Firstly, I realized at the end of my stay in Cork that I really didn't spend much time in the city itself unfortunately. However, my experience in County Cork was quite lovely. We drove up Friday evening on a bus with the NUIM International Society and stayed in a hostel very near the City Centre. This was my first experience in a hostel, and I found that the longer I was there, the less of a big deal it was to be there. Therefore, I found I slept quite a bit better the second night.
Saturday, we found ourselves in Blarney. A ridiculously small town that houses...of course, the famous Blarney Castle. The castle is cool and all, but the grounds are AMAZING! It was such a gorgeous day with plenty of sunshine and we got there early before the crowds. The walk up to kiss the Blarney Stone was reminiscent of the hike to the top of St. Peter's (with the steep winding staircases and slight development of claustrophobia). However, at least it wasn't 90 degrees and suffocating; so overall a more enjoyable experience. The actual kissing of the stone is an ordeal, yet speedy quick. You have to get on your back, hold onto two metal bars, and shimmy upside down until you reach it with an attendant holding onto you. This part was fine, but no one told me about the MAJOR HEADRUSH that comes afterwards! I was dizzy for about 30 sec.
We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the grounds. The road we walked on had more daffodils than I have ever seen in my life! We also found horses, waterfalls and caves...the whole place was beautiful. And of course, I had to buy a Blarney Stone t-shirt...classic Kate. After our adventures we had...yep, chinese food :) It was quite delicious and warm, which is all I really wanted.
Our second day we went to Kinsale, which is a cute little fishing town seated right in a coastal bay. Again, the weather loved us, so we took a hilly walk around the bay to St. Charles Fort. I kinda liked the walk better than the Fort itself. There were so many cute houses and signs along the way as well as some picturesque views of the the bay (which had sailboats on it that day!). I had some seafood chowder at a little cafe before we got back on the bus, and eventually headed back to Maynooth. All in all a wonderful weekend. (Pictures to be posted soon).
