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.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Sunday, September 9, 2012
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.
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.
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.
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