Corcaigh agus Bhlarna- Cork City and Blarney (day 2 & 3)

The second day of my weekend, Saturday, I spent the majority of the day in the city Blarney, about a half hour outside of Cork by bus. I hopped on the bus in the morning, and got there shortly after the park opened. I didn't get to see much of the town of Blarney, just the main street of pubs and shops leading from the bus stop to Blarney park and castle. The grounds were just beautiful! Although there definitely weren't the trees that we have at home, the gardens and few trees were gorgeous with the fall colors. I think here is probably a week or so ahead of home, although it seems like maybe the yellow leaves just last longer. Once I paid for my ticket to get in, of course the first thing I did was head up to the castle to kiss the Blarney stone! As an art history student, I loved seeing the castle and imagining all the rooms and how they were decorated or used. I also even braved the tight spiral staircase going up to the top that was jammed with people! Not my favorite thing in the world- the ceiling caved inwards the farther up you went.

When I got to the top I asked the people behind me in line to take my picture, and they did a great job! When I got up there, there was a mat to sit on, and you had to skooch your butt up to the end of the wall, and then grab onto the bars behind you. There is even a man who sits there to guide you back and clean the wall after each kiss. I did it really quick, and I shut my eyes because I was terrified of looking down. You all tell me, my writing and eloquence any better? Haha.

I spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the gardens and grounds. I even saw what was called a "Poison Garden" that had all poisonous plants, but was very pretty! That evening I spent out around town in Cork again. The next morning it was just pouring. I had planned to do some things around Cork but most of them were outdoor things, so I had to rearrange my schedule a bit. I did, however make it over to where the Cork harbour used to be and briefly saw the outside of St. Finn Bar's cathedral. There was a service going on at the moment, so I wasn't allowed inside, but I reveled in being able to identify saints and calendar scenes and  motifs in the three portal entrances.

I also had the privilege of visiting the Cork Butter Museum. Yes, a Butter Museum! It was actually one of the highlights of my weekend. I met the sweetest Irish old man, who had an accent so thick I could only catch about one in every seven words. my favorite moment was when he was starting a movie for me, and I'm the only one in the museum. He turns to go back to the front desk, turns back and says "Oh, and if you want to take pictures, please do!" He seemed so delighted to have someone come enjoy his small museum, it was fantastic. I think the only thing that would have made that little place even better is if they had slices of toast with Kerry Gold (Irish) butter waiting for you on the way out.

By the time I was done with all my rainy-day activities, I still had about two hours until my train, but I figured I'd pick up my overnight bag from the hostel and leisurely head over to the station. It started out well but after about an hour of walking and getting increasing unsure of the route, I finally found someone along the road who I asked for directions. She looked at me like I had just walked to Ireland from New York, and told me I was going the wrong way. Thankfully she gave me a shortcut that turned out to be immensely helpful, but I was really glad that I had left myself all that extra time. By the time I walked back and headed down the right road, I had about 10 minutes to wait at the station before my train arrived. For all those who don't know many of my travel stories, this is a common occurance. I'm always doing ridiculous things that take me as far away from my destination as possible, but somehow I still always get to the places I really need to be on time (thankfully)!

Anyways that was my weekend in Cork. I will post photo's on Picasa, which means they will show up as a slideshow on the right-side panel of this blog, or in more full screen if you click on that image on the right. I will also post a link to the photos on twitter and facebook. I'd like to let everyone know as well that I have changed the comment format because I heard there were some issues with that, so now everyone should be able to send me a nice warm hello! Also, I have to give a shoutout to my cousin Amy, who has listed my blog on her site Phollowing the Phillips! You can check out her blog and read about her family's fun activities and for photos of her adorable kids! That's about all I have about my weekend, so thanks for reading, and don't forget to leave a comment! :)

Good Craic! Rugby World Cup & Chinese

This is a clip of one of the intense moments of the rugby game this morning. Just as Australia was about to score, Ireland stole the ball and made it almost all the way to the other side of the field. All with 2 minutes left in the game! You can be sure that everyone watching was on their feet and biting their nails, no matter who they were rooting for.


This morning, after a good night out with the roomies last night and not getting to sleep until much too late, I woke up for the 9:30 AM Rugby World Cup game between Ireland and Australia. UCD opened up the lounge for International students early so that we could watch it on the huge screen made of 12 monitors. I met my friend Christina there, and we were certainly not the only ones. There was a group of about 7 or 8 who were Australians, and donned not only colors and flags, but stickers on their cheeks. There were also some of the International student coordinators there, who were decked out in green. And we had a number of people wander in and out throughout the game. It was really very fun!

The only thing that I was surprised about was how subdued everyone was. I'm not sure if it's an Irish thing or the fact that it was 9:30 on a Saturday morning on a college campus, but everyone was very relaxed and calm and extremely cordial. Despite the warnings, there was very little "slagging" (rousing and teasing one another). I had a great time, and am continuing to learn the nuances of the game of rugby. I don't know American sports very well, but I will try with this one.

Here's a photo of the fan gear sported this morning and one of my friend Christina (front bottom right) and all the Irish-cheering devotees behind us. For a small lounge, there were quite a lot of people. Also, most students seem to go home on weekends, so this was an impressive and dedicated crowd.

And then tonight, I made my first call on my Irish cell phone. To whom? To the Chinese food place that was handing out menus last week, of course. I decided to eat in, but didn't feel like cooking, so I ordered Chinese- which, happily, they will deliver to the outside of the dorm building I live in! I had a nice bonding session with one of my roomies over dinner, and had a nice relaxing evening. I really have to check tipping standards here again, because the delivery man that I gave a few extra euros to seemed very genuinely surprised at receiving a tip.The food was pretty good, which sort of surprised me. I haven't exactly seen a lot of diversity so far here...

Anyway, tomorrow I plan on making a video tour of my building and some of UCD campus, so make sure to look out for it! Forgive me if I get a little bit behind on posting a link on Facebook. The site seems to have trouble letting me post or share most anything. Hopefully this will be resolved shortly! As always, thanks for reading!