Anyway, Lori, Mike, Kyle, Noelle, John, Margaret, Jamie, and I all decided to go to Ireland for St. Patrick's Day. So a month ago we booked our tickets, and last Wednesday we flew into Kerry Airport, the smallest airport I've ever been to. (There were only two gates.)
The street our B&B was on.
After lunch, we couldn't decide what to do, but earlier that day someone had mentioned kissing the Blarney Stone, so it sounded like a very good plan. After a two hour bus ride, we ended up in Blarney right outside the castle gates. The grounds and the castle were pretty much amazing. Everything was just so pretty. It's said though, that if you kiss the Blarney Stone, you're supposed to recieve the gift of Eloquence. I'll just say I don't feel much more eloquent after kissing it, but it was certainly quite the experience nonetheless.
View from the top.
Kissing the Blarney Stone!
Murder Hole! Gah!
The Blarney Stone is right in the center at the top.
Blarney Stone up close.
Like from Harry Potter!
The next day was St. Patrick's Day, and we were all very excited because we knew there was going to be a parade going along the street right in front of our B&B. Happy St. Paddy's Day, as the Irish say! We started the morning out with some Irish coffee, coffee with Bailey's. Yum! And we had all bought hats to wear the day before. I also bought a t-shirt to wear.
Margaret, Mike, Jamie, John, Lori, Noelle, Kyle
Adorable little Irish girl.
This man was singing before the parade started.
The parade was mostly just different clubs and groups from the area. The military started the parade off, and then there were a bunch of dance groups, bagpipe groups, scouts, karate clubs, and a lot more. It was neat because on the stage across from us sat the Mayor for the parade, and there were two announcers who were pretty hilarious. I would say it was all a big success.
After the parade, we decided to walk to the Windmill about twenty minutes away. We read about it online, and someone's review stated, "It's ok, if you like windmills." For some reason, we couldn't stop laughing over this comment and it came up about a thousand times throughout the trip. It was a very pretty walk though because it was all along the canal, and once we got to the windmill it was right on the coast, so we could also see the ocean.
Canal
Cute House along the way.
The coast & the canal off to the right.
At the windmill, Noelle and I whipped our hair back and forth, inspired by the song, "Whip My Hair," by Willow Smith (Will Smith's 9 year old daughter. I'm a huge fan of the song to say the least. But we did this because Kirsten is going to make a montage at the end of our stay here in Germany of us all whipping our hair in crazy places to this song.
After the windmill, we walked back to relax for a little bit before going out to dinner. We decided to go to the restaurant right below the B&B. It was really pretty with the candlelight and stone walls. I ordered Chicken Risotto, and it was delicious. We also ordered Pinot Grigio to split between us. It was a little expensive, but very tasty.
Jamie took this picture of me and Noelle, and as he was taking it, he suddenly said, "Oh, that's hot." His hand was actually right above the candle, but we couldn't stop laughing at the double meaning!
After dinner we decided to go out to a nearby pub. We decided on Baily's Corner, which was tucked in between two buildings at the end of the street. We ended up meeting some cool Irish guys who loved us, and knew Wisconsin because of "That 70's Show." They just kept repeating, "I love Wisconsin!" all night. It was pretty hilarious. And we all ordered a Guiness of course, but I had to share mine with Lori because I really don't like beer. Then one of the guys told us to come back the next night because he would be playing acoustic and singing. Um, of course we'll be back for that!
We got to the Cliffs of Moher, paid 4 euros to get in, walked five minutes until we reached them, and I can't even describe how pretty they were. So I will just upload a ton of pics.
There were a few signs like this along the edge of the cliff. I guess suicide is a big issue there sadly.
In Memory of Those Who Have Lost Their Lives at the Cliffs of Moher
Of course we had to whip our hair at the Cliffs of Moher.
I love this picture I took of Mike.
Pretty much sums up exactly how I was feeling.
After the Cliffs we drove back, ate some dinner, and then headed back to Baily's Corner to hear our new friend from the night before sing and play. He was extremely good, and we all had a blast. He took requests all night, and he was able to make each song his own. At one point he even sang the theme song to "That 70's Show." We definitely loved that :)
I ordered some Bailey's, and it was pretty much amazing. No wonder you like it so much Mom ;)
That night was also a blast for me because I got to kiss the handsome man on the right in the picture above. He was Irish, so you could say I kind of had to, right? ;)
The next day we were headed to Dingle, the western most city in Ireland. It was very pretty being right on the coast and all. But it was a gloomy, rainy day, so we didn't stay too long.
Dingle is also famous for Fungi, a local dolphin that loves people and follows boats around all the time. He doesn't let anyone get close enough to touch him, but he'll come around close enough to let people almost touch. It was even said that he has jumped over smaller rowboats.
My favorite part of Dingle though was actually the drive there. It was absolutely gorgeous. It was exactly the type of scenery I pictured Ireland having. I wish I could have taken more pictures, but it was pouring, so it was difficult to take decent pictures from the bus.
We were all too tired to do anything that night, so we made some spaghetti for dinner and went to bed early. The next morning we got up early to go to the Catholic church around the corner. It was really nice to go to a service. My favorite part was the music. There was one woman singing the lead, and she had the most lovely voice.
After church, we decided to walk around the garden behind the church. It was very big, and everything was beautiful. It was the perfect first day of spring. The flowers were blooming, the sun was shining, and it was so warm none of us wore jackets. I wish I could be back there right now.
Would you marry me instead please so I can move to Ireland?
And then before we knew it, it was time to leave. We were all really sad to go, but it's certainly an experience none of us will ever forget.
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