FiNaL DaY iN iReLaNd

Sunday, December 7th

Last day of the tour. We woke up this morning to find that one of our company, Gerald, had not made it back that night. We were all a bit worried, and laughing (kind of sick I know… ha) because we figured he was sitting in a corner somewhere in Killarney because he gave his key to someone else on our tour… so he never made it back himself. The last time anyone saw him was with a tray of tequila shots in the pub as everyone else was leaving. Ha. One of the guys went outside to try to find him, but he wasn’t there…

We raided the cupboards of the kitchen and found some dishes for breakfast. Usually there is a staff to do this all for you, but there was no one there… it was a really crappy hostel. They just had some stale bread and cereal sitting on the counter with some jelly and a toaster. We did the dishes when we were done though. Some of these hostels are quite interesting. Ha. Apparently Chad, our WI friend that we had seen our first night in Galway, had stayed at a hostel called ‘the Randy Leprechaun’ and it had no staff supervising the place- later turning into a giant house party. Crazy business.

We packed our bags into the back of the mini bus and left soon after. One of the girls had tried several times to contact our missing friend, however had no such luck. Everyone on the bus kept making jokes and calling out for Gerald as we drove out of town (especially the one crazy guy who I swear, wasn’t sober the entire time). After a quick coffee break and a bit of a drive later, Gerald finally called one of our phones and all he told us was that he had a ‘wicked night last night.’ Crazy Aussie. Ha.

It was really pretty driving through the Irish countryside, to the overhead speakers of Jack Johnson (or John Jackson as the Aussies called him). We drove for quite a while and ended up at Blarney Castle. We walked down a path with a small creek and lots of wooded areas and then climbed lots of narrow, windy steps to the top of the castle. I picked some Irish moss off of the side of the castle for my collection of Ireland in a jar. I have started collecting bits and pieces from the landscape of each country to put in small mason jars. I just regret not doing it sooner…

Anyway, we got to the top of the castle and were able to kiss the Blarney Stone. (Another good luck thing…) It was really crazy how you do it though. You have to lay on your back, grab on to two poles, and then slide backwards over the side of the castle leaning backwards to kiss it. There is a guy hired to sit there and hold your legs while you do it so you don’t fall. Ha. So, we kissed the stone, I almost kissed the wrong one, and then we went back down and explored the rest of the grounds.

Apparently the story is, McCarthy had the potential to be a great leader, however had a speech impediment that forced an obstacle in his way to success. One day he saw a beautiful woman drowning in a river, and saved her. After he pulled her out of the water, she became a horrifying witch, but was still thankful of his rescue. She told him about the Blarney Stone, and said that if he went and kissed it, he would have the gift of eloquence. He did so, took the rock back to his castle, and the legend has been about ever since.

On our drive, listening to U2 (yes, they are Irish- also know the significance behind the song Bloody Sunday now), our guide told us about St. Patrick. He is the patron saint of Ireland and is credited for bring Christianity to the country. We stopped at the Rock of Cashel, another holy site in Ireland. As we were stopped here, we also saw a hunt. Men were out on horses with a bunch of dogs in the fields.

Also, sheep are everywhere and the whole country smells like burning wood. Peat is everywhere, out drying in little stacks.

Our final stop was at the Rock of Dunamase. It was the ruins of an ancient castle, and when you climb to the top of the hill it is on, you get a great view of the area. It was so cool driving everywhere because there were ruins of castles everywhere. This was one of the more significant ones.

From here, we drove back to Dublin where our tour ended. Cody and I waited in the lobby of the hostel watching tv for a while because we could get a free bus back to the airport from there. Awesome. It was nice watching tv- we got in one episode of FRIENDS and 2 episodes of Scrubs before we left. I don’t watch tv much at home, but it was nice to relax and watch some for a bit.

We got to the airport, got smoothies and milkshakes, and then left on our flight back home. I also got suckered into buying the book ‘Twilight’ for the ride back home, and for my flight back to America next week. Rachael is obsessed with the books, and the new movie coming out, and Cody is hooked now too. I guess it was my turn as well. Between our flight being delayed and the bus ride from the airport back to London, we got home a little after 1am.