anyway... after a mediocre sleep at the b&b, we woke up at 7 am. mind you, the jet lag is killing me. i can hardly stay awake on the bus trips. so 7 am here, is midnight at home. you catch my drift? we got ready, re packed our things and had an amazing breakfast at our place. the nice young guy had prepared yummy chocolate croissants, wheat bread, white bread, had cereal and oatmeal ready for consumption, apples, bananas, juice, milk, and hot cereal. i may or may not have had a bowl of all three items. ha ha. don't judge. it was delicious. a great start to a great day.
we loaded the bus with peter and headed to pick up the rest of the group at the other b&b. the rest of the girls had arrived late that night. they were stuck in chicago because of bad weather. they sat on their plane for 5 hours!! 5! unbelievable. they flew to manchester, then to shannon. long trip for them.
we all loaded the bus and drove through more of ireland to killarney. we stopped at a mall for some lunch to take with us to the ross castle location. i am on search for a rain jacket. the light rain here is no fun. it's light enough that it pelts you almost like light snow. it's hard to explain.
we arrived at ross castle just in time for the ferry boat that goes through the killarney lakes. there are 3 of them. a low, middle, and high. i'm sure of name specific, but they are there! the tour guide was again, great. he was a little hard to understand but it was a relaxing and informational ride.
after the 30 minute ride, we arrived back at the dock behind the castle. 10 of us and dr. gardner, his wife and three boys headed in for the first tour. this lady was phenomenal. she knew everything there was to know about this castle! she explained the defense mechanisms in the castle, the lifestyle of the family inside, the construction, the reconstruction after the roof was burned. it was very very cool. no pictures were allowed inside because the items are so old.
on the boat ride.
dr. anderson on the ride. great guy.
after the 35 minute tour, our professors chose to have us ride horse drawn carriages throughout the land around killarney and ross castle. it was a nice ride as well. the horse driver was full of info too. he was a jokester, and probably a drunkard. this ride was just gorgeous. i had no idea that bamboo and rhododendrons are all throughout ireland! i took a ton of pictures but can't load them. the horse's name was maggie, a boy horse. hm. the rain started towards the end of the ride and that wasn't too fun but we are okay.
deer in the field from the wagon.
we also went nearby to the muckross house (prounounced mucruss). we didn't take the tour but we walked through the miles of gardens and trees. can you imagine the upkeep of that? tons and tons of grass. lots of flowerbeds. i hate weeding, i bet the workers who weed those beds probably hate it too! the house looked like it was straight out of jane austen's books. from the looks of it, there were tons of rooms, chimney's, and extremely luxurious. i wish we could have gone inside. some animal farms were also a short walk around the corner but we didn't have enough time to walk through those.
we all met back at the bus at 4 pm drove a little bit more to our 4 star hotel! it's totally nice. wood floors, great beds, big bathrooms. there are 2 girls to a room and only a few rooms in this whole thing. but it is very nice. we arrived about half past four. we all recouped and headed back out to the streets at 5. tons of walking around. the streets are small and cobblestone like. small shops and restaurants line the sides. and don't forget, the cars drive on the wrong side of the road so it's weird to have to "look right" when crossing. the six of us walked and walked around. checked out some small shops and searched for a food place. we decided on mac's. it was a little pricey, i think, but tasty. i went with the all american bacon cheeseburger and chips. it was delicioso. some other girls got shepherd's pie and another clam chowder. it was great! the meal was followed by some ice cream from murphy's (made all in dingle, where we were last night).
muckross house.
muckross gardens.
we all met back at the bus at 4 pm drove a little bit more to our 4 star hotel! it's totally nice. wood floors, great beds, big bathrooms. there are 2 girls to a room and only a few rooms in this whole thing. but it is very nice. we arrived about half past four. we all recouped and headed back out to the streets at 5. tons of walking around. the streets are small and cobblestone like. small shops and restaurants line the sides. and don't forget, the cars drive on the wrong side of the road so it's weird to have to "look right" when crossing. the six of us walked and walked around. checked out some small shops and searched for a food place. we decided on mac's. it was a little pricey, i think, but tasty. i went with the all american bacon cheeseburger and chips. it was delicioso. some other girls got shepherd's pie and another clam chowder. it was great! the meal was followed by some ice cream from murphy's (made all in dingle, where we were last night).
we will be at this hotel for tonight and tomorrow night. i will say, we have lucked out with these first few nights here! it's so awesome.
i keep asking myself, am i really here? walking around the streets of ireland?
once in a lifetime chance i tell you. all of us girls seem to be getting along great (it has only been two days). there are 20 of us.
i'm not of our plan tomorrow but i hear it's full throughout the whole day. i hope i can get some pictures posted but it's not seeming to let me. darn.
cheers. have fun in the states :)
anyone notice the new title of my blog? name the movie?
okay, i'll tell you. UP. one of my faves.
i love chocolate croissants. haha.
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