IRELAND! IRELAND! *cue celtic music*

This morning I woke up at 5:45am and set off on my 2 day rail tour around Ireland.  I was going to try and take the bus to the rail station but that didn't work out so I got a taxi and made it just in time. On my way there I saw a TON of Guinness signs all over the place. We got on the train to Cork at 7am and got there around 9:50am. I was quite happy to be back on the train and started reading my Brandon Sanderson book. :) After that, we transferred to a coach bus and set off to Blarney.  There were 3 other people there, all from Australia! My tour guide, Bob, asked me where I was from and I said Buffalo, NY and his first reaction was "Ah! Where the wings come from!"

We headed off to Blarney, and he was telling us all about Ireland, Cork, and a bunch of things.  Some of the stuff that I wrote down is that in that area, the prevailing beer on that side of the island is Murphys rather than Guinness.  Also, on every public announcement sign (highway signs, street names, everything) it is written in both English and in Irish (or Gaelic).  Irish is still the official language, even though only about 6% of the population speak it fluently today.  Also in that area we passed the European HQ for Apple.  You have to wear your seat belt on the coach.

See the hole in the middle?
That's where I had to lean
over to kiss the Blarney stone.

We got to Blarney and walked around the castle.  I climbed the stairs to the Blarney stone and I did kiss it! It was weird though.  You would think that it would have been on a display case or something, but it was actually built into castle and I had to lay down on my back and lean back over a hole 120 ft. up to kiss it.  It didn't look like anything special...just part of the actual castle.  But I kissed it so I'm waiting for the added eloquence to make its debut.  I also met a really nice family from North Carolina.  I walked around the poison garden after that  and saw plants like Wolfsbane and the European Mandrake (High five if you know why I wanted to break out my standard size 2 pewter cauldron and turn to page 394).  I wandered around the grounds some more, over to the Witches stone, wishing steps, Rock close, and lots of other cool things that were around.  It seemed like a very magical place and it was really pretty.  On the walk back I learned that Queen Elizabeth I came up with the word "blarney."  I headed back to do a bit of shopping in the Blarney Woolen Mills and get some lunch.  I had Blarney beef stew which was quite good, but they were playing obnoxious American Christmas music and completely ruined the atmosphere.

After that it was back on the coach and off to the train station to drop off two of the people who were going back to Dublin that night.  We drove through Cork and saw Cork Univeristy, which has its entrance as the entrance from a former jail, but is also world renowned for its cancer research.I also saw a good number of gingers walking around Cork too. America has touched Cork in a few ways.  First, Washington St. is named after George Washington, our first President.  Also, there is a John F. Kennedy park because he visited Cork the same year that he was assassinated in.

We continued on to Cobh (pronounced Cove) to visit the Heritage Center and St, Colman's Cathedral.  Cobh is the place where both the Lusitania and the Titanic docked for the final time before they were both sunk.  We saw the port where the Titanic pulled into.  The cathedral was very beautiful, and when we went inside, they were setting up for Christmas.  We moved onto the Heritage center which had an exhibition that covered the potato famine, Irish emigration, the Titanic, and the Lusitania.  I had just enough time to enjoy afternoon tea and a scone before we headed to the train station.  From the Cobh train station we went to Mallow (or Mala in Gaelic) and I said goodbye to my guide and the other lady (I'm the only one on this actual trip, the other people were on different ones) and I transferred to the train that would take me to Killarney.  

Irish people so far have been very nice.  I was working to heave my duffle bag onto the luggage racks and this one guy helped me out.  I read more Brandon Sanderson on the train ride to Killarney.  I arrived in Killarney and managed to find the driver that took me to my hotel for the night.  This is a really nice guesthouse! I got settled in, had a cup of tea, and then headed out for some grub.  I walked along the streets that were all lit up with Christmas lights, and found the Failte hotel which also had a restaurant in it.  I ordered a pint of Guinness, the soup and the duck.  The soup was a creamy vegetable with garlic croutons and it was delicious!! They also had some really good bread with this salty, olive spread that was delicious! I was really happy to actually be enjoying Guinness in Ireland :D.  I got over my thing about eating alone in a real restaurant.   It was a really cozy restaurant which helped and they were playing some really nice instrumental Christmas music.  The duck came and I was really surprised.  It wasn't a pile of grease and fat and it was AMAZING! It came with mashed potatoes and veggies and stuff.  SO GOOD! The lady was also really nice, asking me how my stay was and how I was enjoying Ireland.  She also told me that Guinness is nutritious because it has a lot of iron.  I just googled it and this is what I found.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/sns-holiday-stpats-guinness-good-for-you,0,535155.photogallery

I met that family from North Carolina, and their accents were CRAZY STRONG! I know some of this has to do with the fact that I haven't been hearing American accents that much.  I was watching Treasure Planet with Meghan and Jen last week, and it wasn't until we were at least halfway through the movie that I realized that the main characters all had English accents!

I am kind of worried about going home.  I am afraid I'm going to go completely mad since I won't be traveling....pretty much at all! But I'll have some of my friends around me and I'll text Jen and write letters to Meghan so it'll be okay.  It's definitely weird even thinking about it.
Hope you had a good day!
~Carolyn