Ireland

With double copies of all the possible boarding passes, copies of my passport, driver's license, and credit cards, and my itinerary all printed, I repacked the things that I had randomly strewn about my aunt's house in the past two and a half weeks and was dropped off at the train station to get to the Philly airport to meet Ling. And we were off!

All packed and ready to go!

Meeting up with Ling at the airport

Flying over Ireland

Welcome to Dublin! And we kept trying to read the Irish

We got to Dublin at about noon and picked up our car. Yes, I drove on the left side of the road!! It was pretty crazy at first because I had to flip flop the orientation of the car itself then understanding roundabouts was a whole other thing to get used to. At the first roundabout I came to, the driver who took us to our car, told us to enter left and stay to the right until we were ready to exit so I stayed to the right... and ended up circling the roundabout twice because I wasn't sure at what point it was appropriate to exit left. Well that was the only mishap and then I'd have to say that I became somewhat of a pro, or as much of a pro in a week one can become, at this left side driving and roundabout using.

Driving on the left!

So sitting on the left side driver side, we headed to our first hotel in Kilkenny. The driver at the car rental facility told us that there was going to be a huge national final hurling match on TV that afternoon against Kilkenny and Galway so I guess we were in the perfect place for our first night in Ireland. Our hotel was greatly situated within walking distance of the city centre so we headed into town to find ourselves a pub where we could have a pint of Guinness and watch the hurling match. Luckily, we were told ahead of time that Kilkenny's colors are black and gold, if we didn't figure that out from the strings of little flags throughout town as we drove in, but I made sure to switch out of.my maroon hoodie because that's Galway's colors. With team neutral colors on, we walked in and out of a few pubs before picking one that wasn't too crowded, getting looks along the way because I guess it is quite odd to have two girls who look Asian but speaking with American accents come into a small town such as Kilkenny.

Walking to the City Centre

Watching the hurling match

Kilkenny support

Walking around and discovering that many shops are closed on Sundays

Once we were situated, I learned that hurling is the national sport for the Irish and the point system confused me for a bit but once I asked the nice man sitting next to me, it all made sense. Apparently, hurling is the fastest game played on grass and the stick that kind of looks like a field hockey stick is the hurl. Each of the fifteen players per team wears a cap that kind of looks like a looser version of a scrum cap and they can hit the ball or pick it up and if they hit it between the posts, it's one point and if they get it in the goal below the posts, it's counted as three points. Before I learned the point system, all I saw was [Kilkenny 1-08 Galway 0-14] so I didn't know who was winning but the front number indicates the goals and the second number is the amount through the posts. After I asked about how the game worked, it was actually pretty fun to watch and Kilkenny won, which was supposed to be something like the 17th time in a row.

We figured that everyone would be out celebrating that night so we found dinner somewhere and then headed to check out various pubs to join in on the festivities. Almost all of the businesses were closed which I guess is typical of a Sunday but there were many pubs to choose from. We were actually going to head back to the hotel a bit early to figure out our next steps when someone invited us to a drink and we ended up dancing the night away.

Rose veal escalope stuffed with Guinness cheddar, smoked bacon, golden fried, stir fried cabbage & baked potato

The doors are so small and cute!

The next day we were headed to Blarney to kiss the stone and to see the castle grounds but when we asked the front desk about anything worth seeing in between, we were told of the Rock of Cashel so we headed there first. Lots of history to be learned but the one thing that I remember is that Pagan crosses have a circle at the top of it and I later learned on another tour that Paganism worships nature gods. At one of non-Pagan crosses, our guide, Ricky, told us that it was believed that if you could wrap your arms fully around and touch your fingertips, you would never have a toothache ever again or if you could hop clockwise on your left foot and get fully around in nine hops, you'd be married within twelve months. Ling was more than eager to try out that one and I found that I am privy to a life that might include a few toothaches.

Before getting to the Rock of Cashel, I had a Irish breakfast!

The signs are so efficient!

At the Rock of Cashel

Sheep!

The plaque for the bishop's choir. The eleven men in the choir were each given a mini badge that looked like this that entitled them to whatever they wanted and the bishop would pay the bill at the end of the month.

Flemish art with mistakes to remind us that only God is perfect. Can you pick out the mistakes?

Yep, toothaches for me

Attempts at hopping around the cross.

