Irish I Could Stay Here Forever

IRELAND

I can't even put into words how wonderful, lovely and beautiful Ireland is. It was the best trip ever - minus wanting to vomit on the ferry over to Dublin. We were going nonstop, so, if you ask me, all the pasta and ice cream we ate were well deserved carbs. Speaking of going nonstop, if I never see a bus again in my life, it will be too soon.

^That's us trying to sleep and not throw up on the ferry.

Dublin

We took a free three hour walking tour of the city and saw many sites, including Trinity College, Parliament, Temple Bar, and where they filmed a scene for P.S. I Love You. On our own, we explored Grafton Street and St. Stephen's Green. We didn't go to the Guinness Brewery, but c'est la vie.

Overall, Dublin wasn't my favorite part, which is ironic considering we had to go back twice (once to switch buses from Galway to Belfast, and again from Belfast to the Dublin Airport. Spoiler: in my opinion, Edinburgh is 10x a more fun city than Dublin (Scotland post coming soon).

Cork

On our first day in Cork, we explored St. Patrick's Street and went into a cute little English Market, where I made a beeline to taste some olives. Our hostel's innkeeper had told us that if we went up St. Anne's Shandon Cathedral, we would see the best view of the entire town and get to ring the church bells, so we decided to do that next. 10/10 would recommend if you don't mind walking through some extremely narrow passageways. To end our first night in Cork, we went to see the film Divergent.

The next day, we headed to the Blarney Castle and Gardens, which was about a 20 minute bus ride out of town. I was really excited to kiss the Blarney Stone, a limestone that is supposed to give you the gift of gab - I'm not entirely sure why you have to do the kissing bit backwards. Now I can officially cross off 'make out with a castle wall' from my bucket list.

Afterwards, we walked around the 'Poison Garden' and then took the 'Woodland Walk'. During our walk, we stumbled upon some pastures. I made a friend who I affectionately named Chestnut. Chesty kept trying to eat my jacket - what a gal.

Killarney

We spent both days exploring Killarney National Park, which was breathtaking. Our first day, we took a tour of Ross Castle for £2 (unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures inside). We learned all about how the medieval castle was built and defended itself. After the tour, it had started to rain quite a bit so we headed back to the hostel (we hadn't been able to check in yet). But, first, we stopped to get a £3 hot chocolate and cookie combo at a lovely bakery called 'Bake' (which we ended up visiting once each day during our stay in Killarney - they loved us). Later that night, we treated ourselves to homemade ice cream at 'Murphy's'...because ice cream is good for the soul.

The following day, we rented bikes and headed back to the park. This time, we went to the farther entrance (which required us to ride on the N-71 and I thought, "this is it, this is how I die"). We took the Muckross Abbey Path, which went around Lough Leane Lake. We stopped at the Muckross Friars Cemetery and House, which was quite eerie. When we reached "the meeting of the waters" on the map, we stopped to enjoy our packed lunches. Then we rode our little hearts out to the Torc Waterfall. The Aussies reckon we rode 15-20 km overall (I don't know how far of a distance that is, but it sounds like my legs need a break for the rest of the month, if not year).

Dingle

Dingle-dangle. We got takeaway lunch and ate it in at the end of a strip of land going into the Dingle Harbor (I almost just spelled 'harbor' with a 'u', clearly I've been in the UK for too long). Later, we took a footpath around the harbor, which eventually ended near a tower/castle looking thing and cow pasture.

The next morning, we took a two hour bus tour of the Dingle Peninsula. We went around the 'Slea Head' area - learning about the potato famine and seeing old forts (aka fairy forts) and beehive caves. Also, we saw an island that resembled a sleeping giant and reached a bit with a Jesus statue, which is supposedly the most Western point in Europe. Well worth the £20.

Galway

Traveling to Galway took what felt like day. The journey was at least six hours, with two bus switches in Tralee and Limerick. We didn't get there until quite late, and the day (night?) took an unfortunate turn for the worst when we arrived at our hostel - our six-bed room was the definition of claustrophobia (and, of course, this was the hostel we were staying at the longest). 10/10 would not recommend.

The next morning, we took a 'Cliffs of Moher and Burren' bus tour. We first arrived at some wannabe Stonehedge thing, which I later found out was some sort of tomb in the Burren (I think the driver said it was older than the Egyptian pyramids, but don't quote me on that).

We definitely were not given enough time to explore the cliffs, but they were beautiful. If you ever have the chance to go there, I highly suggest you rent a car and go yourself, instead of taking a bus tour.

At the cliffs, you could either go left or right to view them, but since we were limited on time we only got to go to the right side. The beginning was barricaded by a fence, but eventually there was an area where you could 'go at your own risk' - and literally fall to your death. On the way back, the bus made a few more stops - Black Head, Galway Bay and the lighthouse, and lunch in Doolin.

For our third day in Galway, we took a ferry to Inis Mor, the largest of the Aran Islands. The island itself was quite bare, mostly just rocks and little to no greenery. It was hot and I spent a good portion of the day thinking to myself what I would need if I was deserted here...apparently sunscreen is #1 on the list because I managed to get sunburn. Sunburned. In. Ireland. What.

Belfast

Onto the last leg of our two week journey. We went on 'Allen's Giant Causeway Tour' - which also featured the Carrickfergus Castle, Glens of Antrim, Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge, Dunlace Castle, and the Bushmills Distillery. It was raining at first, so the drive up the Antrim coastal path was a bit foggy. Luckily, once we arrived to the main reason we were there (the Gaint's Causeway), the sun came out to play. We were told a story about how the rocks were made by volcanoes or, according to fairytales, a great war between an Irish and Scottish giant.

On the 18th, we headed back to Dublin and said our goodbyes (Harriet was off to France, Keely was going back to London and Maddie and I were heading to Scotland). We had time to kill before our flight, so Maddie and I went to see The Amazing Spiderman 2 in the Savoy Cinema on O'Connell Street.

To sum up the trip, my favorite parts were kissing the Blarney Stone, bike riding through the Killarney National Park and going to the Cliffs of Moher. I definitely plan on visiting Ireland again.