Catching up....

Yes, I've been slacking on my blogging as of late. I apologize greatly. I have no idea where to begin either, because I have no idea where I left off, so I will tell you that a week ago I went away to Kerry for the weekend. It was a trip put together by the school and it was pretty amazing.
Ring of Kerry. Kerry is a County in Ireland with some of the most beautiful views of the ocean and countryside. Unfortunately I was sick as a dog for a good majority of the trip. I guess that's what happens when you are travelling nonstop.
It was a 3-hour ride to the small town of Cahersiveen in County Kerry where our tour guide, Professor Mariann Moore of UCC, apparently knew everyone. She had grown up in the town and as we drove along on this Ring of Kerry Heritage Weekend that she put together, she pointed out houses along the way where she grew up, where her mother-in-law lives, her brother-in-law, and countless others. The hotel we stayed at is owned by her brother, and after dinner we sat down for a talk by a local and her 93-year old mother in law who is still completely independent and looked fantastic. You never would have known she was 93-years old. After a table quiz we retired to our hotel rooms, arguably the nicest place we will stay in during our travels around Europe. Hostel don’t exactly offer the same accommodations, like extra pillows, tea and coffee, and bringing breakfast to your room when you are too sick to make it to breakfast. (Yes I was that girl.) The next morning we started off with a breakfast buffet and boarded the bus by 9:30.
Professor Mariann was an amazing tour guide and as the bus took us all around Kerry she had something to say about every area we passed. I can’t say that I retained all the information, but in the very least it made us all decide on returning to Kerry in May when you can visit the Skelligs – huge rock formations on top of which, where monks built an amazing monastery as a tribute to God. In order to even reach the top of the Skellig, the monks had to build their own stairs. The views were breathtaking as we looked out across the ocean toward the skelligs. The darkened bus windows only barely took away from the extreme blueness of the ocean. We had the afternoon free, so we roamed the small town, were harassed by some of the local tween-agers, and hit every store that looked even remotely intriguing. We walked away with some great souvenirs, and a new appreciation for kind tween-agers. After a 3-course dinner, including some phenomenal cheesecake, we headed to the Céilí and Set Dancing classes. When we walked into the room, we were all shivering; by the end we were shedding layers of clothes and wiping our brows. We learned 3 dances while a band of three played traditional Irish music. We were hilarious to watch as we spun in circles, laughing at ourselves as we tripped over our own feet. It was impossible to not have a good time, but we were thankful when we could return to our rooms and sleep off the exhaustion is caused.
The next morning we ventured out on a “walking tour” which was fantastic in the rain and sleet. Ireland weather tends to resemble New England’s though, and after a 20-minute rain storm, the sun was shining again. We toured Stone Forts, some of the most well-preserved in all of Ireland. They were usually on the top of hills as well, creating some great background for pictures. We boarded the bus again with all of our things, and headed out to Derrynane House, which was Daniel O’Connell’s home, Sneem, Moll’s Gap and Ladies’ View. Basically, we went to every site in Kerry that was unbelievably beautiful and picturesque. The kind of areas that make you want to take a million pictures, but no matter how many you take, they simply cannot ever fully convey the glorious beauty that is witnessed in person. We tried anyways. By 7 we were back in Cork, our home away from home, with souvenirs in hand, traditional Irish dancing in our repertoire, even more travel destination ideas, and at least 2 Facebook albums worth of pictures.
Pictures Coming Soon