Ireland: Day 3

Today

Early morning. It's been interesting to adjust to timing and size of meals here. In Greece I was used to a small breakfast, huge lunch around 2 and dinner close to 9. Here, I have a big breakfast of cereals, fruits and yogurt and dinners have been at 6:45! It's also interesting because I have no idea if that's truly how the Irish function. The tour I'm doing is simply sight-seeing; I am hardly learning anything about Irish culture in terms of day-to-day norms. Of course, I'm getting exposed to pubs, dancing and our guide does give tell us history and stories, but what else sculpts the Irish identity? I was immersed in Italian culture living with my host family, and while I wasn't immersed in the culture but rather surrounded by American students in Greece, I was studying the culture and living it: not just touring it. But that's the nature of my week-long excursion in Ireland, and I am happy to be seeing the beautiful landscapes, it's just a very different experience from the past 3 months.

First things first: I fit right in with this group because we stop every hour for a bathroom break.

Today we drove from Dublin to Killarney and stopped at the Rock of Cashel to see a church, made a rest-stop in Kilkenny, traveled through Cork (the second largest city in Ireland) and stopped in Blarney. I climbed to the top of Blarney castle and kissed the Blarney stone (supposedly the "stone of eloquence"). The climb consists of narrow spiral staircases and the kiss requires bending over backwards. They have a photographer and someone to help you lean back at the stone itself. And after waiting 2 hours you're rushed through and in no time at all, headed back down a spiral staircase on the other side.

Climbing Blarney Castle

Kissing the Blarney Stone

View from the top

The line was ridiculously long and the whole process took about 2 hours, so I hardly got to wander around Blarney and the castle area, but it was still great. I did take a walk through the Poison Garden; Fun Fact: The Irish police (Garda) took out the marijuana plant.

No more marijuana

We made other stops along the way to see pretty landscapes and monasteries.

Irish countryside

We arrived in Killarney, the supposed "tourism capital of Ireland," in the late afternoon and had an interesting buffet dinner in the hotel. (It was the Irish equivalent of Golden Corral). I walked around the town, wandering in and out of wool shops and just admiring the small streets, atmosphere and abundance of pubs. The Irish Open (golf tournament) is going on in Killarney now so it's pretty crowded; there is also the Killarney Summer Festival so there was a band playing on Main Street and plenty of children were running around with painted faces. It feels very authentic.

Main Street: Killarney, Ireland

Lesson of the Day

• The national sports of Ireland are Gaelic football and hurling
• In region of Munster, Murphy's is the popular stout (not Guinness).
  -I tried one with dinner--it's not as bitter as Guinness; I think I like Guinness better.

Photo of the Day

Pharmacies are called chemists :)

Chemist, Kilkenny

The Count

Castles climbed: 1

Miles traveled: 222

Pints of Irish stout drinken: 2.25

Photos taken: 5722