This weekend was full of socializing, adventures and sightseeing, the first of many!
It started out with a family dinner hosted by my roommate, Megan and I. The "family" is a group of 15 students who are all from CSBSJU that are all staying in the same apartment building which is called Leeside. We decided that a good way to have a weekly meeting with all of us was to have each apartment host dinner once a week. We decided on pancakes and egg bake! It was a success. That night we also headed out to an international get together hosted by the school. All international students were invited to a pub to meet other students, which was fun!
On Saturday our whole group from school began our day touring Charles Fort in Kinsale. I didn't really know what to expect but it was incredible! We had gorgeous weather, so lucky for winter in Ireland! Yeah, wow we really got lucky. Charles Fort was built in the 1670s and is a good example of a late 17th century start shaped fort built for defensive purposes. It is associated with some of the major military moments in the history of the country including its use in the Civil War in 1922-1923. It was really cool to walk around and see the old barracks and learn about what life was like for the soldiers living there.
Panoramic View of Charles fort
Next we went to the town of Kinsale for lunch and exploring. I had my first traditional fish and chips in a cute little restaurant right by the water. Perfection! We had only a little bit of time to explore the town so of course my friend, Clare and I went and found a chocolate shop. The woman who ran it was so friendly and told us all about where the chocolate came from and which ones were the most popular. She even gave us free truffles so we had to buy a few after that :) We only had a few minutes left before our bus left but we had time to take a few pictures of the harbor and all of the sailboats there. My dear boyfriend, Jason, loves sailboats so I made sure to take a few extra for him :)
We then hopped on the bus to our final destination for the day, Blarney castle. The current Blarney Castle was built in 1446 by the King of Munster. Queen Elizabeth had ordered the Earl of Leicester to take control of the Castle but every time he tried to negotiate, the King of Munster suggested a banquet or some other form of distraction. The Queen was sick of hearing of the delays and she called the Earls reports "blarney" which is where the name of the castle comes from. If you didn't already know the tale behind the Blarney Castle, the big tourist attraction is to kiss the Blarney stone at the very top of the old castle, which will give you the gift of gab.
We began to make our way up to the castle through beautiful gardens and crossing a river that runs through the grounds. Again, it was such a beautiful day! Not sure how we got so lucky, but the sun was shining through the trees and it made me wonder what the castle looked like in its glory days. I was expecting the stone to be more accessible but to my surprise, we climbed up a very narrow and steep winding staircase to get to the very top of the castle. The stone is located on the edge of the castle so far down that there is a cute little old man there to hold everyone who wishes to kiss the stone. It was actually kinda scary!
It was such a good but long day, we all went home and relaxed and went to bed early that night!
The next day (sunday) about half of the group decided to take a day trip to a seaside town called Cobh (pronounced cove). It took awhile for Megan and I to decide whether we wanted to go or not because it was pouring outside and it was about 25 minutes to walk to the train station. We ended up deciding to brave the weather and hope for the best! The walk to the train station was an adventure for sure but what can being a little (or a lot!) wet hurt? :)
Cobh is most famous for being the last port of call for the infamous unsinkable ship, the Titanic. It was where the last 123 passengers of the Titanic got on board and the last place it left before going out into the Atlantic. So of course we started our day in Cobh at the titanic experience, where the original ticket office and original pier for the Titanic was located. Of course the Titanic itself was out in the bay but the pier is where passengers got on smaller boats to be taken out to the Titanic. The pier is called "heartbreak pier" because many left Ireland that day from that pier and said goodbye to friends and family that they would never see again. I learned a lot about the Titanic tragedy there and we were able to learn a little about the actual stories of the 123 passengers that were from Ireland.
We headed back out into the rain and wind across the street to a cozy little cafe to eat lunch. To our surprise, when we finished eating it was not raining and the sun was out! We spent the rest of the day enjoying the sunshine and exploring the town and taking pictures of the classic Irish buildings and the water. We stumbles upon an incredible cathedral where we spent a good amount of time talking to some locals and taking more pictures. It ended up being a beautiful day and I couldn't be happier that we braved the weather in the morning!
Cathedral
Heartbreak Pier
Oof this is a long one, hope you were able to bear with me! I am headed to Belfast next weekend with a few friends to sightsee and visit some family friends from my church in Cambridge.
Have a good week everyone!
My dear girlfriend Stephanie, what beautiful pictures you have taken! I just love the ones of the bay. They could be on a postcard or something.
ReplyDeleteAmazing pictures, Steph!! Thanks for posting this!!
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