Cork is one of those places that if you are in Ireland, you will probably think of going. They have the Blarney Stone and it is another major city. Our trip started off at 6am when we left campus to go meet our tour bus.
Immediately, we were off to an interesting start as our driver began to sing all the classic songs like Molly Malone and also a few fan favorites such as "Don't go chasing leprechauns"--if you don't know that one refer to the song "Waterfalls".
Our first stop was the Rock of Cashel which includes the ruins of a castle--of course.
Later that day, we made it to Blarney Castle where if you kiss the Blarney Stone, you are given the gift of eloquence.
My friend Morgan as we were making our way up the castle turns towards us and announces, "I'm actually afraid of heights". This was not the ideal time to make this announcement, but we survived with a few deep breathing exercises.
We eventually made it to the actual stone, and I kissed it first. I was not sure how far down the stone was so I was a little slow making my way to the stone. The guy kept on saying keep it coming, keep it coming, and finally I had my chance to kiss the stone.
Morgan is absolutely going to kill me for telling this part of the trip, but I am going to go for it anyways. When it came time for her turn, she put her head back and immediately popped right back up exclaiming, "I can't do this". The older man was like of course you can, but it was no use...Morgan was already scurrying away.
Blarney Castle is definitely worth seeing since there is a large outdoor area that you can walk around and see unique things like a witch's kitchen.
When I look back at the weekend in Cork, I realize it is probably one of my favorite weekends since I have been abroad. It was still early on in the program, but it felt like everything was falling into place. The picture above features the fantastic four (Morgan, me, Emma, and Sydney). We call ourselves that because we really are the best travel companions.
While abroad, you are bound to make new friends...or if you don't you should probably think about what you are doing wrong. Anyways, soon you find yourself--or at least I did--with new friends that you feel like you have known your entire life. I think that is what traveling does to people; it brings you a lot closer in a much shorter amount of time.
As we eventually made our way to Cork City, I would like to say I fell in love immediately. I did not and the city actually reminded me a lot of everyone's Copenhagen pictures. Not necessarily this picture, but other parts of the city certainly looked like Copenhagen.
We actually had booked an airbnb in Cobh, which is outside of Cork City and was by far our best decision during this entire trip. Cobh is a cute beach town where everyone would definitely notice the 4 American girls walking around the town.
Cobh was also the last stop the Titanic took before hitting the iceberg so there is a small museum in town. After spending the night in Cobh, we headed back to Cork City and rang the Shandon Bells. The view from the top provides you a view of all of Cork City and definitely provides you with an "abroad moment".
Until tomorrow's adventure,
Hannah
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