Ireland

We landed in Ireland around 11:30pm on Saturday night. The flight was good, however, there were kids everywhere. One little girl commented to her mom on the way to the plane that "Licorice is lovely." It was very cute. Another little girl who was sitting in front of me screamed BLASTOFF when the plane took off. It was hilarious. Ireland is great.

Immediately, we loved it, regardless of the fact that it was cold and raining. We had not seen rain in 4 weeks - it was bound to appear at some point. We have been carrying jeans and rain coats around so now we get to use them.

Another reason to love Ireland. They have toilet seats, toilet paper and soap ... all in the same bathroom. You have no idea how exciting that is!

We stayed in a great hostel on Saturday night. It was clean and very quiet, with only one other girl in our room. Sunday we got up, had an Irish breakfast and hopped on the train to Cork. That afternoon (yes, it was still raining), we headed to Blarney Castle and kissed the Blarney stone. It was not what we expected at all. No worries, we have pictures. You climbed to the top of the castle, laid down on your back, held onto these bars and dropped down your head to find the stone. That night we headed to a local pub. What else would we do - we are in Ireland! We ordered a drink from the bartendar and commented that he was not from Ireland since he was void of any accent. We soon found out the reason for that. He is from Seaforth, actually a little outside of Seaforth. He was quite surprised when I told him I was working in Seaforth starting in September. Not exactly something he thought he would hear from someone in Cork. It was a fun time at the pub. We have been 'told' they kick you out before midnight on a Sunday. Who knew!

Monday we got an early train (6:30am) to Killarney. We arrived before 8:00am, in time to arrange to go on the Ring of Kerry tour. It was a good day and we saw lots. The next morning we were on a bus heading to Galway. It is lovely here. We stayed in a nice bed and breakfast for 2 nights. Yesterday we went to the Aran Islands, specifically Inis Mór. There we rented bikes and toured around the island (in the rain). It was a lot of fun. We went to a stone fort (Dún Aengus) which predates Christianity and goes back to approx. 2000 B.C. We also went to the Aran Wool Market which is quite large. We had heard a lot about Aran wool but oddly enough, we did not see any sheep while we were there. I saw a sweater I really like, however, it was 199 euros so it got to stay in the store. On the ferry ride back, Sherrie spotted dolphins swimming alondside the boat. There were 3 of them and they chased our wake for a bit. We talked to the captain afterwards and he said this year they have not seen many dolphins at all.

Every night we have went to hear traditional live music at the pubs. We are thinking of buying a CD. Does anyone else know the song 'Whiskey in a Jar'? It is always enjoyable. I need Sandy Pinkse here to identify the instruments they are playing. People are very friendly and very relaxed. The land is so many different shades of green. (I guess with all that rain it should be.)

Today, Sherrie is doing another tour - to The Cliffs of Moher and Burren. It looks quite nice. I am spending a quiet day around the city of Galway. We head to the train at 6:00pm and will arrive in Dublin around 9:00pm.

We will be home in less than a week. Cannot wait! Sherrie and Steph

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