We got to the Blarney Castle with enough time to race up the steps (not quite as easy as it sounds) and get assisted in flipping over to kiss the stone. We had enough time to walk around the gardens a bit so we did and tried not to get too lost. Unfortunately, by the time we got out of there, the little Chocolate Factory store right .nearby was closed so we would need to seek chocolate another day. From there, we headed into Cork which was right nearby for some Indian food because Ling had a craving for it and we'd been seeing lots of Indian restaurants around so figured it would be quite good. Sorry Ireland, but you can definitely not boast about your Indian food, if you ever have. That's all I'll say about that.

"Running" up the steps

View from the top

Kissing the stone!

There's so much wool even the trees have sweaters!

Cork by night

The next day, we drove out to the Killarney National Park and were prepared for a little hike so I took some black and white pudding pieces from our breakfast selection that morning for a picnic lunch. Black and white pudding is a pretty popular Irish breakfast item and it's made out of pork blood, meat, and fat, suet, bread, and oatmeal. When I first tried it earlier in the week, I couldn't quite figure out the taste of it but the black ones tasted like the way potpourri smells. I got to really like them though so I packed a few for lunch that day and quite enjoyed snacking on them like little cookies from my fanny pack. At the national park, we walked around for ages, getting lost at
times through different trails, eventually getting to the Torc waterfall. After what seemed like a few hours of hiking, we decided it was time to get back and drive around the Ring of Kerry. At first, I wasn't quite sure where it was as I was following signs pointing it out but I think I went around it almost a second time without realizing it. We ended the day back in Limerick, at Dolan's where they play traditional Irish music every night. After a yummy Irish stew, we hung around to watch the music for awhile. We were told that Limerick is like the Detroit of Ireland so weren't quite sure what to expect but we headed out to check out the rest of the city centre, regardless. Per the recommendation of the bartender at Dolan's, we went to Nancy Blake's where we huddled in a corner for a drink. We were approached by three Irish guys, two of whom were older and were just trying to wingman for the younger one. It was actually pretty funny seeing them "work their magic." They were good for a laugh but we called it a night when we saw a slew of younger ones out and about as it was student week this week.

I thought it was really cool to have bread out like this at the grocery store

At Killarney National Park

So much growth along our path

Cows having a conference

Climbing the waterfall

Traditional Irish stew at Dolan's

The musicians singing Irish tunes

Don't know what Brown Sauce is...

We headed off to see the Cliffs of Moher the next day and we were given an insider tip to go past the car park to park in a little inlet that led to a gravel road that took us on a hiking path straight to the Cliffs. We avoided paying the parking fee AND we got to hike up the scenic view. The Cliffs were certainly breathtaking! I felt like my my soul was being cleansed while I was walking the path along the Cliffs. I crawled out to the edge every so often to look down and it was just amazing. I can't find the proper words to describe it. At the first bell tower, Ling and I split up because I wanted to continue further so I went on my merry way, not paying much attention to time. The view was unreal! When I reached another bell tower, I decided it had been quite awhile so I turned back around to head back. By the time I had gotten close to the first bell tower, our previously determined meeting spot, I saw Ling walking out of the visitor centre with someone so my thought was "Oh great. She found a friend." However, what I didn't realize was that I had been gone for two and a half hours and Ling was about to ask for help from the rangers to go find me and the person next to her was a guide about to radio the rangers. Oops . I guess that little walk took way longer than I had anticipated.

Gravel path up the Cliffs

First view!

Pistol squat

Thanks for the warning

As I kept walking along, I had to keep turning to check out the view.

Crawled out to the edge

Yay! I didn't fall off!

After the cleansing beauty of the Cliffs, we drove into Doolin to possibly see the Doolin Caves. We stopped by a little corner centre and got some ice cream which tastes way better than the ice cream I've ever gotten from home. More natural. After we realized that the Doolin Caves were not within walking distance from the counter centre, we got back into the car to drive around some more. The little roads are super narrow that it's kind of impressive that they can be two-way streets yet not cause any confusion due to it only being one car width wide. After driving in those very narrow and windy roads, we ended up not going to the Caves but we stopped by a the Caherconnell Stone Fort and Poulnabrone Tomb before getting into Galway that evening.

Yummy ice cream!

