We woke up rather early this morning due to the rather busy day that lay ahead of us. Everyone has been a bit hungry each morning due to the limited breakfast in the hostels, so we stopped in the coastal town of Kinvara to eat and ended up walking around a bit. After this, we drove along for awhile before making a quick stop at Bunratty castle, where we just took a few photos and stretched our legs. Seanie has done a good job of stopping for photos and coffee/tea breaks throughout the day. For the most part, I haven't really gotten tired of being on the bus. He tells us really "sad" jokes throughout the day, and he is using sad as "pathetic."
Who lives between two posts? Annette.
Who lives between two houses? Elaine.
Who lives between two houses? Elaine.
His personality is making this whole trip a million times better... he is just hilarious, and obviously loves what he is doing. He calls us his "troopers" and sings to us all the time. We all have fallen in love with Seanie.
After another short drive, we arrived at Blarney Castle. Here, visitors can kiss the Blarney stone. Legend has it, that upon kissing the Blarney stone, one will receive the gift of eloquence. I'm already eloquent, so I'm not sure how that works...
The castle and it's grounds were beautiful, with fall colors blanketing the landscape. I can only imagine what it would be like to live in an era where your home is all you ever really know... Part of me says how peaceful it would be, but then I realize that people back in those times could never learn other cultures... Close mindedness is a terrible thing!
From Blarney castle, we went out to the Cliffs of Moher. These cliffs are a famous tourist attraction in Ireland, understandably so. In Ireland, the coast line, instead of being beachy and gradually turning into ocean, actually just stops hundreds of feet above the surface of the water. The dramatic difference between this coastline and all the others I've seen was a breath of fresh air. I've realized on this trip that the more beautiful places and things I see, the less impressed I get. For example, Rhine falls in Switzerland was great, but it's NOTHING compared to the Gullfoss in Iceland. I don't like this attitude/way of thought, but I can't help it. I see some really beautiful things and sometimes they are not as impressive as I tell myself they should be.
Due to an issue with our accommodations, we are actually spending this chilly Halloween in Cork instead of Killarney. I really didn't plan to dress up, but a girl on the tour had a red flannel shirt, so that plus my boots and jeans was actually a decent "costume." I went as a southern, country girl, or something similar. In order to make it look more like an actual costume, I had my hair in pig tails and someone put some eyeliner "freckles" on my face. I actually pulled it off quite nicely and a lot of people gave me compliments. We all spent the night out at a local pub where a guy was playing the guitar and singing. He mostly took requests, and was constantly cracking jokes about everyone's costumes. We stayed quite late, and ended up getting turned around on the walk back to the hostel... it took us 45 minutes to get there instead of 10. Life could be worse, right?
People in Ireland take Halloween seriously... there are no make shift costumes. They go ALL OUT. The origin of Halloween is found in Ireland, so for them it's an actual holiday, not just a time to look goofy and get candy. Don't get me wrong, they do that as well... but there are tons of other traditions and superstitions attached to the holiday.
http://www.ireland-information.com/articles/irishhalloweentraditions.htm
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