Saturday June 28, 2008 – Dublin, Ireland
We just got back to the hotel after our day in Cork, Blarney and that whole area.
We woke up at 4:30 this morning to get ready since we had to be out of the hotel by 6 am. Abbey St. is maybe a half-mile from us and it is one of the main stops for the LAUS, which is Dublin’s tram system. We took that across the city to Heuston (sounds like Houston), which only took us 5 minutes and met up with our group there. Our train left the station around 7 am and headed southwest. This was my first trip on a train in Europe, and so far I’m quite impressed – it was so clean and comfortable.
They even have a trolley with treats going back and forth. I spent the first half of the 3 hour journey completely in awe of the Irish countryside, its so green and there are pastures with cows & sheep everywhere.
After the trolley came through the second time, Charlie and I were hungry enough to get a muffin and orange juice/coffees for the both of us. The two men sitting opposite us in our little booth started talking to us, asking us where we’re from, what we’re studying, the usual travelers questions. They were from the University of Minnesota and were there on conference – it’s a small world. We had a great time talking with both of them, discussing the importance of school, how to better the current system, the positive experiences that are treasured (like traveling). Their tour got off the train earlier than us, so they had to leave. Most of our car was empty after the stop in Mallow so Charlie and I had tons of space to stretch out, snooze, talk, and take in the sites. We finally arrived in Cork, and our lovely tour guide took us to our bus for the day. Cork is a beautiful city, the second largest in the Republic of Ireland, after Dublin. One thing that has amazed me about Ireland is that the doors and/or houses are painted bright beautiful colors, at random. I love it!
It only took us a few minutes to get to Blarney Village and the Castle.
I’m still in awe of the beauty that is here in this country, and this village is no exception. We were able to spend almost 3 hours walking around, exploring the grounds and castle.
There was a line to kiss the Blarney Stone, which we of course stood in and it was worth it!
So fun… The grounds are filled with little trails that take you all over the place, past little waterfalls and big rocks covered in moss all in the middle of a forest.
I honestly couldn’t have cared less about the rest of the tour, staying there would’ve been fine by me.
We grabbed a small lunch there in the village after buying little souvenirs and left around 1:20ish. We drove around Cork for a while, looking at all of the amazing little shops and landmarks. They have a hill that is so steep and windy that it’s the place that the cyclists come to train before the Tour de France! After leaving the main part of the city, I took the opportunity to snooze a bit on the bus – traveling and site seeing can really make one exhausted! I woke up when we were arriving to an old cemetery, which has been around since the Celts rule of Ireland. They have a monument there for the people who lost their lives in the tragedy of the Lusitania in 1915. That was pretty cool. The old cemetery was beautiful to walk through, although it was quite cold. We got to go see the harbor and port where the Titanic made its last stop before it sunk.
On the way back to the hotel we met a couple from Fullerton who were on our tour with us. I’m telling you, this world is too small! But it was enjoyable to talk to them about our love of traveling and our views of America. Sigh. It was great getting to hear about their travels and I have decided that I need to get a job that lets me travel all over the world. But I’m glad that my hubby loves to see the world as much as I do, at least we can share that passion.
Its already 10 pm now and we’re so beat. We’re fuddy-duddies… but oh well. I’m still on USA time and tomorrow we have to go hunt down a battery for my SLR (because in my sleepy stuper I forgot ours in its charger in my mom’s living room wall… yep, brilliant) and then fly to Edinburgh, Scotland. So in case we don’t have Internet access there, we’ll be there until Wednesday the 2nd. Either Monday or Tuesday we’re taking a tour up to Loch Ness and the Scotland highlands. Keep us in your prayers!
We woke up at 4:30 this morning to get ready since we had to be out of the hotel by 6 am. Abbey St. is maybe a half-mile from us and it is one of the main stops for the LAUS, which is Dublin’s tram system. We took that across the city to Heuston (sounds like Houston), which only took us 5 minutes and met up with our group there. Our train left the station around 7 am and headed southwest. This was my first trip on a train in Europe, and so far I’m quite impressed – it was so clean and comfortable.
They even have a trolley with treats going back and forth. I spent the first half of the 3 hour journey completely in awe of the Irish countryside, its so green and there are pastures with cows & sheep everywhere.
After the trolley came through the second time, Charlie and I were hungry enough to get a muffin and orange juice/coffees for the both of us. The two men sitting opposite us in our little booth started talking to us, asking us where we’re from, what we’re studying, the usual travelers questions. They were from the University of Minnesota and were there on conference – it’s a small world. We had a great time talking with both of them, discussing the importance of school, how to better the current system, the positive experiences that are treasured (like traveling). Their tour got off the train earlier than us, so they had to leave. Most of our car was empty after the stop in Mallow so Charlie and I had tons of space to stretch out, snooze, talk, and take in the sites. We finally arrived in Cork, and our lovely tour guide took us to our bus for the day. Cork is a beautiful city, the second largest in the Republic of Ireland, after Dublin. One thing that has amazed me about Ireland is that the doors and/or houses are painted bright beautiful colors, at random. I love it!
It only took us a few minutes to get to Blarney Village and the Castle.
I’m still in awe of the beauty that is here in this country, and this village is no exception. We were able to spend almost 3 hours walking around, exploring the grounds and castle.
There was a line to kiss the Blarney Stone, which we of course stood in and it was worth it!
So fun… The grounds are filled with little trails that take you all over the place, past little waterfalls and big rocks covered in moss all in the middle of a forest.
I honestly couldn’t have cared less about the rest of the tour, staying there would’ve been fine by me.
We grabbed a small lunch there in the village after buying little souvenirs and left around 1:20ish. We drove around Cork for a while, looking at all of the amazing little shops and landmarks. They have a hill that is so steep and windy that it’s the place that the cyclists come to train before the Tour de France! After leaving the main part of the city, I took the opportunity to snooze a bit on the bus – traveling and site seeing can really make one exhausted! I woke up when we were arriving to an old cemetery, which has been around since the Celts rule of Ireland. They have a monument there for the people who lost their lives in the tragedy of the Lusitania in 1915. That was pretty cool. The old cemetery was beautiful to walk through, although it was quite cold. We got to go see the harbor and port where the Titanic made its last stop before it sunk.
On the way back to the hotel we met a couple from Fullerton who were on our tour with us. I’m telling you, this world is too small! But it was enjoyable to talk to them about our love of traveling and our views of America. Sigh. It was great getting to hear about their travels and I have decided that I need to get a job that lets me travel all over the world. But I’m glad that my hubby loves to see the world as much as I do, at least we can share that passion.
Its already 10 pm now and we’re so beat. We’re fuddy-duddies… but oh well. I’m still on USA time and tomorrow we have to go hunt down a battery for my SLR (because in my sleepy stuper I forgot ours in its charger in my mom’s living room wall… yep, brilliant) and then fly to Edinburgh, Scotland. So in case we don’t have Internet access there, we’ll be there until Wednesday the 2nd. Either Monday or Tuesday we’re taking a tour up to Loch Ness and the Scotland highlands. Keep us in your prayers!
1 comment:
cool :)
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