The Gift of Gab

The girls and I took another trip this weekend! We went to Cork and Blarney! This trip was quite an experience in itself! We took the bus to Cork, and it took almost 5 hours it seemed to get there! However, the drive up was beautiful. After we arrived in Cork, we went to check into our accommodations for the night. And then, we were on our way to the Blarney Stone! We took a bus there and it was very convenient from where we were staying. We picked a weekend where it was of course, pouring down rain. Despite the weather, it was Blarney was absolutely beautiful! I loved everything about it. The leaves were beautiful and I took so many pictures. And we all kissed the stone and are now blessed with the gift of gab! After our long day of travelling, we were exhausted and needed some sleep. This was our first time staying in a hostel and boy were we in for a real treat. The room we booked was a private room for three people. The room was an ensuit, so it had a shower and toilet in the room. Well, the room was for three people. Our bunk beds consisted of a single on top, and a double on the bottom. Cait and Shawna are better friends and have known each other longer, so they took the double bed. Lucky me! The outlets on the room did not work so we had to either charge our things downstairs behind the bar, or charge one think at a time. At one point, we got so fed up that we started looking for another accommodation to stay in. All of our other options were either fully booked or too expensive. So we stayed where we were for the night. We learned from this trip to really do your research when looking for a place to stay. The room was loud and did not have towels for us to use. We improvised and used our bed sheets as towels! The next day, we went on a tour of the old Jameson Distillery. It was really interesting to see and Cait and I are now certified Irish Whiskey Taste Testers! Swag. Our weekend trip was amazing! The Friday before our trip, we went to an Irish National Heritage Park. We got to see how some of the first Irish settlers would live. This was very interesting to see. The Viking ships we saw were really cool too! After, we went to a beach called the Saving Private Ryan Beach-the name is because the movie was filmed here! How neat! The beach was beautiful despite the coldness and the rain and we got to take some really cool pictures. The walking is really starting to hurt my ankle. Breaking an ankle and spraining an ankle at the same time will ensure that some pain will follow the injury. But the rain combined with the cold and the walking that we have to do is making me very sore. I’ll be fine though. I am trying to find something that will make me feel as comfortable as I am living at home, since this is my home for the time being. I realized that scented candles really help! Another thing that has helped was retail therapy. I have already spent a lot of money on things that I absolutely do not need, just wanted. This came to an abrupt end when I realized how much more expensive things are over here. Living on a budget is easy for me, but not when the cost of food is more than anyone could have allotted for. Another learning experience to take back home with me! Another thing that really helps me is that I have a wonderful family that keeps sending me packages from back home. Ranging from simple things to big things, I could not appreciate them anymore! And my Reece’s peanut butter cups are helping too!