Wales Entry #20: Ireland

Kissing the wrong stone at Blarney Castle

I think it's pretty cool that I can now say that I've been to the one country I have always wanted to go, Ireland. It is just as amazing as all the pictures and movies you see. It is a beautiful country and I love it. to be honest, I knew right away I should have studied abroad there. It's where I always wanted to go. I don't regret choosing Cardiff at all though. I do love Cardiff and it's one of my favorite cities I have been to. So, for all of you who are dying to know. Here is a day by day short little description of everything.

March 24, Day 1: This was when we left Cardiff to go to Bristol to catch a plane to Dublin. The whole day I was very antsy and could not wait to leave. After all, I have been dreaming about going to Ireland since I was a little kid. We took a 3pm train to Bristol Airport which worked out really well. We checked in and got some coffee and then waited until they announced the gate our plane was coming from. By 6:45pm we were up in the air and by 7:30pm we would have landed. It was a very quick flight. From the airport we went straight to the hostel. The hostel was alright, not the most ideal place to stay but it was the cheapest in Dublin. We did meet a couple of guys from America and they were talking to us about traveling throughout Europe and giving us advice. After we all settled in we decided to go out and find a place to eat. We didn't want to go too far and most of the places around us were closed so we ended up eating at McDonald's. We went back to the hostel and went to sleep so we could wake up and start our day early on Friday.

Dublin Castle

March 25, Day 2: We started our day off with a free breakfast at the hostel. From there we went to catch a free tour around Dublin. We walked all over and saw Dublin Castle, Trinity College, Christ Church Cathedral, Parliament and a bunch of other places in Dublin. After the tour, we got a 10 euro lunch at this pub called O'Neils. There I ordered Guinness Beef Stew. (Yes, I ordered stew Mom!) It was really good, I enjoyed it. From there we split up. Half of us went to the Guinness Storehouse and the rest went to the Library at Trinity College to see the Book of Kells. We went back to the hostel, and relaxed for an hour before we went out to a couple of pubs in Dublin. We came back early because we had to get up early to go the Cliffs of Moher.

Cliffs of Moher

March 26, Day 3: My favorite day. We woke up early because we knew the bus ride to the Cliffs would be long. We asked the ticket office how to get to the Cliffs and he told us to take a bus from Dublin to Galway and then take a bus from Galway to the Cliffs of Moher. So we all got on the bus to Galway for our 3-4 hour bus ride to Galway. I think I fell asleep for a little bit but I tried to stay awake for as much of it as I could so that I could see the country side. It was so pretty and we drove through a lot of cute towns. I saw a lot of cows and sheep as well. We got to Galway and look up bus times to the Cliffs. Turns out there was just one bus there and it was at 11:30. We got there at 12:30. Of course everyone was all stressed because we completely went out of the way to get to the Cliffs. So we asked around how to get there and someone said the best way is taxi or see about a tour. So we asked the taxi driver and he said 90 euros (for 2 cars as we later learned) We went off to think about it. When another taxi driver approached with a deal for 150 euros in one car. We were able to lower it so that we ended up paying 20 euros each. (there were six of us) We were all stressed and figured it would be worth it. Our cab driver was named Jerry and he was very friendly. We got to the Cliffs finally after about an hour drive along the coast of Ireland which was beautiful! When it was time to pay Jerry, he tells us that the deal was roundtrip, which was actually even better! He also told us

The beautiful countryside!

he would drive us to Ennis in about an hour and half to catch the bus. He also said he would check the bus prices for us as well. Jerry told us that the Cliffs were free but if we go to the exhibition we have to pay. So we walk in and we get stopped by this security lady who told us we need tickets. (Meanwhile no one else was stopped and there was no ticket office or machine to go to) So we had to pay 4 euros to get in. The cliffs were pretty though and worth it. The water near them was so clear and beautiful and the cliffs were really high up as well. We then met up with Jerry and he drove this to place that overlooked the country and there was a wishing well and area where there all these mass cards and pictures of people who have died. Jerry then told us how he would drive us to Cork for 20 euros each which was 5 more than the bus but we would get there faster and not have to worry about the stress of finding the right bus. He also told we could stop whenever we wanted to or needed to. We all think he felt bad for us because we were a bunch of American girls with little money who were stressed and tired and it was very clear. On top of that, Christina threw up the way to the cliffs. So he drove us to Cork. We drove along the coast then and saw some beaches that were really pretty. We didn't make any stops though. When we got to Cork, Jerry looked up bus information for us to get from Cork to Dublin which was really nice of him. Our hostel in Cork was a lot nicer than Dublin which was just what we needed. We ordered pizza and relaxed after a long day.

Blarney Castle

March 27/28, Day 3/4: Blarney Castle. One of my favorite places I have ever been to. It was so pretty and green and all the flowers were blooming. The grounds there were so pretty. If anyone reading this is planning to go to Ireland this is a must see place. Don't forget to go kiss the Blarney Stone! It takes about 100 tiny narrow steps to walk up inside the castle and you have to lay back over a huge drop to kiss the stone. Make sure you kiss the right one! I didn't. We then went to the poison garden which had a bunch of poisonous plants. From there we walked through the wooded areas which almost made me think I was in some mystical forest. They have had a place called The Witches' Kitchen and a Fairy Garden. After walking around, we went into the town of Blarney where we all got an Irish breakfast which consisted of eggs, potatoes, sausage, bacon, mushrooms, tomato and black and white pudding (which is kind of like sausage) Oh yeah, and beans. It was really good and really filling. We walked around Cork in the morning which was a really cute city. After Blarney we got on a bus back to Dublin. We had to stop about half way through to change buses because ours wasn't going to make it Dublin and we had to wait for people on the non-express bus to get to be transfered onto our bus since there was no room on the other one. We finally got to Dublin around 9:30/10pm so we went and got some McDonald's for dinner before going to the airport. We slept in the airport on these chairs and woke up in time for our 6:35am plane back to Bristol. We had to wait a couple hours for our bus back to Cardiff. Turns out our bus was an hour and half late but we finally got back around 2ish.

Overall, I absolutely loved Ireland. It was amazing and so beautiful. I can't wait to go back there again.
These following are links to my facebook albums so you can see more pictures:
Dublin
Cliffs of Moher and Cork
Blarney Castle