Kissing the Blarney Stone
At the Guinness Storehouse
Out for a (very expensive) drink at Temple Bar
Beautiful scenery on our bike ride through Killarney National Park
Taking a break from our bike ride
Ross Castle, Killarney
As hard as it was for me to leave London, Molly's enthusiasm about going to her homeland, Ireland, was so infectious that I couldn't help but be excited. Our flight to Dublin was excruciating, because, at the beginning of the week, I had come down with my third cold since being in Salamanca (which I attribute to not having gotten a flu shot this year because I was abroad), after just having gotten over my previous cold about a week beforehand. So the descent was particularly painful, even though I had taken a Sudafed before the flight to clear up my sinuses. The flight back to Madrid on Easter Monday proved to be even more painful in that respect. Anyway, we took a bus to Cork immediately after landing in Dublin, listening to Molly's intermittent outbursts of "Danny Boy," "Molly Malone" and other such Irish songs. By the time we got in to Cork, the only thing we had sufficient energy to do was to go a pub for dinner. Some nice, hearty vegetable soup and a half-pint of Murphy's hit the spot, and helped warm us heart and soul after being doused by the rain. We had somehow managed to get through our entire time in London without rain, which is nearly unheard of, but we weren't able to avoid that same fate in Ireland, spending more time in rainy weather than not.
We were up early on Thursday morning to head off to Blarney Castle, where we all excitedly kissed the Blarney Stone, once we saw the disinfectant spray that stood next to it. You get to the stone by lying on your back and bending over backwards while a man holds on to you. It seems like a lot of effort for the gift of gab, but hopefully it will do the trick. Molly is hoping that she'll get the gift of Spanish gab to help her pass her exams! We took the bus back to Cork and did a lot of walking around, stopping at one church, St. Anne's, where you can ring the bells your self to the tune of popular songs (they have sheet music to help) and climb up through the bell tower. Mary Kathryn busted her knee on the stairs on the way into the church, and the cut in her knee would bother her for the rest of the trip. For the rest of the day, we poked our heads into stores, and eventually made our way back to the hostel.
We were up early once again on Friday (that was a common occurrence this vacation!) to take the early bus to Killarney, so as to take full advantage of our only day there. We rented bikes at our hostel and biked through the beautiful, rolling Irish hills, eventually riding part of the way through Killarney National Park. Molly estimated that we rode 12 or 13 miles that day, and our sore behinds were not about to argue. It was a great way to see the incredible scenery, so we were all very excited about it. Once we had had dinner in town, though, and had to ride back to the hostel, we were all sort of over the bike riding thing, because our hostel was about 6 kilometers from the city center.
We spent most of the day on Saturday on a bus, first from Killarney to Limerick, and then from Limerick to Dublin (for a total of six hours). Once we arrived in the capital and dropped our things off at the hostel, we walked around Dublin, which, in my opinion, actually has surprisingly little to do in terms of tourist attractions (or maybe it's just that most of the attractions simply don't interest us). We went to a gourmet burger place for dinner, so that Mary Kathryn could get the burger she had been craving for the entire trip (I was able to find a vegetarian "burger", which was an aubergine, goat cheese, and sun-dried tomato burger, and was one of the most delicious things I've ever tasted). We wandered around the Temple Bar district and ended up going to THE Temple Bar, but, after one 4-euro drink, we couldn't justify spending any more of what little money we had left after this trip, so we headed back to the hostel.
On Easter Sunday, we started off by going to Mass, after having been awakened early by our annoyingly loud and inconsiderate German roommates. We had chosen St. Patrick's National Cathedral the previous night, thinking that it might be a nice place to go. When we arrived on Sunday morning, I asked the clerical-looking man standing outside if the next mass did, in fact, start at 11:15. He replied by saying that, "This is an Episcopalian Cathedral, so it's not exactly a Mass." I felt really bad. I guess we had just assumed that the majority of churches in Ireland were Catholic (which is probably true in a lot of small towns that hold on to their Catholic roots, but not as much in big cities, which tend to be more progressive in terms of new religions), so I didn't mean to sound like an annoying person expecting a Catholic Mass (which is, I guess, what I was). But Mary Kathryn is Presbyterian, so I think she was happy to go to a Protestant service, and I actually really liked it- it was interesting how similar it is to a Catholic Mass.
After church, we met up with Molly's friend Brian, who she worked with in Kennedy's office last summer. He is Irish and studies at Trinity College Dublin, but his dad is, we think, the Irish ambassador to the US, so he has spent a considerable time living all over the world. He was a really nice guy. He showed us around Trinity, even getting us in to see the Book of Kells for free on his student card, and then took us to a café. When he heard we were hungry for a big Irish lunch, he took us to a pub where they also happened to be showing a rugby match, so we got to chat more (when he wasn't explaining rugby to us, that is!). Afterward, Molly, Mary Kathryn and I walked over to the Guinness Storehouse for a visit to the museum (which is actually really interesting and well-done) and a free pint on the top floor, which offers an incredible panoramic view of the city. While the other two were feeling fine after their pint, I was definitely tipsy (I have to work on my alcohol tolerance!), so we walked around for a bit, strolling through St. Stephen's Green and seeing Dublin's famous Georgian doors. After dinner, we grabbed our stuff at the hostel and took a bus for the airport, bracing ourselves for what we knew would be a long night.
We were only able to find two flights from Dublin to Madrid, one leaving at 6 am, and the other leaving later at night. We needed to take the early flight, because we ran the risk otherwise of not making it back to Salamanca that night (remember, we have to take the metro for about 45 minutes from the airport to the bus station, and then a three-hour bus). But that meant that we either had to book the hostel and leave at about 3 am or spend the night in the airport. We chose the latter to save a little money, but that meant that we were sitting in the airport from about 10:30 pm until we could check in at 4:30. Man were we bored, and the tiredness part of it didn't actually hit me until check-in time, but once it did, I felt like a zombie. Being that I have a really hard time sleeping on planes and buses (especially ones with nonexistent leg room), I didn't really sleep on the plane, so felt like DEATH upon arrival in Madrid. I felt awful for Mary Kathryn, though, who was catching a 4 pm bus to the south of Spain (because Cursos kids have another week of vacation, much to mine and Molly's chagrin). We got to the bus station at about 11, and she wasn't going to get to her destination until about 11:30 or midnight last night, so I can't even imagine how tired she was (although she seems to have no problem sleeping in transit). By the time that Molly and I got back to Salamanca at about 3 pm, we were about to pass out from how tired we were. But, looking back on it, even though it was not at all a relaxing vacation, I had an incredible time and wouldn't have done it any differently (although I still want to go to Wimbledon!). It was definitely time for a vacation, and now we only have 4 weeks of class left before exams!!!!!!!!!!!!! Then, we're going to PARIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! for 8 or 9 days, and after that, I'm heading home! I'm already getting so excited to be back at home (Easter felt a little bit like Thanksgiving did last semester, the point where I was really ready to come home). But I still have the Paris trip, as well as a trip to Barcelona with Molly, Lauren and Allie in 3 weeks, to look forward to, so it promises to be an exciting month-and-a-half!!!! I hope all is well with all of you!!!
Sending you my love,
Kristen
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