Pulled over on the side of the road to check out the view

I really enjoyed the city of Galway. We arrived at Eyre Square and planned to stay the day just walking around. We happened to pass by a sign for a free walking tour so we decided to go back to it but we did some exploring of our own while purchasing some souvenirs. We walked around the quay for a bit then made our way back around to the Square. Our tour guide, Hubert, was super knowledgeable and told us that Galway is kind of a hippie town which is known for being the place where young people retire or its the graveyard of ambition. No wonder we saw so many street performers. As we passed by different places, Hubert was a really good storyteller of the different sites. For instance, the AIB bank used to be a castle and at the corner of it, there's a dented stone that's called the devil's toenail and he told us the background behind it but my favorite story was the one he had heard from his principal in grade school when they were taught to not talk to strangers.We also walked into this street where Hubert pointed out a place called The Pie Maker and recommended it so I was definitely in the mood for pie at that point. After many elaborate stories from Hubert, we had a bit of time before we were going to have dinner so we had time to grab a hot drink and to move our car out of the parking structure. After having realized that we didn't know where the parking structure was and finally asking for help, we moved our car out onto the street and headed for The Pie Maker. I loved the warmth that this place had as it was a fairly small place and the pies were definitely scrumptious so thanks for the recommendation, Hubert! Our last stop for the night was Ireland's smallest Comedy Club at The Dew Drop Inn. In between comedians, they gave us free pizza which was pretty cool and Irish humor is not too different from American humor so I was able to actually follow along. Almost all of the comedians were great but the last one had a really thick accent so I wasn't sure when to laugh sometimes but at one point, he called me pretty so I'll take that.

Juggler right outside the Galway Museum

Galway hooker

Playing inside the science area of the Galway Museum

A symbol for power just like the spinning stripes usually mean barbershop

Our tour guide, Hubert

Devil's toenail

Flags of the families in power when Galway first became a city

Chicken and mushroom pie

Some decorations at The Pie Maker

Live band at The Quay Bar

The host of Ireland's smallest comedy club

Our last full day in Ireland involved a quick two-hour car ride across the country back to Dublin. This was the first rainy day we had all week and I think we were very lucky to have had such an amazing week of weather so wasn't too upset about the rain. When we got to Dublin, of course we had to visit the Guinness Storehouse. It was amazing what goes on to make Guinness and how Guinness himself signed something like a nine hundred year lease for that property because he had that kind of vision. I learned how to pour my own Guiness with the six step process and headed to the top to take in the view of Dublin. When we got out of the storehouse, we figured that we needed to see the city first so we walked around getting final souvenirs and having a mini pub crawl of our own. We ended up in the tourist trap of Temple Bar in Temple Bar and then went to O'Reilly's which made me realize that I'm not a college kid anymore and I'm alright with that.

Our final night - Beer, cheese, whiskey

Graduated Guinness Academy!

I was lucky that my flight out to Paris wasn't until later the next day so after dropping Ling off at the airport, I went back into the city centre to do some more exploring of my own. I heard about this free walking tour so I hung around waiting for the tour to start and figured that I had enough.time to.finish the three hour tour and get to my flight in time. The tour gave a lot of information and I was pretty sad that I didn't have more time but I knew that I have lots more waiting for.me! So quickly after the tour of Dublin, I thanked and tipped Carl, my guide and power walked back to the car to get it back to the rental facility.

With about an hour and fifteen minutes to get to my departure gate, I figured I was making good time. Until I got into the wrong lane getting out of the petrol station and couldn't continue along the roundabout and was forced to exit. I made several more silly mistakes like that and by the time I finally made it to the rental facility, I had half an hour before my gate was set to close. Now to put into perspective how many silly turns I made, the city centre was only about fifteen minutes from the area of the airport and car rental facility so I went from having more than enough time to get there and move at a leisurely pace to having to put rockets up my bum to get going. So from there on out, I was apologizing and rushing all the people involved, from the lady at the rental checkout to the shuttle driver to the Ryanair check-in counter receptionist. Luckily I got through security pretty quickly but the terminal just had to be situated all the way around the other side of the airport so I ran, jogged, power walked, and bobbed and weaved as much as I could carrying my 15+ lb pack and backpack. The shin splints were very prevalent by the time I approached my gate and for the first time ever, I was glad to see the long line waiting to board. So finally at my gate, I was able to breathe a sigh of relief in knowing that I was going to be getting into Paris that evening.