A little bit more of Ireland

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26 December - London to Dublin to Galway

My flight was at 9am from Stansted so at about 7am I was in a taxi to Liverpool St station. There was absolutely no traffic around, what with it being Boxing Day and all. Then it was a quick train ride to Stansted before boarding the flight to London.

On arrival into Dublin airport my biggest issue was getting some euro. This proved more challenging than expected as the first three ATMS I found were out of order. Useful. After finally getting cashed up I discovered the food court before getting on my bus to go to Galway. I got into Galway quite late in the afternoon, with barely enough light left to have a wander round and take in the city. The hostel was in a pretty good location, but had this funky smell and a slight mould issue. Staff were really helpful and friendly and there were lots of other people there despite the fact it was winter.

27 December - Cliffs of Moher

Up early this morning to do a day trip out to the Cliffs of Moher. On the way we stopped at Dunguaire Castle which was quite impressive, sitting on a slight hill overlooking water. Then it was onto Allwee Caves which while nice, I thought were slightly over priced for what it was. Good to see some caves in Ireland of course but compared to a lot of others I just didn't find them that impressive. The guide was very funny though and because there was only about 10 of us on the tour it was quite personal. Funnily enough there were a few people from my hostel on the tour which was good.

After that it was onto the Portal Tomb before a brief stop for lunch at a quaint little pub where I had a really tasty carrot and cauliflower soup. Then it was onto our final destinations - the cliffs. I was disappointed that by this stage we had afternoon sun so my photos didn't turn out great, but the cliffs themselves were stunning. Sheer and massive drops right into the ocean. Spent about an hour there wandering round the paths. Weather was relatively mild despite the time of year, helped by the fact that it was a relatively 'sunny' day rather than overcast and clowdy.

Back at the hostel in time for dinner before heading to bed.

28 December - Galway to Killarney

I was planning on getting the midday bus to Killarney, just a few hours away, but by the time it got to about 9am I realised there wasn't much else I wanted to see in Galway (lovely city but I had limited time) so I got an earlier bus, which got my into Killarney in the early afternoon. There was a German dude on the bus who I chatted to briefly and who turned out to be stayed at the same hostel, which was helpful since he directed me to it when we got into town!!

Hostel was quite sweet - large downstairs area with a toasty flre. Kitchen was well equipped, but the whole place only slept about 20 people. No drinking at all on the premises, but there was a pub next door. Because it was early afternoon I decided to go for a walk around the National Park. Unfortunately because it gets dark at like 4pm I didn't make it to either the castle or the lake. The it was some dinner before relaxing at the hostel.

29 December - Ring of Kerry

The hostel had assured me that I could go a day trip for the Ring of Kerry leaving at 10am so I had a quick wander around town nice and early. I was back well in advance of when the excursion was due to leave - and 10 minutes after they were due the hostel dude told me that the company had decided not to run it. Great advance notice. Luckily for me, there were two American sisters staying at the hostel and who were doing a driving tour of Ireland and were planning on doing the ring that day - so I went along with them.

Our first stop was tourist information to get a map - to no success. We followed the signs and our first stop was Kerry Bog Village - this cute little recreated thatched roof village. Equipped with miniature pony and all which was sooooo cute. We were the only ones at the village - probably due to the lack of bus tours and the time of year, but it wasn't very big.

After that we continued around the ring, stopped at some points to take photos. Went to the freezing cold 'beach.' Had lunch at a little town where we found a cafe before continuing around the ring and out to the island too. We had been hoping to find the pre-dinosaur print but after about an hour, and having to ask some locals for directions, we gave up and continued on the ring. We were only just over half way round when it got dark. Don't know how the buses do it in a day really!! The rest of the ring was spent admiring what we thought would be the stunning scenery. We did hope to see another castle and even drove out of our way in the hope that it might be lit up, to discover a pitch black field where all we could see was a few sheep. Got back to hostel at around 8pm or so (saw a deer on the drive home which was exciting!) grabbed dinner and a quick drink.

30 December - Killarney to Cork

I was up early to get the 8am bus to Cork, which got me to my hostel at around 10:30am. I left my bag behind and went out to Blarney Castle. Castle and the grounds were very well maintained. Green, perrfectly manicured grass, horses munching in a paddock. So typically what you expect of castle grounds. There were quite a few people around and I followed a long line of people up the narrow and winding stairs to get to the top and the blarney stone - which I didn't kiss. No way you are getting me hanging over the side of a castle!! I don't care how high up it is or how good luck it is supposed to be.

I got back into Cork at around 3pm which gave me enough time to have a look around before it got too dark, grab some dinner and chill out back at the hostel. My room was full of British guys on a New Years week away - I do pity whoever had to be in their room the following night. They all went out at around 11pm and I vaguely heard them get back at around 4am, and I'm sure they heard me leave at 7:30am the next morning.

31 December - Cork to Dublin to London

Well, very early start this morning as I was on the 8am bus to Dublin. In Dublin I then changed to the airport bus and got to the airport at perfect timing, when check-in for my flight opened. Then had about two hours to waste (which involved food and buying a few more books) before boarding the flight. When my flight arrived into Stansted, I then got the train, then a few tubes before arriving home at 8pm. A very long travel day, but still left me enough time to go out and enjoy London fireworks on new years.

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