The Long Trip Day 2: Cobh, Foto, and Blarney

Hello hello :) after a delightful breakfast at our B&B in Cashel, we got back on the bus and were on our way again!

The 'matching' shades again :)

Our first stop was the Cobh Heritage Center, where we learned about the Titanic and how immigrants fled from Ireland during the Famine Times. I really hoped to learn something about my ancestors who immigrated to Canada during that time, but it was a general broad overview of the process. Still very interesting to look at!

Also interesting was the German tall ship moored behind the museum. I sat and watched the ship for a while, and managed to catch some sun in the process!

Best. Photo-bomb. Ever. Photo credit goes to Calla!

From there we went to Fota Wildlife Park. Look, giraffes!!!

An emu hanging out with some maras (more on them later)

I still don't think I'm saying this right... Cool name, though.

A penguin. No, seriously, they had penguins and even a sign asking people not to pet them. Sadly I wasn't close enough to even attempt, but it was still cool to see some.

They have a variety of monkeys here at Fota -- I can't remember which these were.

Kangaroos!! They looked really warm though :(

I'm actually really glad this sign was here, because otherwise I might have tried to go in...

Doesn't it look like a playhouse?!?! I was taken aback by this for a while.

We passed this group of park rangers running around with fishing nets by the stream with a bunch of nets, but couldn't figure out what they were trying to accomplish. After a little bit we got bored and moved on.

The lemurs were probably my favorite. One of them (I think the one on the right) was a tripod lemur but still moved around fine! I was impressed by the 3-legged wonder. So impressed, in fact, that I failed to get a picture of just him. So life goes.

The aptly named Palm Tree Walk

These are maras. I think Brittnie and I decided that a mara looks like a hybrid cross between a rabbit, a deer, a mouse, and a squirrel. In reality they're just big rodents, but they look really interesting.

THE GREAT WHITE PELICAN. Apparently this thing was thinking about eating Rick's daughter Fia, and had the jaw capacity to do so. He eyed me up as I walked past but thought better. Thankfully.

Brittnie and I decided to chill by one of the monkey areas and read/write respectively. Here she models her new scarf headdress trend. We're hoping it catches on soon.

DUCKLING.

Beanie Baby continues to think that if you give anything huge eyes, it automatically looks cute. I politely disagree. This just looks deranged.

Last stop of the day: Blarney Castle!!!

View from the top! I may or may not have tried to run up all 250-some steps, and may or may not have been really out of breath by the time I got to this view.

Air-kissing the Blarney Stone. I did want to give it a proper kiss, but misjudged my position relative to the stone. And really, does anyone think I need the gift of gab?!

View of the interior of the castle.

An interesting feature to the grounds of Blarney... needless to say, this portion was very educational.

The poison garden

A different view of Blarney

Amber and I got really bored of the castle scene, so we fled to the grounds beyond to do homework and write in the sun. Taylor found us there, and brought us a rare Samber flower from parts unknown. It was an adorable moment :)

Taylor then got bored and climbed that super cool tree. Even I managed to climb part of it!

Our hotel in Blarney -- very nice room!

 We went out to a very nice dinner, which I forgot to bring my camera to, and came right back to the hotel. Calla and I spent the evening being anti-social and reading. It was blissful after such a long day of travel. On to Day 3!!!

-S

The Long Trip Day 1: Cahir and Cashel

HELLO EVERYONE! We made it back safe and sound from the Long Trip on Saturday. I took a day to recoup yesterday and am now ready to share my adventures with you all!

Early morning sunshine to greet us on our adventure!

First stop: Cahir Castle!

The river that used to be further up the walls of Cahir Castle -- made for a really good moat!

The inner greens of the castle

One of the only working portcullises left in Europe!

I like the number of people looking at my camera in this picture (i.e. just Brittnie)

The banquet hall is borrowing that giant deer skull on the wall. And yes, there used to be giant deer in Ireland. They were about 12 feet tall and their bodies are for the most part very well preserved in the bog; hence why we saw their skulls all over the place. I thought they were joking at first when they said 'giant deer' but it turns out they were telling the truth. Unsettling.

View from the walls

We saw a lot of these pictures around. They let you climb on parts of the ramparts, but not all of them...

The outside of the wall and park below.

These signs are absolutely everywhere too. Castles in general were designed for when people were smaller, and made very tight so that attackers coming through doorways were at a disadvantage to those standing in the room beyond. Canny people...

Trapdoor at the base of those stairs. Fun fact about most stairs: they wind so that one's left side is out, meaning that right-handed warriors had a harder time wielding their swords on the stairs. If you were a leftie back in the day, you were the secret weapon for raiding castles.

Calla trying to coax the ducks to come closer while Katie photographs the moment

After we toured Cahir we ran outside to the park behind the castle and sprawled in the grass for a bit, enjoying the beautiful weather.

Next stop: CASHEL! Here, Brittnie was complaining that no one ever takes pictures of her, so I took one while walking. So much love.

Seem familiar? I tried to only take new pictures of the Rock, but I probably took some of the same ones on accident :P

The tapestry in Cashel that was made with deliberate imperfections to symbolize the imperfections of man. SO SYMBOLIC AND STUFF.

This is the portion of the castle that is closed for the restoration of this mural on the ceiling. Original paint work here!

Bonus points if you can spot the angry-looking pigeon in this picture...

Cashel in side view.

Our professors told us that in years past people have tried rolling down this hill and found out how steep it was. So did Beaner -- unintentional somersault here, I believe.

Brittnie wanted a picture with Cashel itself in the background, but got this old man in the background instead....

The gang :)

A different side view!

Bailey, Brittnie, and I showing off our somewhat matching sunglasses

Waiting for Owen to return with the bus

Playing in traffic?

Our B&B at Cashel, where we stayed our first night.

It even had a plate of MN with all of the tiny towns correctly labeled! And it wasn't a gift from us at all!!

The view from out the front door of the B&B -- we were THAT CLOSE to the Rock.

I've become a little obsessed with thatched roofs and shops that are properly able to maintain them...

Cool frosted glass in the Chinese place we ate dinner at! It was an impressively classy establishment.

What remained of our delicious food. We were really hungry, and craving Chinese food, which means this might have been the best meal I had the whole trip.

The front of the restaurant. We had the whole place to ourselves, our waitress was super polite, and the food was superb. We're talking about making a pilgrimage back to Cashel before we leave solely to eat here again.

Too cute :D

After dinner we rambled into a toy store / grocery store. I was so offended by this 'toy' that I had to take a picture and complain a little about Western culture. Complain complain complain.

We also found a cute walking path that lead us right by the Rock again.

DRAMATIC SUNSET WITH RUINED MONASTERY IN FOREGROUND

 That completed our first action-packed day -- on to Day 2!

-S