Ireland Travelogue

Then I caught the Ferry from Holyhead to Dublin. Now the ferry is definitely THE way to travel!!! Was like a mini cruise ship with bars and restaurants, even a cinema! And so much space! Travelling has definitely taught me the imprtance of space whether it be on a train or bus or in a hostel, personal space is sooooo important. Anyway got to Dublin and started the Paddywagon tour. It was a 6 day tour of the south and was excellent! They are geared towards backpackers and stay in hostels and you travel around in a little green bus - was so much fun! Met so many people and was so nice to be around people and not on my own and not to have to think about where I was going or what I was doing. Sounds lazy I know but this travelling thing can be really tiring and stressful at times so it was nice to take a break! We had a really unbalanced group, out of the 22 of us, 16 of us were australian and there were only 2 guys. The poor guys!

After that we headed to a little town called Ferbane for steak and guinness pie - yum! - then headed to Galway where we spent the first night which was cool. The next day we drove out to the cliffs of Moher which were absolutely amazing! I love areas where water meets land but this was so spectacular, beautiful!!!!! Was really windy though can see how it can get so dangerous! We went to a traditional Irish pub as well where the locals pulled out there guitars and tin whistles and accordians and we had a full Irish sing along-was great! A true 'Irish Experience!' The Irish seem to all be so talented, all of them seem to be able to play an instrument or sing and are willing to share their talent.

We spent that night in Kilarney. The next day we drove around the Ring of Kerry which was really beautiful as well. The Irish Countryside is just beautiful, was so green with fields of sheep and cows and little thatched roof houses and stone fences or stone houses - so picturesque! Joe took us to this tiny little chocolate factory in the middle of nowhere! would be the nicest place to work. The chocolate was to die for as well - great place to take a chocoholic like me! The views from the ring of kerry were amazing! Took heaps of photos! The mist was really quite thick so couldn't see it all but it kind of added to the effect. Was quite cold though! We also stopped off in this tiny town called Skeen to get Baileys Ice cream! Was awesome! No wonder I am putting on weight! It is terrible! When we got back to Killarney we got Jaunting cars (horse drawn buggies) back into town which was really cool although not good for the butt!

We also went horse riding in Dingle which was an experience! It has been a very long time since I have been on a horse and I don't think I had ever been on a horse that did more than walk! Anyway we were riding along and I'm thinking this isn't too bad, so peaceful and serene, riding through the Irish country side, lots of green, the hills, the mist, all very picturesque. Then my horse 'Josh' who was on automatic (they are so used to the trail you have no control) broke into a trot cos the horse in front had. I was so not expecting it and so nearly fell off which definitely broke the serenity! Have never been so terrified in my life! Must have looked pretty funny though and I laugh about it now, though some warning would have been nice though as well as some instruction on what to do should this happen like at least where to hold on to or how to stop - they really didn't tell us anything.

The next day, we went to Blarney and went to Blarney Castle and I kissed the Blarney stone. Yes I did it, so I now have the 'gift of the gab' and no I have not developed any cold sores, chapped lips or infectious diseases - not yet anyway! That afternoon our bus broke down which is funny now, but wasn't at the time. We were leaving Charles Fort at the time in the pouring rain and freezing cold and Fort Charles was really not the most exciting place to be stranded - at least they had a tea room which had nice coffee and home made cup cakes and scones - again no wonder my Jeans are getting tight! There was a pub down the road to go to when the tea rooms shut - good old Ireland. Never a pub too far away! So eventually our replacement bus came and we got to Cork where we spent that night in the grossest hostel I have stayed at!

The last day we headed back to Dublin via the rock of Cashel and Kilkenny. Kilkenny was great would have loved to have spent more time there but because we'd had to wait for another replacement bus that morning (our poor green paddywagon couldn't be fixed :() we were running late and only got to spend an hour there which was a bit of a shame. We did see Kilkenny Castle though which was beautiful. Had a beautiful Rose garden out the back and there were a couple there having wedding photos taken.

So we made it back to Dublin after that purely exhausted!! I spent the weekend in Dublin with three of the people from the tour who were also there for the weekend. We spent Sunday doing Dublin-saw the book of Kells at Trinity College, St Stephen's Green, Had a picnic lunch in the gardens at St Patricks Cathedral, saw dublin castle. Was a good day.

So there you have it: Ireland in a nutshell - very very hectic and fast but was an excellent way to see everything quickly which is what I wanted.