Ireland Day 1 and 2

So here we go. Ireland. Let me give you background on this trip first of all. It all started when we got an e-mail from Jen saying that the Dublin trip was back on, it was an organized trip through some company. Those going would be staying in a sweet bed and breakfast place, and it would be from like Tuesday to Sunday. We were getting ready to watch Lost when we first started talking about it, so since it was Lost that means it was Jenna, Amaya, Kathleen and myself who were planning on going. We were really excited until we saw the price. 300 pounds... aka 600 dollars. Yeah right. So then we thought, we can do it on our own. Ticket prices for airfare weren't bad, and Jenna had some connections in Dublin. Not good ones, I think it was her sister's husband is from Dublin, so they have friends, and we might have been able to stay with them... it wasn't good for 5 people. But the best airline tickets were to get there on St. Patrick's Day and leave Tuesday I believe. We also changed the location, we decided to go to Cork where we had connections and didn't have to pay for a hostel. But then Jenna and I were talking on skype a few days later though, and she admitted to me that she really did not want to miss her Monday classes, and she had missed too many already because of mix ups. I said that I would rather not miss my whole week of classes either, but I was willing to do what the group wanted. We both started looking for alternate plans, and we found that if we went Wednesday the 14 March, and left St. Patricks Day, that would be like 100 dollars. I proposed this idea to the girls, and they didn't like the idea as much, because they would be skipping their classes. It was okay for Jenna and I to skip ours, but they couldn't skip theirs... great. But Jenna and I talked about it, and we decided if no one wanted to go with us fine, we would go ourselves.

So we talked to our friends, and we decided to stay with Tara, who is Irish. Her friend Elle was willing to put us up, she has a house right outside of Cork. Sweet deal. So we went with it. I have never done anything more than a day trip with Jenna, so I was really looking forward to this. Jenna travels to see places, just like I do, and not go to shopping malls, or just hang out in pubs.

So I was really looking forward to this. We left Wednesday morning, our plane was at 12:55pm, and we got to Cork at like 2pm. Yeah it's called air rage. It was suppose to get in closer to 3pm. From the airport, we took a bus to the bus station where Tara was meeting us. She was running late, well we were running early, and it took her a while to get to us, because the Cork bus system is always late. It's kinda silly. But Tara came, and we walked to Elle's where we were staying. Elle has a sweet place, she shares it with a few girls, who are all really nice. Elle won me over in about two seconds though, well other than giving me a free room for a few nights... she offered us tea. Actually first of all, we get there, and Elle and Pamela are watching HOLLYOAKS! AHHHH! So exciting. I started watching thinking it was a new one, but this channel is about a month behind, Justin was just confessing to lying in court about his relationship with Becky who is in jail, and Amy has not had her kid yet! The power I felt over everyone... I know the future of Hollyoaks.

Anyway, so Elle offers us tea... Jenna and I were all smiles. I love Barry's tea, it's amazing. Jenna and I were in heaven. I bought two big boxes of it, but I think I might be able to get it in Waitrose. Whatever. So then they are talking about dinner, and ordering a pizza. So Irish. They do, Jenna and I both like just cheese, but when it came um it was the house special. I still do not know some of what was on it... but guess what??? I ATE IT! I ate most of the peppers, and the chicken, ham, and that thing I still do not know what it was. I didn't eat the pepperoni, I've tried it before, and I really do not like it. But the majority of it I ate. I know, go me.

So after pizza, Elle and Tara decided it was time to show off their new friends. We went down to a pub, Tom Barry's, which is the pub that Cillian Murphy loves to go to when he is in Cork. It was a sweet place. It is also a beer garden, so of course we sat outside, but under the heaters. Elle, Tara, Jenna and I talked about everything, just really getting to know each other. I can not say enough about Tara and Elle, they were amazing, wonderful hosts. I think Tara is coming to NY in July, and if so I might have to get there to see her, and buy a round or two for her, because she deserves it. She was our tour guide for the time we were there. So we had a drink there, and then went down to another bar, where some of their friends were. Their friends... amazing. My favorites were Tom and Salt. Yes that is her name... Salt. I wanted to ask if she had a relative named Pepper, but I resisted. Tom is so funny, and very ummm well let's just say he likes anything with sparkles, butterflies, or pink. But he's not gay, his girl friend is Salt. He's awesome, he has a very accent... ohhh. Love the Irish accent. So we hung out with them, and a few others, but it was so cool. Amazing night.

