Limerick and Cork - Heading on Southwards

So, it's been a while.  

The first thing some of you may have noticed if you've been checking up on me is I've been having trouble with my blog template.  Considering my inability to understand anything in the realm of technology I wasn't excited to sit down, delete the entire thing, and then try to rebuild it (as per my tech guru Brian's advice, as the template appears to have been "corrupted").  As it is my newly rebuilt blog template is still not up to snuff as far as I'm concerned, however I have spent the last hour cursing at my iPad so it will stay as it is for the moment.

Besides, I desperately need to update you fine people since I am roughly a month behind.

So, after my visit to Galway I made my way South to Limerick, which I will be the first to admit I visited mostly for the name (anyone else write limericks in elementary school?)...  My bus arrived in the afternoon, and after about a 25 minute walk I found my guesthouse.

And there was nobody there.

Thirty minutes later I decided I was done being patient and hopelessly ringing the doorbell, so I walked down the street to a local hotel.  Luckily for me, the lovely girl at reception called my guesthouse for me.

(Ah, the downside of not having a phone rears its ugly head.)

Unluckily for me, nobody answered the phone either.

Or responded to the email I sent using the hotel's wifi.

So there I was wondering the key question, "now what?"

Well, when all else fails, food is the answer.

So I found my way back to the center of town where I happened on a thai restaurant and charmed my way into being allowed to use their wifi.  

Long story short I was able to get in touch with the woman running the guesthouse about 3 hours after my initial arrival, and after dawdling my way through another hour and a half with the help of a bottle of Prosecco I did gain entry to my room.

Despite this initial shakey impression the owner, Helen, did turn out to be lovely and to be fair the screw up with more booking.com's fault than hers.

The next day Helen made me an authentic Irish breakfast of "bacon" (see my notes on european bacon), sausage, fried eggs, and black and white puddings.  It was absolutely artery clogging but also amazing.  Surprisingly I was able to walk after this, and made my way to the Hunt museum, which was originally a private collection which has now become a lovely little museum.  One of my favorite pieces was a jeweled ring; the first letter of the name of each jewel spelled out "beloved."  Gorgeous and clever.

Walking near the waterfront.

Spring has sprung!

Display outside the museum.

After leaving the Hunt Museum I took a walk through the cemetary at the local cathedral, which has a very long and interesting history which I couldn't remember all of right now for all the tea in China.

Nice little bridge I spotted on the way.

The cathedral.

I then wandered through the local castle, where I learned about the history of Limerick and how it influenced Irish history in general.  

Views from the ramparts (or as far up them as I was willing to climb).

View of the castle from down the river.

The main thing I took away from this was that the Kings John and Richard from the Robin Hood stories were mentioned repeatedly - although they never actually visited they had something to do with the construction.  (Note to self, updating a blog a month after visiting a place is not conducive to my already questionable memory skills...)

For some inconceivable reason I was actually hungry after this, and found my way to a pub where I ordered a beer and some sausages and mash with red onion marmalade.  Fabulous, absolutely fabulous.

I stopped by the river to relax for a bit before heading home, where I took about a million photos of the swans before the rain started in.

View of the city and river, with the locals.

An early relaxed night at the guesthouse and then an early bus the next day.

Whereupon I arrived in Cork the next afternoon and settled in at the hostel.

I will admit I slacked terribly with my camera during my stay there.  Cork is a great little city and the staff at the hostel were big fun.  I ate awesome crepes, visited a church with the most gorgeous mosaics, wandered through the city, and went out and experienced the nightlife.  

And these are all the photos I have to show for it:

The weather may look gorgeous, by the way, but it was cold, don't be fooled by that sun.

Which brings me to my next adventures in Northern Ireland, which I'll continue with next time.  Which will not be a month from now, promise.

Cheers!

~Swan

More Irish Adventures: Swan Goes West

Well, I find myself on a train with wifi for the next few hours so I might as well try to catch you up.

In between visits to Dublin I made my way West to Galway.  The bus takes about four hours, which when you consider the actual distance is a bit insane, but such is the problem with public transport.  Suffering yet another severe lack of sleep from the night before (it's official, wisdom does not automatically come with age) the ride wasn't the most fun I've had.  Lucky for me my hostel was literally across the street from the bus station so after a much needed shower I curled up in bed and proceeded to sleep for the next... 16 hours?  I don't know how long, but it definitely exceeded 12 hours.

One would think after such a marathon of sleep I would wake up refreshed and ready to explore my way through Galway.  Au contraire.  Instead I woke up with a cold that settled right into my chest like it had signed a lease on my lungs.  So as you can imagine day one pretty much consisted of marathon movies, punctuated by a wander around with the purpose of finding lunch.  Which was kebab, because when all else fails kebab is the answer.

Sleep the second night mostly eluded me, because I had the pleasure of being that girl coughing all night in a dorm of roughly 15 people.  Nothing keeps you conscious more than struggling to not hack up a lung or other essential internal organs, while being aware that you are also keeping everyone around you awake as well.

The next day I was feeling a bit more lively, oddly enough, and first stop was the pharmacy where I was given cough syrup to make my cough more productive (oh goodie) to avoid infection.  I then found my way to a restaurant that specializes in savory pies, and took down a beef and vegetable pie with mashed potatoes and mushy peas.  Accompanied by a cup of tea and a ginger ale.  The pie was unbelievable - these guys get a gold star for delicious.

After lunch I wandered a bit through the city, shot photos of the river and Spanish arch, then called it a day to rest some more.  

The Spanish Arch.

My final day in Galway I did what I had actually come there for; I went to the Cliffs of Moher.

I booked a tour through the hostel, which took us through a whirlwind jaunt across the West coast of Ireland for a total of about eight hours.  I learned valuable things like why the sheep all over Ireland and Scotland are painted in neon colors (it's to distinguish who owns which sheep, because often the local guys share pastures).  We visited a castle, an old abbey, a Celtic settlement, an old Neolithic grave site, had lunch in a local pub, and finished up at the cliffs of Moher.

I started taking photos of the signs from our stops to remind myself later where I'd been.  Excellent choice, Swan.

Stop two, the abbey.

The old settlement.

Approaching the gravesite.

The stone has actually disintegrated quite a bit because of weather since its been there, making this all the more impressive.

The locals.

The cliffs.

Graced with the most gorgeous sunshiney clear skies after rain all day.

Face rock.

Cold and windy!

It is honestly unsurprising to me that so many people have died at the cliffs, because despite the many signs and barricades tourists still insist on hopping over to the edge to take daring photos.  Having felt the incredibly powerful wind I can see how easily a strong gust could make you lose your balance and pitch over the side.  The last woman who died at the cliffs before our visit was trying to get a photo of a puffin and when her bag went over the edge and she tried to catch it.

And the Darwin Award goes to...

The cliffs are truly magnificent.  I'm afraid photos do not do them at all the justice of actually being there.  

On the way home we took another quick photo stop by the sea and then were treated to a rainbow on the bus ride.  It was a great day.

Rainbow!

The next morning I took the bus back to Dublin, where I spent two nights before heading down Southwards.  But, I'll save all that for next time...

Thanks for reading!

 ~Swan