Hello from Ireland! Land of Guinness, tin whisltes and hearty stews! Sorry it's been a while since my last post but we have been devoid of internet (and indeed mobile) service- actually it's been quite nice to be a bit cut off from technology, but now it is time to fill you all in on our travels.
After a lovely few days in Oxford we caught the bus to Stansted airport to catch our Ryanair flight. We had heard mixed reviews from others who had travelled on the low budget airline, but we were happy enough to give them a go, especially as our flights were so ridiculously cheap. And for the most part the journey was uneventful, I set off the metal detector in the aiport and recieved a fair grope from the security lady, which (just quietly) i think she rather enjoyed, I just closed my eyes and thought of England. The flight was super quick, just up and down, it was made to feel a tad longer by the baby sitting directly behind us but what can you do? We were picked up from the airport by our friends Teresa and James- it was SO lovely to see them again. Teresa and I went through primary school together so we go way back, and though James is a reletively recent addition to the mix it feels like we have known him forever. We arrived at 11pm, so there was only time for 3 beers before bed (!)
The next morning we headed into Blarney, which is their village and home to the famous Blarney castle and stone. The castle itself is quite old and run down, though very worth a look, but it's no secret that the true reason people cue up to go in is to see and kiss the stone. Legend has it that if you kiss the stone you will receive the gift of the gab. Legend also has it that locals from the village of Blarney urinate on the stone as a bit of a practicle joke on all the gullible tourists. That aside we still puckered up and had a little smooch with the rock - it tasted like gravel and dirt. Not sure if i have the gift of the gab yet, i guess only time will tell!
After a lunch of guinness and sandwiches (no- seriously that was our lunch) we piled in James' car for a road trip up to Limerick. Along the drive we encountered some of Ireland's famous weather- it rained pretty much non stop for the 3 hour drive. And let me tell you - some of those winding roads get a little hair raising when they are slippery and wet! But we arrived safe and sound in |Limerick by about 6pm. James and Teresa both work for Munster Rugby club and there was a Munster match on against an Italian team that night, and somehow we managed to wangle tickets into our own coperate box! We couldn't believe our luck! It was actuallly quite a boring match, not boring in the sense that nothing happened, but munster won by about 30 points and so it was over by the first few minutes really, but we had such a blast! a few wines later and we were the most enthusiatic fans in the stadium! Though i think perhaps the least knowledgable, I did at one point ask if the spanish team were finding it hard to play in the cold weather only to be informed they were in fact from italy- ooops! a minor detail i feel! after the match we headed into limerick where we had the most amazing kebab in history from abra kebabra- probably the best shop in the world aslo.... though i don't know if the wine helped with this review. we then went to dolens bar, which is aparently famous for its live music- and it didn't disappoint! we had people playing the fiddle and singing- it was great! but after a beer or two we were pretty beet, so it was back to the hotel for a snooze.....
The next morning we packed back into the car and headed to the cliffs of moher- they are trying to get the cliffs included in the greatest wonders of the world ,and i can see why- they were absolutely beautiful. it helped that the sun popped its head out to shine on us but all the same- absolutely breathtaking. I took about 13094 photos of them - i only hope it's enough to convey just how gorgeous they were. after the cliffs we went for a good drive around the region and saw the sights, the area there is full of ruins dating back to 3 thousand years BC- seriously old stuff- it was lovely just to drive about and take in some history. That night we checked into the most lovely B&B - and to top things off it was directly next to the town's 2 pubs!! are you seeing a bit of a theme here with our irish adventures??? Pubs seem to feature quite prominently...hm........ ah well!!!
The next morning we slowly ambled back to to Blarney, stopping off for us to dabble our toes in the Atlantic ocean and take in the sights and sounds of the country side. The Cork international jazz festival was on over the weekend so once back in Blarney we headed out to a bar call the Shelbourne and saw a jazz band called Cat Scratch Fever- by the end of their set we were standing on the couches dancing - it was brilliant! only in ireland! Adam also was able to catch up with a fourth cousin of his called Mark who we managed to track down, we tried our hardest to figure out how it was adam and he were related- one of his great greats was an aunt of one of adam's great great relatives but it all got a bit too hard really! Still - was lovely to meet a local and have a bit of a chat.
And that brings us to yesterday....we were all a bit tired out after our road trip and mutliple trips to the pub we had a lovely quiet sort of day, we drove to a near by fishing village and had a lovely walk around some old cobbled streets, saw a small market and chilled out.....it wouldn't be ireland if we didn't end up in the pub at some stage- but we left after just one hot whiskey (yum!) as i really didn't feel my liver could take too much more.....obviuosly i have a lot to learn from the irish!
And now today we are just having a bit of a wander around cork city- it seems like a lovely sort of town , nice and quiet but at the same time full of life- sounds a bit confusing but so much in ireland is!!! tomorrow we head to the town of gallway before heading to dublin for a touch of international rules! Can't wait!
Hope you all are having a lovely time wherever you are in the world,
much love
Lauren the leprechaun and Adam the aer lingus
xxxxx
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