument.  And all day we were just going to be hoping that it wouldn’t rain. 

We took a bus to a place that was closer to the monument but there was still a bit of uphill walking to go.  And then of course when you got to the monument itself there was an uphill hike and then over 200 stairs to get to the top of the monument.  Needless to say we got a bit of a workout.  The monument honors the Scottish hero William Wallace you fought during the wars way back in some era I can’t remember.  But basically he was fighting for Scottish independence.  So years later they built this monument to remember him and honor him and all that good stuff.  The monument experience includes climbing all these stairs, in a narrow spiral staircase, and there are a few stops along the way, a couple of landings where there is some information about Wallace and Scotland and the monument.  Really I think they just had to put some landings in as a place for people to catch their breath for a sec while climbing all those stairs. 

We did make it to the top though, where it is open and exposed to the elements.  It was cloudy and windy and cold and we could see it raining all around us near the mountains or highlands.  So we didn’t stay too long to admire the view, just long enough to take a couple of pictures and get thoroughly chilled.  Then it was back down the winding staircase and down the muddy path through the hills. 

From there we set off towards the university.  We were planning on stopping there to eat lunch.  On the way we walked through some of the campus housing.  Apparently they’re called “chalets” but basically it’s a bunch of wooden cabins and looks more like accommodations for a summer camp.  But otherwise the university seems really nice.  It looked like there was a lot of stuff to do there and things seemed pretty modern and new looking.  While we were there we got a drink from the coffee shop and ate sandwiches we had brought with us.  We also got to meet one of Rachel’s UK friends.  He was English and I forget what exactly his area of expertise is but he seemed liked the way too smart type.  Nice enough though. 

After our lunch break we took the long way back to the bus stop so that we could see all the swans that live on the “loch” on campus.  There were a ton of them.  And they’re a lot bigger than you think they are.  And they were hoping we had food.  But we didn’t, luckily, or else they probably would have been swarming us even more so than they already did.  We had to leave the swans behind though as we needed to get to the big attraction, stirling castle.

The bus took us, again, close to the castle but there were still some hills between the castle and us.  But we made it up to the castle and began to explore the castle where numerous Scottish rulers had lived.  The neat thing about stirling is its location.  Its location is referred to as the gateway to the highlands as it is located in about the middle of the country between the highlands and the lowlands.  And basically it was said that whoever controlled this area had control of the country as a whole.  The whole castle experience is very well done.  What they are trying to do is make the castle look as it would have when it was inhabited hundreds of years ago.  They have painted the outside on part of it as it would not have been just bare and exposed stone back in the day.  Also a big deal in the castle is a group of wood carvings known as the “stirling heads” which adorn the ceiling of one of the rooms of the castle.  These carvings were installed during the reign of one of the many James and were suppose to show different characteristics of his and why he had the right to rule and all that jazz.  So the castle people have had all of these heads remade and painted and put back in their place on the ceiling.  It’s all really nice and pretty cool to see.  There’s lots of information so you know exactly what you’re seeing the whole time.

We stayed at the castle right up until closing time and then we walked back into town to go out to dinner.  We went to this pub where they served just your typical pub food – burgers and other sandwiches, nothing too strange.  Apparently macaroni and cheese is eaten a lot in Scotland though so that’s what I got.  Something I like and something “traditional”.   It was a really good meal.  After that we would have liked to have gone and looked around at some shops or something as it was only like 7 or something like that, but apparently in stirling shops typically close at like 5 or 6.  Weird.

So we just walked back to the house and spent another night relaxing in the homey atmosphere.  We used the internet and looked up our family names to see if they were connected with any Scottish clans.  Mine isn’t, but it was still fun to look at all of the family tartans.  The kilt is still very much used as traditional formalwear here and a big part of that is the family tartan.  The kilt is not just any plaid pattern, it’s the family tartan and each clan has its own.  It’s kind of cool really.

Soon it was time for bed though, another chance to get a good night’s sleep before returning to our crazy tourist schedule as we roam around Ireland.  Hard to believe I’m only a week away from home!  It’s been the adventure of a lifetime though and I’ll take a little exhaustion if it means I get to see so many amazing things and go to so many amazing places.

a very long day

On the day we traveled from London to Scotland, our day began very early.  We got up around 2 and we had a taxi coming to pick us up at the hotel at 3.  Having gone to bed between 11:30 and 12 we got less than 3 hours sleep.  Awesome. 

We went downstairs and checked out and met with our cab driver.  He took us to the bus station where we would get a bus to the airport.  Well, he dropped us off close to the bus station, we still had to walk around a bit to find it.  And then all of the obvious entrances were closed because it was 3am.  But we did finally find the bus we wanted and the driver told us where to go buy a ticket although we did go through the wrong door once before we got it right.  Then it was an hour or a little more on the bus before arriving at the Gatwick airport. 

We got checked in and got through security and it hardly took us any time at all.  So we were super early getting to our gate.  Except we did have to wait a minute before getting to the part of the airport where our gate was because they take a picture of you when you go through security and put a barcode on your boarding pass and then when you get to the gate they’re supposed to scan the barcode and you picture should pop up.  But ours weren’t scanning so we had to stand around a bit while the ladies working there figured that out.  But they were very friendly and said fun things with their british accents so it was ok.  And then we just had to wait.

We did finally board the plane though and the flight was fine.  We even got some breakfast though it was a little weird.  I did eat some sausage and egg and drink some orange juice.  So that was nice.  When we got in to the Edinburgh airport we collected our bags and found the airlink bus that would take us to the train station where we would get a train to stirling.  Everything went very smoothly actually.  We got to the station and got our tickets without a problem.  And when we got to stirling we just had to wait a short time for Emily’s sister’s friend that we would be staying with to come and take us back to their flat.  So we waited in the little coffee shop at the train station and got a drink and a snack.  And then Rachel arrived and we all took a taxi to the flat.

It had been a very long day though and we were really tired.  So we didn’t really do much that night.  We just kind of hung out and relaxed which was absolutely fine.  When Rachel’s flatmate got back she made this wonderful stu for dinner and it was nice be having a nice meal at “home” again.  I got really accustomed to always being able to count on at least one meal at home in spain so it’s definitely been a change just picking up some fast food or grabbing a cheap sandwich somewhere.

After dinner we lazed around some more and watched some tv.  It doesn’t sound like much, but we got some much needed relaxation time.  It was actually really nice.