Thursday morning I woke up at 4:30 in the morning so that I could be ready for our taxi to the airport at 5:30. I was up and ready, but two of the people that were sharing our taxi woke up late. We were just a couple of minutes behind schedule and had plenty of time, but the girls that were later were a little flustered. Once we got to the airport there we quickly made it through security and in order to load the plane we got to walk on the tarmac! I am now able to cross that off my bucket list. After landing in Dublin we took the shuttle to Paddy's Palace and checked in and then walked around town. We saw Trinity College and the Leprechaun Museum.
While at the Leprechaun Museum we were able to walk through the Giant's Causeway and climb on giant furniture. There was also a guide who told us stories about leprechauns. We also picked up our Open Road passes for Bus Eireann and stuff for sandwiches the next day. After a long day out we went back to the hostel for a quick nap and then we went out to dinner at a pub called O'Shea's. I ate fish'n'chips and it was delicious.
On Friday I once again woke up early so that we could catch our bus to Cork to visit Blarney Castle. It was a long ride there, but we were able to see some beautiful countryside. Once we arrived in Cork we got on another bus to Blarney. While in Blarney we walked through the town up to the castle. In case you do not know the Blarney Stone is located within the Blarney Castle. For those of you do not know the Blarney Stone is rumored to give those who kiss it the gift of eloquency. The only problem is that the stone is located at the top of the castle and you need to lay on your back at the top of the castle and lean over backwards to reach the stone. For those who are afraid of heights it is not very accessible. To reach the top of the castle you need to climb up 120 steps in a very steep spiral stair case. I managed to make it all the way up and was able to kiss the Blarney Stone.
Then we walked through a garden that was on property and found a giant tree to climb in.
After walking around for a while we got back on the bus to Cork to catch the bus to Killarney where our next hostel was located. Once there we checked in and walked around town to find a restaurant to eat dinner at. We found Corkey's Pub on one of the main streets and stopped and ate. I had the Traditional Irish Stew and the other girls all had burgers. Everything was delicious and the locals were very nice. It was a common experience to be called "love" whenever I was asked a question while I was in Ireland. Then we went back to our hostel to go to bed and wake up and go to the Cliffs of Moher.
To make it to the Cliffs of Moher we had to catch the bus in Killarney at 9:00 to Limerick and then the bus in Limerick to Ennis. Once in Ennis thought that there was a bus to Cliffs of Moher but due to the fact that we went during the off season there was not a bus until later that day so we had to get a taxi to the Cliffs of Moher. It was worth every penny it took to get there though, the views were amazing and we had a picnic lunch while we were there.
While at the Cliffs of Moher here is what caught my attention, it is a little small but the sign says "Dangerous Cliff Edge". No one would guess that there would be a cliff at the Cliffs of Moher.
After our lunch we made our way back to Killarney by reversing our previous travels. It was a long day but it was a lot of fun and the landscape was more like the pictures you see of Ireland, with the stone fences separating the fields and sheep covering the hill side, than what is seen in the more southern region. On our way back we spent a couple of hours walking around Limerick and our timing was perfect. We walked down to the river and as we were there a man was throwing old buns into the river for all the swans and other birds.
That night we visited the Killarney Grand, a pub located in town and I had a Guinness while I was in Ireland. Then we went back to the hostel and I promptly fell asleep. We decide to sleep in before we caught the bus to Limerick on Sunday.
On Sunday we slept in and then took the bus back to the Dublin airport where we checked in and then went to get some McDonalds. When we went to try and get through security we were denied because our flight was actually for the next day. Our MacBackpacker tour left the next day at 9 in the morning. We tried to get another flight but it would have cost us over 200 euros. So we booked a room at Paddy's Palace and went to wait for the airport shuttle. We waited for the shuttle for over two and a half hours and finally got a taxi. By the time we got to the hostel it was 11:30 and the other six people in our ten person mixed hostel were asleep and only the top bunks were open. We experience sleeping in a room with six other strangers before waking up on Monday morning and walking down Grafton St. to St. Stephen's Green in Dublin were we spent the day, ate another picnic and relaxed in the sun before heading back to the airport for our flight to Edinburgh.
I came back to the Palace at two o'clock in the morning and changed into pj's and crawled into bed. We missed our tour of Isle of Skye so the rest of my spring break includes relaxing around Dalkeith and Edinburgh while reading and working on my papers that are due the end of the semester so that I do not have to worry about them.
No comments:
Post a Comment