Bye Spring Break....

So the tour guide wasn't the handsome one we were promised... but he did have the accent!

Ellyn and I had to get up at 5:45 on Friday morning to make sure we were at the tour on time. It was so early! But to go to Blarney it was worth it!

We met up with our tour at 6:40 and went to our bus. Our tour was pretty empty, which ended up being really nice. Our first stop was at Rock of Cashal. It is a castle with a lot of open land around it. It was beautiful! Since Dublin is a major city, we haven't been able to see the "country" part of Ireland until then.

We were free to tour the castle for a bit and had to meet at our bus by a certain time. Ellyn and I went through the whole thing pretty quick... it was small! One of the cool things we saw there was Queen Elizabeth's signature because she was there last year!

Rock of Cashal

We got on the bus and headed towards Blarney! The ride there was beautiful. We saw so many green fields and amazing mountains. We could not stop taking pictures!

We were in for quit the surprise when we got to Blarney. Thinking Ireland couldn't get any more beautiful, I wasn't expecting much at the castle. Walking up to it, I could see that it looked really cute. We decided to go kiss the Blarney Stone first!

Once we got to the castle, we started to make our way up the small and scary steps to the top. It was up here that we got the amazing view of Blarney. I don't even know how to describe the view, except it looks like it could be in a fairytale. Everything was so green and just perfect.

We had views like this the whole bus ride

I got really nervous to kiss the Blarney Stone because you have to do it upside down. Thankfully, there are workers up there who hold you to make sure you don't fall. You lay on you back, hold onto two bars and then pull yourself toward the stone and kiss it. That's it! Pretty simple, but pretty cool to do!

Kissing the Blarney Stone! Mwah!

Once we did that we went back down the scary steps, while stopping in different rooms in the Blarney Castle along the way. We still had a lot of free time so we explored more of the area of the Blarney Castle grounds. They had a bunch of different gardens, even a poison garden! We found some waterfalls and really pretty bridges, so we spent a lot of time taking pictures by them!

On our way out we stopped to grab a bag of chips. THEY WERE AMAZING!! They were sour cream and onion, but they were from and Irish company who grew their potatoes in Ireland and they used real shamrocks! Ellyn and I could not believe how good they were! On the bag it says it is made with Irish love... we decided that is why they tasted so good.






From Blarney, our bus stopped in Cork to get some food. Ellyn really wanted tomato soup so we searched everywhere for it. We couldn't find it anywhere, so we ended up eating at McDonalds. We did also stumble upon a Pandora store so I could get a charm for my bracelet!

We went back to our bus after that and decided to sit in different seats so we could sleep. I was exhausted, but decided not to sleep so I could see more of Ireland. I absolutely love the country part of Ireland.... it's so beautiful! If I could have a flat in London and a house in Ireland I would! I can't decide which place I like more.

When we got back to Dublin we went to a convenient store to find something quick for dinner then went back to our hostel because Ellyn had another interview.... this is her 4th one I think since our spring break started? That girl is dedicated to finding a job next year. Congrats to her on her internship :D

Anyway, Saturday was our last day in Ireland. We felt like we had to go to a pub before we left, so we were trying to find one for breakfast. We quickly realized most pubs aren't open for breakfast! We're so use to the Kings Tunn in Kingston being open for breakfast that we forgot most places don't open that early! We eventually stopped right in front of a pub when a worker was putting signs outside. We must have looked confused because he looked at us and said "Come on inside and have a drink!" What a nice offer, but we just wanted food! We went inside anyway and had some coffee. Apparently, they weren't selling food for another 40 minutes, so we paid for our coffee and went to find any food we could. We ended up at an Irish Gourmet Burger place.

Since we had most of the day free before we had to go to the airport we decided to go to St. Patrick's Cathedral. Getting there was quit the challenge, though. There was some protest going on, so the main streets were blocked off. We had to take some side streets to get there, but we made it! St. Patricks' Cathedral was small. We went through it in probably about 20 minutes. We decided to sit in there for a little bit before heading back into town to catch a bus to the airport.

Our flight was so crowded. The lady doing the safety procedures was sick and could barely get through her little speech, and when she did the whole plane clapped for her. It was pretty funny, actually. When we landed we had the longest walk ever to get out of the airport. When we got to the bus station we saw a bus that said "Kingston" on it. We quickly looked at the schedule to see where in Kingston it was stopping, and when we saw that we could get on it, it drove away. Just our luck! We eventually got on a bus and got home. I took and shower and went to bed. It felt so good to finally sleep in my own bed again.... no more hotels or hostels!

St. Patrick's Cathedral

Today was saved for homework. Unfortunately, it was such a nice day. I did not want to do any homework! I went into town and went to a cafe. Since I've been gone for three weeks I had no food! I had breakfast at the cafe and started to work on my homework. Once I got a good amount done I went grocery shopping and then headed back to my house to do more homework.

Maddy texted me asking if I wanted to meet up for dinner later. I haven't seen her and Kaley since before break, so of course I did! Since we all went away for break and spent money we all agreed that we needed a cheap place for dinner. It was good to hear about their trip and to catch up with them again. We all agreed on one thing, though.... Uni for the next three weeks is going to be rough.

I can't believe how lucky I am to be able to travel so much since I've been here. Germany, France, Scotland and Ireland in just a few weeks.... and I live in London? It seems to good to be true!