The past two weeks have been really quite busy for me. Two weekends ago (Sept 21-23) I decided to go to Cork, which is about 4 hours away on the bus from Dublin. Right when I got on the bus, I bumped into Kyle and John, these two guys I met from the USIT social in August. It was cool bumping into them. We ended up hanging out pretty much all weekend. It was great fun, better than being on your own, I'd say.
(John and I, on the bus)
(Finally arrived in Cork, and what a nice bridge!)
(Being a tourist in front of a Cork shop)
(A poster in a pub we were at. Beamish is actually really good!)
That night we got there, and found our respective hostels, and then went out for drinks. Met a couple of Corkians along the way. I gotta say, in all the places in Ireland I've been to now, I really like Cork people the most, in a general sense. We were lost when we first got there and I asked some sketchy-looking people for directions, but they really helped and was actually very nice about it too. Then we went out for drinks and met some other locals, and well... okay, one guy was kinda creepy, but he had good intentions... I guess... haha. On the way home, we bumped into two guys who were locals, and primary school teachers. So we just chatted there on the street for like 15 minutes, and they are actually really interesting people. I gave them my number cause one of them told me how they were going to come to Dublin soon, but I don't think they're going to call. Oh well.
The next day, I met up with Kyle and John again and we took a bus to Blarney! It was a perfect day, great for sightseeing. We visited a the Blarney Woolen Mills (great place, by the way) then walked up to the Blarney Castle, home of the Blarney Stone. The castle itself was fantastic. Lots of old walls and ruins, but I gotta admit, the Blarney Stone was not that eventful. Not as eventful as everyone makes it, anyway. The queue was enormous, and the actual "kissing" was like 2 seconds. I think the man that was working there didn't like his job. He pretty much kicked me off. Bah. After the Blarney Stone, we found a local pub and ate a really late lunch. Soooo good though. :) That night we went out and actually met some USIT people!! They are fresh, just arrived a week earlier. Oh, and they're all from Toronto! Ha ha!
(Cork)
(Nothin' like coffee in the morning)
(In Blarney!)
(Blarney Castle)
(So inappropriate, but so funny!)
(Kissing the Blarney stone; yes, I know it's dirty, so sue me)
(View from the top of the castle)
(On a cool looking bench)
(New USIT people!)
The next morning, we were all gonna go to Cobh (Co-ve) but I waited around for 40 mins and Kyle and John still didn't arrive, and there was a bus going back to Dublin right then, and I was tired, so I went back to Dublin instead. Oh well. I wanted to visit Cobh too, but next time...
Last weekend I went to Belfast. Really interesting city. My hostel for the first night was in this sketchy little side street, but it was pretty legit. Not bad for ₤10. I didn't go out that night because I decided to go on a full day bus tour the next morning, so I wanted a good night's sleep. Plus... Belfast was a bit sketchy, especially when I didn't know the area at all. The next morning, went outside to wait for the bus tour thingy along with 5 other people from my hostel. We thought it came at 9, but it didn't come til 9:30, so we all waited around for half an hour. It was nice to chat though. The bus tour was great. We drove north all along the coast, and the view was gorgeous. Our first stop was at this place called the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. We actually had to hike about 20 minutes uphill to get to the actual rope bridge, but it was fun still. Got there, took some photos, and went back down to the bus. Lunch was in a restaurant in a little town we stopped at. Hardly any tourists, besides our bus tour group. It was nice though. Next stop was the Bushmills whiskey distillery. We took a little tour of the distillery, which was alright.
Anyway... our final stop was the Giant's Causeway. This has been rumoured to be one of the most beautiful places in all of Ireland. But I gotta be honest... it was not as great as I hoped it to be. I mean, yes, it was beautiful, and really unique as well, but it wasn't like "Ohmigod, this is suuuch a spectacular natural site!" Nevertheless, I am still glad I got to see it. It was a pretty neat place.; climbing the Causeway was fun.
On Sunday, the last day, I ended up going to church for like 3 hours. OMG. I know. It was not too bad though, actually. The first service was full of old(er) people, and I was really lost as to where the priest guy was reading in the "Book of common prayer". And then I did a communion at the end of the service. It was... interesting. After the first service, I had about 30 minutes to kill before the next one, which had a choir (hence the reason I wanted to go). This one was much bigger, as in the number of people who attended. Yeah, it was actually a pretty good service as well, and the choir was fantastic. I left the cathedral feeling quite good, actually. After a cuppa coffee and a biscuit, I hopped on a city sightseeing bus and ventured off into other parts of Belfast. It was a pricey ride, but I really wanted to see the murals. It was one of the main reasons of me going to Belfast in the first place.The tour was really good, and I got to see the really political side of the city. I kinda wish I had a travelling buddy at that time, because I really wanted to get off and just wander around west Belfast, the most political and sketchy part of the city. I didn't though, because I was actually pretty apprehensive about wandering in that area on my own. Yeah, it was that bad. Very very segregated (Catholics vs. Protestants). I wouldn't mind going there again, if I find someone else who would go with me. I think that city has a lot to offer, despite its troubled past. A lot of it is still apparent, especially through the political murals and high "peace walls", literally walls that surround certain communities.
Anyway... so that's a quick update on my life. Didn't do too much this weekend. Went out with people from work on Friday, since one of our co-workers finished his last day, so we all went out for drinks. It was a good time. Yesterday was a gorgeous day, so I took the train out to the beach and hung out there for about an hour, then came back and walked around the city center. Nice and stress-free. I watched a movie at the cinema today, Garage. It was really really good. I don't think it plays in N.America, it is an Irish film, but still, super good. Pete came back from his travels as well, so we hung out a bit. Hopefully he'll come to my Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow! Oh yeah... I organized a Thanksgiving potluck dinner at my flat tomorrow, yay! I'm excited for that!
Anyway, this entry is long enough, and I should probably be getting some sleep. Til next time!
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