So the next day, we got up around 8ish, I think... maybe 9. We were going to Blarney Castle though. The night before everyone told us not to kiss the Stone, so of course we listened to them. Blarney is about 25 minutes outside of Cork. So we planned to take I think the 11am bus there, and of course we were basically running. We tried to take a bus down there, but of course it never came, so we walked which takes a half an hour. We made it thankfully, and even had 20 minutes to spare, because that is when the bus decided to show up. The ride was nice, I took some pictures. Ireland is so green and beautiful. It reminds me a little of the ride to Oxford, a lot of country, but ten times more beautiful. When we got to Blarney the first thing we did was eat. We quickly went into the first pub there, and that was a bad idea. We got basically no food for what we paid. Er. I got a BLT, and it came with 3 fries and a piece of lettuce and a cucumber. Okay that's an exaggeration, but not much of one. And service took forever. But the food was good, just I needed much more. Oh well.

So after that we went up to the castle. SO BEAUTIFUL! Love it. The castle itself was nice, we went up to the top but stopped at every door along the way and explored. I heard someone say, "Why are they getting off the stairs?" I wondered that too, but I was glad we did. We saw a lot of er empty rooms, but it was just cool. We went into the family room, the young ladies bedroom, and probably the bathroom. hahah. It was all good. The staircase was so small, and narrow. I took a video as we walked up, it's so funny. Some many people were afraid to go up the stairs, the first part of the trip took forever. But we did a lot of exploring, so we lost the scared people, and when we finished our trek we were the only ones on the stairs. At the top though, we watched everyone kiss the Blarney Stone. We went through the motions, and the picture taken of me looks convincing, but no way. I did not kiss it. Of course the next day, we met this kid Tom who said he has kissed it like three times and he is fine, and he's from Blarney, but I dunno know. I still stick with my decision not to kiss it. It was so nice up there though, looking out at the countryside and at Blarney. Amazing countryside.

The best part of the castle was the grounds though. I felt, and Jenna agreed that I was in some Disney movie. I mean I was in some mystical forest, that easily could have been a Disney ride. There was the druid's cave, the witch's kitchen, the wishing steps... that's just so magical, wonderful, and amazing. We had a good time wandering around. Our favorite of course was the sacrificial alter, we took turns killing each other. I got to kill first. It was great being with Jenna and Tara, both are so amazing. By the druid's cave there was a bird who would not stop making noise. It was so funny, maybe we were intruding on it's home. Dunno know.

After the castle, we went back to Cork, and spent a lot of time just walking around. We went past the Cathedral, and Courtney's Avenue. I have an Avenue... who knew! It's off of Roman Street. Weird. We saw the Butter Museum, another church that we were suppose to climb to the top of, but they are working on so we couldn't. Sad. Cillian Murphy climbed to the top of it in an early movie that he was in, so that why Jenna knew about it, and wanted to do it. hahah.

For dinner though, we went to Wagamama's, which is a Japanese restaurant. Wags is in England too, the girls love it. I have never been, so we went because Elle works there. Jenna told me that I can get something simple so I was all for it. Wags is so GOOD! Maybe one day I'll explore more but I basically got chicken noodle soup, it was ramon with chicken. Good stuff. And we got a big discount so yeahhh!! I love discounts.

That night was a quiet one, we saw Tara's place, watched some Irish comedies, and had pancakes. I fell asleep during the last comedian, I was just so tired, but I was awake for pancakes. They were Irish/English pancakes, so more like crepes. I find them kinda disgusting, I like things cooked a little more, but these were good. We had them with sugar, and I was on a sugar rush! Jenna was amused. We had an argument though about what kind of pancake is better. American wins hands down. I mean maple syrup... how can that not win! Ohhh man, I have to make pancakes soon, now I'm hungry for it. I have some too, got it in Ely last time I went. Tara and one of her room mates were arguing that Irish pancakes win, but noooooo, I've had both, I'm being fair, and I gotta say nothing beats an American pancake. So fluffy, with maple syrup on it, and a large glass of milk... it's to die for!

So yeah that was Day 1 and 2 in Ireland. I'll post the rest later.