Day 73 - Day 76

I'm back safe and sound from Ireland. Here's how my trip was~

Thursday
Thursday Emelia and I went to class, after staying up until 3 am to register for classes. I signed up for one online class that I can take while still doing the Disney College Program. It's a basic finance class, so hopefully it won't be too difficult. It was really hard to stay awake in class because she put in a terribly boring movie on corporations, but we managed. We left straight away after class to make it to Gatwick Airport, about an hour and a half away. We had no problems checking in, and we grabbed lunch at the airport. We got to Cork at about 6, and bought a taxi to take us to our hostel, which was only about 15 minutes away. Uber has been failing us all trip. After accidentally walking into a bed and breakfast, we found our hostel which was one door down. There was three bunk beds in the room, but there were only five of us total until the last day. No one talked to each other. The guy running the hostel was really nice and even gave us towels for free. We dropped our stuff off and then went to find dinner. Of course, everything was pretty much closed since it was about 7:00 on a Thursday night. The center of Cork was about a 25 minute walk, but we actually ended up following a group of teenagers to a diner similar to Denny's. It was relatively cheap and the people there were nice and the food was good. After dinner we went back to the hostel to sleep. The hostel was actually really nice and was probably the best we stayed in, although the wifi was worse then the Venice hostel which claimed it didn't have wifi.

Friday
Friday we woke up at 7:00 in order to find our way to the group pick up point for our tour of the Cliffs of Moher/Mohr. We found it without a problem (and without google maps), and the bus left at 8:30. It wasn't a full bus, and most of the people were American or Australian actually. We stopped in Limerick to pick up some more people and were given time to go to the bathroom and buy breakfast at a sort of mall. After that we headed straight towards the Mini Cliffs, which was about 3 hours away. The view wasn't pretty until we reached the countryside and got off the highway. Then it actually looked like what everyone expects Ireland to be like. Our tour guide told us about the history of Ireland and the Mini Cliffs that we were going to see, and pointed out different castles that we passed on the way. There are a lot of castles in Ireland, and most of them aren't tourist attractions but are just randomly near the side of highways, so it was kind of cool to see them there. The Mini Cliffs that we saw were originally a coral reef. Apparently Ireland used to be near the equator (Pangea and stuff) and it used to have huge coral reefs but somehow turned into these magnificent cliffs on the West Coast of Ireland bordering the Atlantic Ocean. It was sunny out, but it was VERY windy. Luckily, we only had to walk on pretty much flat rocks to get to the ledge to see over the cliffs. It was absolutely gorgeous, but the wind made it hard to walk. Emelia actually fell and cut her knee, so now we have matching cuts. (Mind you I fell at Richmond, so...) Emelia took a really good picture of me at the point of the cliff just as a huge wave came up.  I got pretty soaked, but the picture was worth it. I have to post it here once I connect my phone up.  After the Mini Cliffs we were taken to a local town for food. The town's shops were all closed except this one restaurant because apparently November is definitely not tourist month. The pub was pretty decent though, and I got good seafood chowder. After lunch we went to the Cliffs of Mohr. We got to spend an hour and a half here, and at first I thought that was too much time but it wasn't actually enough! The cliffs were 700 meters tall, and a lot of miles long. We only took the path to the left, and that took us the full hour and a half. The path started off very safe with a wall on either side, but once you got past a certain area, it was just a dirt path on the side of the cliffs. It was really muddy and slippery, and the wind was worse then at the Mini Cliffs. Emelia and I had to stop several times just because we couldn't walk or see. We didn't get the chance to walk all the way to the end because we didn't have enough time, but we walked far enough to see the most amazing view. The cliffs were so beautiful and green and exactly what we wanted to see. The way back, though, was very, very, terrifying. I think I have developed a fear of heights on this trip. There was one area where we had to cross a dirt path with a dirt wall behind us and the ledge of the cliff on the other side. We were walking on it right when it became super windy and literally Emelia and I had to throw ourselves against the wall and were holding on to whatever patches of grass were on the dirt wall. Our pants got all muddy, but it was the only way we could actually stay upright and not being blown away. It was probably the scariest moment of my life. It was also really scary when there was a gravestone at the entrance of the cliffs as a memorial of all the people who died visiting them. It was worth it though. So beautiful. After that we stopped at a castle for a picture opportunity, and then drove the four hour drive back, so it was a long ride. We got back to our hostel and went to bed.

Saturday
Today was all about Blarney Castle. We asked our hostel manager how to get there, and he told us to walk to the City Center and take a bus to Blarney, so we did just that. We bought a ticket and were one of the few people on the bus. Our bus driver was nice enough and told us exactly what stop to get off at to see the castle, and pointed us which direction to go from there. Blarney Castle had opened at 9 ,and we got there at about 10:30, and it was almost completely empty. We definitely went at a nonpeak time, which was nice. Originally I had just thought that we would see the Castle and Stone, and that was it. I didn't know how huge the place actually was and there were so many different things to see. We started off walking straight towards the castle, but took a detour to explore some nearby caves which was pretty cool. We then took the very steep stairs up through the castle, seeing different rooms as we went. At the top we stood in line to kiss the Blarney Stone, which supposedly gives you the gift of eloquence speech, which I always need. Kissing it was very scary too, as the height was high and you look down at the ground as there is just one metal bar to keep you from falling (plus the random employee who holds you in place). But, I can cross that off my bucket list. After the castle we ate lunch at the cafe there and then explored the grounds. It was raining a little bit, but we got to explore some poison gardens and waterfalls. There were places like the Wishing Steps, Fairy Glades, Witch's Kitchen, and other places like that hidden in the forest, so it was fun to walk through them. We spent most of the day here by chance, as we didn't think there was so much to do there. After we went shopping at some places nearby, then took the bus back to Cork. We shopped more in the City Center in Cork (which looked so pretty all lit up in Christmas lights already), then grabbed supper and went back to our hostel and slept. (Sidenote- I got a green sweatshirt finally and the infamous Irish ring with the two hands, heart, and crown)

Sunday
Today we had to check out of our hostel at 10, so we did that then ordered a taxi via an app the hostel told us about. The app worked like Uber, so we had no problems being picked up and being dropped off at the airport. The airport was so small and not crowded at all. The check in desk weirdly did not open until one hour before the flight left, which I thought was really strange. We bought breakfast/lunch at the airport, and sat waiting for the desk to open. When the desk opened, we checked in, went straight through security without waiting at all, and sat for only about a half hour before boarding the plane. The plane was full, but the airport was empty. The plane ride was short, but very bumpy because it was so windy, so we arrived later than supposed to. We didn't have to go through customs when we landed, which was also strange, as I usually always get interrogated about my study abroad. We then took a train to Clapham Junction, then to Richmond, so it took about an hour and a half to get to Richmond. We then took the bus to our school because we didn't feel like walking with all our stuff. We dropped our stuff in our room then went to eat the terrible school food. We finished our homework then looked into our weekend plans. 13 of us had booked a trip to Paris for next weekend, originally leaving on Thursday night. The five of us decided to cancel it, since none of our parents wanted us to go, and Hamakawa said it wasn't a good idea either. We then started looking into other plans, like going to see an Enchanted Garden light display at Syon Park, going to Cardiff for the day, and having a chocolate Thanksgiving a week early. We're all disappointed, but obviously we want to be safe. On the positive side, almost one week until Mom and Dad get here! <3