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~

Ireland - Christ Church

Day one, part two! We went from Trinity to Dublin's Archeological Museum, right next to the library~ Both gorgeous places, inside and out, of course! But by that time I was too worn out to really appreciate everything, so I just kind-of sat in the museum for a while, trying not to fall asleep. XD' Then we went back to the hostel and I rested a bit, though didn't fall asleep. Our hostel rooms had awesome multi-colored wall art too. Then, all together, we went to the Church of Christ cathedral, right across the street from our hostel~ That third picture is Kristen, one of our leaders, pointing things out to Shelby and Lucy. I saw the opportunity to get a picture of two of our red-heads at once and had to take it. XD Sashah came along as well, of course. And look! Even the floors are incredibly detailed! :0

Strongbow was one of the most famous Norsemen in Ireland. After looking around there, most of the group went off to see a hurling match. I wasn't up for it, so a few friends who also stayed behind and I walked around Dublin and got some food. Also stopped at an open air art bazaar! Almost got a really cool hat, but I wanted to save my euro for the entire trip, not just the first day. X3' If I knew I could get it home safely, I might have bought some of the art pieces I saw, honestly, but I just didn't know how that would work out. Awesome talent though!

Eventually got to sleep, finally.  And that was the end of day one!
Dublin was great. Even though we were pretty much in the heart of town, and right on the street, of course, I didn't really have problems with sleeping due to noise. In fact, I don't remember much... Of course, some of that may have been how tired I made myself every day. XD
<3

Ireland Adventures - Trinity

Okay, these posts are going to be picture heavy! I won't share everything, and you can look at my Facebook for some more pictures. Here are some more fun ones~

Day one, part one! Well, somewhat; time changes throw ya off a bit. But these pictures are from the interim; riding to the airport, at the airport... First picture is me and Sashah, my Eevee plush! :3 (it was very cold, so layers were necessary. Plus, planes.) Shelby was a fellow red-headed friend along~ Maryn is another friend in the background to the right. Third, we've got Sashah chilling at the airport while we all eat our food. (I don't need to share everyone eating their foods. XD)

 

Then, 6+ hours later, we landed in Ireland! At like 5 in the morning. I was too excited to care. (no I had not slept on the planes.) Of course, as seen in the second picture on our double-decker bus to our hostel, some of the group was just as excited too. XD Then we finally got to our hostel, Kinlay House, the entrance of which is to the right in the third picture. The Church of Christ is in front and center there. Yeah, RIGHT there. :D

       

(the golden ball up there is actually outside of a large bank~ It's got a large courtyard-ish area to just chill by the street. :3)
 Friends had cameras, too! Jessica knows what she's after.

There was a gorgeous mosaic at the mall near where we ate breakfast, too. (Kilkenny's; seriously awesome food. The bread is so thick!!) The mosaic shows a whole bunch of tales from traditional Irish mythology, from the Black and Brown bulls, to Cuchulain and Badb in the form of a crow, and so many more! Love what research can make you aware of~ <3

Lucy was taking time to write in her journal~ Third red-head friend along on the trip! :3
Kilkenny's was upstairs of a nice little shop. There was a lot of awesome art there, including this gorgeous fox! X3

Then we went to Trinity College... Saw the Book of Kells!! Wonderful exhibit, not allowed to take pictures, but still totally worth it. It's a heavily illuminated book of the 4 Gospels. They have different pages of it on display at different times. It was gorgeous, beautiful, and amazing! It was pretty quiet in the exhibit area, although it felt more like a respect thing than an 'early morning' thing (it wasn't even terribly early, I feel like).
And then we went upstairs to the Library's Long Room! It is gorgeous. And that's where they had the "Wild Upon The Waves: Mythology in Children's Literature" exhibit. LOVELY. And so exciting. All kinds of mythology, listings...

It was amazingtastical indeed~ <3 Then walked around Trinity a bit with Maryn.

I will leave this post with that, and continue in the next one! Hope you enjoy it~ <3