Ireland: Castles and Food

On to Monday~ In Ireland, that is! We went to The Rock of Cashel, a stronghold that got burned. Well, as much as stone and wood can burn. So uninhabitable, but still standing! And they were doing reconstruction on a portion of it, so that will be pretty epic when it's finished. Of course, it was pretty epic when we saw it! Albeit, it was really quite cold, and the winds were high so that didn't help, but coats are great! As are the large stone walls still standing. It was wet and cold, but still very beautiful~

That last one is a small reconstruction of what the inside would have looked like possibly before the fires~
Then we went to Blarney Castle! Sands, it was gorgeous. There are extensive grounds also kept up around the place, and there are gardens galore, a cave, a little river/creek, I heard there was a waterfall somewhere...

I mean, look at that grass! It's a carpet! Seriously!
We didn't have time to stay for terribly long, unfortunately, but I got to climb around and explore the castle with some friends~ And, of course, kissed the stone~ (not that I need it, apparently. XD)

That's the North Wall, opposite where the stone was located~ One of the more imposing sights.

The people over there are at the stone. You've got to lay down and reach at it upside-down, and it's open beneath. Don't drop anything, it's a long way down! (hence I took my glasses off)

After Blarney, we went to Cork, to a fantastic open market. It was inside a building, but it was like a mini-mall because there were 'stalls', but they had countertops and an amazing array of fresh foods... Ate lunch there, at a pretty good price, as well as dessert! Wanted to buy some cheese, or spices or something, but there was just too much wonderfulness and I didn't really need much of it. *sigh*

Also got gelato for the first time~ (in Ireland, yes) Soooo good! <3
Long, fun trip back. Had free time, and wandered Temple Bar Square again with Anna~ We stopped at this little cafe, and they had 20 different kinds of hot chocolate. D8 I didn't even know that was possible! I just got one, a cup of dark chocolate with hints of orange and cinnamon. I honestly really only tasted the chocolate, but that was fine by me. WOW. Liquid chocolate has new meaning to me now. It was... wow. Probably the best hot chocolate I've ever had. Just... Yeah. Somehow, life in general makes more sense now. XD

We had noodles at this place called Stir Crazy afterwards. Affordable, and great food. Seriously. Loooove. <3

<3 <3 <3 <3
Hence, Monday was spent~

Ireland: A Bit of Dublin

Day two~ A Sunday. We got to go to an LDS meeting across Dublin, and took a buss since it was a little ways away. On the bus ride, I saw Mario playing piano. <w< Turns out we showed up for stake conference! Unfortunately, we had to leave before the whole session was done, but it was great to be there~ Not many of the speakers had accents, but it wasn't like we weren't getting that everywhere else anyway. XD The sign is first in Gaelic, and then in English~

We left so we could attend Evensong at Christ's Church Cathedral, the one by our hostel. It was my first time attending anything religious in a real cathedral. It was... amazing. Here's some of my notes:
"Just... Wow. I love this. I... didn't realize all this echoing is real; it's... glorious. No other word for it, except perhaps heavenly. Truly."
Later, we went to Brazen Head for food, Ireland's oldest established pub! (1158)(yeah really)
They were going to have storytelling nights the following week. I was soooo tempted to just stick around for that, but I figured people might notice my absence on the plane. XD' But the food was great! As was the service. And the waitresses even complimented our group in general, it was really nice. (this is just the table I sat at, we filled three if I recall correctly)

 

The door was at one of the back portions of Christ's Church Cathedral, which we passed while walking back from the pub. Anna and I then went around and got some shwarma! Twas quite good, actually~

That was basically the entirety of Sunday. It was a lot of fun, and investigated Temple Bar/Square area. :3 Lots of stores, pubs, music, shopping of sorts. It's more a touristy area, but still fun~

Side Note

Hello, just wanted to apologize right quick for my sporadic updates! Especially with the epicness of Ireland. It's amazing. The only excuse I have is that my health has been rather variant, and coinciding with attempting to find a job (or two or three) that makes other things a bit difficult. However, I know that is just an excuse, and again I apologize for letting that get in the way of sharing my adventures with you, both who helped fund me and who just want to keep updated~ I will strive to be better!
(note: I do have some part-time work now, from a few places, so that is helping.)

Here are a few pictures from my adventures locally within the past month~ :3

 

(local library, which I now live right across from~ <3)

 

It's finally getting cooler, and I got a new scarf from a dear friend! Great combo~

I'll be updating more Ireland soon~