Blarney & Killarney

I apologize for not updating for this past week. I could say I've been too busy and that school is grueling, but then I would just be another person that lies on the internet. So, for that I am sorry. I have had two amazing weekends! Last weekend Anne Marie and her visiting boyfriend Jason, Becky, Craig and I took the bus to Cork on Saturday morning. It took about an hour and a half and was a beautiful scenic drive. Upon arrival in Cork we planned on getting another bus to Blarney. Doing just that, within the hour we were at the Blarney Castle. We have had fantastic weather lately and has made these trips that much more enjoyable. Exploring the castle grounds, we stumbled upon many charming sites. There were many gardens and buildings to explore, generally just a lot to see. Once we toured the grounds we made our way to the top of the castle and the Blarney Stone! Going to the top required climbing a very narrow and winding staircase. There were numerous rooms off of the stairway to break up the journey full of historic information about the castle and the individual rooms themselves. One made mention to the fact the Winston Churchill is one of the many people to have kissed the stone and I figured if he was a rather large man and made it up, then surely I would have no problem. Well, either he was just lifted to the top or he squeezed his way through, it was nonetheless a tight fit. The story of the stone is that anyone that kisses it will be blessed with the "gift of eloquence" or gab, and days after Churchill kissed it, he was named on the best speakers. Coincidence? I think not. Anyway, we made it to the top and all got a change to kiss the stone. It much different then I thought it would be. I had heard that you bend back to kiss it, but did not know that you were laying on the ground over a hole 100ft in the air. So I laid down, held the bars behind me, while a castle employee helped lower me down to the stone and planted a big one right on it. Consider me eloquent. After walking around the castle a bit more we headed back into the town where I discovered Christys Pub. It's always exciting to see your name somewhere and even more so in Ireland. Following the discovery of what I'm sure is the best pub in Ireland, we caught the bus back to Cork where we watched the first of the Six Nations Rugby game. The match was Ireland v France and the poeple of Ireland were very anxious as it was sure to be an exciting game. Going into it, I knew absolutely nothing about rugby, but after watching a little and people around me explaining what he knew about it to me, it got more interesting. It was cool being in the pub with the locals and them getting excited and all rialed up. Luckly Ireland won otherwise mayhem would have ensued I'm sure.

Our Sunday plans got cancelled because the weather said it was supposed to snow, which it did not, so Craig and I went to the Hunt Measume. It's basically a collection of old things. Interesting but not too much to explain. However, my favorite part was a black and white photography exhibit by Hugh Doran in the basement. Just beautiful inspiring pictures. I really enjoyed them.

(Insert an uneventful week of school)

This past weekend, my roommate Erin and I went back to Killarney. Our Irish dance teacher told us about an Irish dance competition taking place over the weekend, and we thought we would check it out . We left on Saturday morning and stayed till Sunday afternoon. When we arrived, after checking into our hostel (dorm type hotel) we went to explore the town, and made our way to the hotel the competiton was taking place. Our teacher told us that it would be comparable to American beauty pagents with the hair and costumes and she certainly was right. The make-up was caked on, the curls were tight, and the costumes elaborate. Teams were from all over the world, and the competitiors that won here, got to go to the world competition. The boy that took 1st for solo under 19 was actually from the states. We stayed about three hours and then went to a pub for a lovely Valentines dinner. Afterwards we went to see Role Models the movie and ate our weight in bulk candy. All in all, a perfect Valentines Day. Who needs boys? The next morning we rented bikes from our hostel and went to the Killarney National Park (the park I went hill walking at). We rode about a half hour to get to the park where we saw the Muckross Abby, House, and Gardens, and then the Torc Waterfalls. It was full of by far the prettiest sites I have seen so far. Then entire day, Erin and I just kept saying to each other how in awe of what we were seeing we were and wondering how somewhere can be so green in the midst of winter?
Again, we were fortunate enough to have a perfect day! It hasn't rained nearly as often as it had at the beginning of the trip which is nice. A sprinkle here and there but not much more than that. After this trip as well as my first time in Killarney, I have started to associate the town with a workout. This time we spent about a little over an hour on the bikes walked the other 3 hours we were at the park. I'm telling ya though, it was well worth it! Once back in town we were exhausted and headed back to little ol' Limerick. Who knows what this weekend holds instore, but I look forward to finding out. Peace out dudes.