Yesterday went by in a blur of jetlag....but the solo flight/train trip to Nijmegen went well. I was really grateful that Sarah warned me that the train leaves the Arnhem station (ie, the station before Nijmegen) the same direction that it comes in - otherwise, I probably would have had heart failure. There's a public market in Nijmegen on Saturdays, so we explored the market and had lunch at a cafe. Sarah's been feeling a bit under the weather and i was exhausted, so we had an early night (ie, I fell asleep on the chair before 6:30 - oops). We did buy a bunch of delicious food at the market to eat for dinner - gouda, brie, focaccia bread, chocolate, macademia nuts/peanuts/cashews, and stroopwaffles (delicious waffle cookies with a syrupy goo in the middle). Today ... read more

Today I chased after sheep....only to receive angry "Baas" of irritation from the sheep as they fled from me and my camera. My plan to kidnap a sheep met with an epic failure today. I do think a sheep would be a perfect pet. I could let it out in our yard to eat the grass - thus eliminating the need for a lawn service. And, it could produce yarn for me! We spent most of the day driving around the Dingle Peninsula/Sleahead. Definitely a more traditional part of the country - and most road signs were printed in Gaelic only (I learned that Go MALL means "Go Slow"). Although the driving and navigation is becoming much easier, I am still getting rather tired of driving. I keep trying to convince mom to see the rest ... read more

So internet the past few days has been almost nonexistant. But, I did blog those days, and am now posting what I've blogged. Day 2 of driving - SO much better than Day 1. We only had to stop and ask for directions once (at a rather shady looking gas station - although my Mom assured me that the man working there was extremely nice). Today's goal was to leave County Waterford, head into County Cork, and ultimately end in the town of Kinsale for the next two nights. Along the way, we had two castles to visit - Cahir Castle, and (of course!) Blarney Castle. Cahir Castle is in Cahir, and was built in 1124. It is one of the largest castles in Ireland that is still standing today. We spent about 30 minutes walking ... read more

The past two days have been fun – and exhausting! Quick trivia note of the day: There were once over 4,000 Public Houses (Pubs) in Dublin, and now they’re down to only 800. Just a quick brief summary… Sunday, July 3rd - Visited the Book of Kells at Trinity College, but was more in love with the Long Room - Walked along the Liffey and took pictures of the different bridges (Ha’penny Bridge and Millennium Bridge were my favorites) - Rode a bus tour throughout the city (favorite part of the tour was when the bus inexplicably stopped for 10 minutes, and I looked out the window to see our driver having a smoke and talking on his cell phone. Normally this would be okay, but it was only 4 stops into a 24 stop tour!) ... read more