Ireland day 3, we planned ahead of time to do Cork/Blarney Wednesday as it required us to take a 3 hour bus to Cork there and back in one day, but then also take a half hour bus from Cork to Blarney back and forth too, so needless to say there was a lot of napping in buses that day. I'm gonna get home and the next time I use the Stonehill shuttle will immediately fall asleep and miss whatever stop I choose to use... who am I kidding I rarely use the shuttle (That however will change seeing as I was to go to Boston FAR MORE, let's be real Stonehill weekends will not even remotely compare to Europe).
Sunrise in Ireland, check.
Hours later we are here!
Saw my family crest all day errday. Buckley is the 99th most popular surname in Ireland. Yeah it means cow herder hence the 3 cows.
Blarney Castle! The ground surrounding the castle were so beautiful and relaxing. I wandered away from the group and just enjoyed the peace and quiet of the area. I never realized how much I like nature until I got deprived of it here in Florence.
The wishing steps in the grounds of the Castle, legend is if you walk down and back up with your eyes closed completely your wish that you think of when you do it will come true.
Yet another view from the top of the world. Blarney Castle edition
Me with the Blarney Stone in the background. So to kiss the Stone you get on your back and this old Irish man helps lift you down holding onto 2 bars to kiss it below. It's a really unusual experience cause you're upside down confused and can't seem to find it and then there it is, cold and stoney. (vommed in the mouth a little at that I just made a semi-Coldstone-esque pun...). Also, no I did not buy that shirt in Ireland, that is straight up from the Newbury Comics in Boston brought abroad solely for the purpose of Ireland. I did however buy an Ireland Guiness rugby shirt and an obnoxious Ireland flag scarf.
The river by the Blarney Castle. I threw in a 2 euro cent by the bridge for good luck.
Then we get back to Cork! We tried to meet up with our friend Mallory (aka MalPal... noticing a lot of my friends have nicknames..) but we unfortunately took a lot longer than expected at the Blarney Castle and she was at frisbee practice the hour and a half we spent in Cork before our 6 o'clock 3 hour bus ride back to Galway.
So we spent our time on St. Patrick's Street in Cork looking at shops and spending that dolla dolla bills on pre dinner. I wasn't feeling baked goods, or soup, and was craving McDonalds, so yeah I got it. Yet another crazy McDonalds (seriously American McDonalds STEP YOUR GAME UP). Judge away but you know what, I've said it before and will continue to say that I am an American, I love my stubborn American ways with my brands and options and processed foods, so yeah I got some chicken nugggets and french fries AND IT WAS WORTH THE EUROS.
Sunset in Cork. So when we got back to Galway our lovely/amazing/super ginger friend Mardo had ordered us Dominos. They have a frigging Dominos Pizza in Galway. DO NOT TALK TO ME ABOUT CULTURE SHOCK IF YOU STUDIED ABROAD IN IRELAND, you have super markets with at least 200 brands you know and aisles of options too, you have legitimate sidewalks, you have ENGLISH (so you got cheers and craic, slang is doable), you have nice natives/locals/fun accents, Ireland is very similar to America and it was incredibly relaxing and the perfect break I needed away from Italy, but c'mon culture shock in Italia was RUDE. I would have been all too comfortable if Ireland had any art classes and I actually went there (seeing as it was my second choice after Australia.. yeah Florence wasn't even my first two picks, and now I'm seriously regretting not looking into going to Paris more and more). Sidenote Rant over. So back to Jessica Mardo being amazing and Dominos Pizza... so damn good. I ate a whole pizza single handedly. We reminisced about Freshman/Sophomore year crazyness at dinner and it was nice, chill, I miss long drawn out dinners with friends at Stonehill.
Also, they don't have TJ Maxx in Ireland.. It's TK Maxx... Also Axe bodyspray is called Lynx in Ireland. Real weird.
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