Coral Connemara Coast

Ireland is so beautiful that sometimes it is a little ridiculous.
Coral under foot in clear, clear water
A lovely day for a nice day in the water!
Me and Katie
Pretty pretty
So gorgeous!
Kind of gives a new meaning to breathtaking sometimes.

What is the most buoyant city in Ireland?

CORK! And that is where we were off to last weekend. Katie and I had heard so much about Ireland's "Rebel City" slash "Real Capital" that we had to check it out. I also heard that they had iced coffee there (which Galway does not have) so I am not going to lie- that was a definite draw for me. On Saturday morning, our coworker, Eilionoir, showed us around the city and took us to all of the good places- the chocolate shop, the coffee shop and gave us recommendations on places that we had to go like the chip shop. In the afternoon, we took a double decker tour of Cork (how touristy!) to learn about the city sights. It was such a lovely day and we were enjoying sitting in the fresh air and sunshine so much that we stayed on the bus for two rotations. That evening we went to the famous chip shop for delicious fish and chips and then out to experience Cork's night life.
St. Fin Barre's Cathedral
Katie and Eilionoir at University College Cork
Katie and the famous (and delicious and enormous) fish and chips
Me on one of Cork's thirty bridges

On Sunday, we hopped on a bus to Blarney Castle. Legend has it that if you kiss the large stone at the top of the castle, you will have the gift of gab and eloquence- important skills for future lawyers!!
I kissed the stone.... as if I didn't talk enough already!
The line to kiss the stone
Blarney Castle
The grounds around the Castle were lovely
Me with the Castle in the background
Waiting for the bus back to Galway, one last iced coffee for the road!

Scenes from Galway

Connemara

Today Katie and I headed north of Galway to an area called Connemara. I am not a huge fan of bus tours ever since the Great Stonehenge Incident of 2004 (let's just say it involved questionable blueberry yogurt, a windy twisty bus ride and 3 friends who didn't want to be anywhere near me for the rest of the day). However, Galway has some great bus tours to places that would be impossible for us to go without a car and at a very affordable price (ok, now I sound like a commercial).

Anyway, after last weekend's fabulous Burren tour, I was excited to head to Connemara. Our first stop: A gift shop about 20 minutes down the road from Galway. Ok, I thought, nice chance to get some postcards and stretch our legs. Next stop:...... a second gift shop! I was beginning to feel like we have been put on a tour of gift shops- all selling the same thing. There was also replica of some house that was in some movie that I had never heard of. Right, ok.... next stop: GIFT SHOP! Ok ok, it wasn't that bad because this one actually had a castle attached to it! Ok, not attached but you get the idea. We had a lovely visit at Kylemore Abbey, a Benedictine abbey that was once a "castle" built in the 1860s by a wealthy English politician. It was absolutely spectacular there- misty mountains, neo- Gothic architecture, lust green trees. There was also a Victorian garden on the side which beautiful plants, flowers and paths. Though the tour was perhaps a bit heavy with giftshops, overall it was fabulous!
Our guide told us that this water was used to make Guinness and as such was called "Guinness Falls" but I am not sure that I believe him.
Weather can be unpredictable. There was just enough sunshine for us to get off the bus, for Katie to take my photo, for me take the camera from her... and before I could hit the shutter, it started pouring buckets and pour Katie's photo was ruined.... or improved, depending on how you see it because I find her face just priceless.
Lovely views
Lovely Views

Victorian Garden at the Abbey in the rain
Abbey grounds
Abbey
Kylemore Abbey
Kylemore Abbey
Misty Mountains
Lovely flowers
Gorgeous!
We really liked these flowers.
Inside the greenhouse

The Burren

Today, Katie and I decided to take a tour of the Burren area, right outside of Galway. The weather was perfect- I am beginning to think that telling tourists that Ireland is rainy and cold is just something that they do to fool them into not coming so that the country can remain pristine. The forecast was for rain but there was not a drop and a good part of the day was bright and sunny. You could really see the blue of the water and the sky and the green of the countryside.

First we took a walking tour around some fields in the Burren, and tiptoed amongst the dandylions.

The Burren

Poulnabrone "The Portal Tomb"

Katie and Me in front of the Cliffs of Moher

The Cliffs of Moher

More cliffs

Countryside

How now, brown cow.

Leamanagh Castle

Me and Katie

The Elusive Guiness

My roommate and fellow intern, Katie, arrived on Friday. I went to my first day of work that day while she checked into the apartment. On Saturday afternoon/evening, we took a nice long walk down to Galway City Center for dinner and some exploring. It was one of my goals to have my first Irish beer. I had been here for nearly three days at that point and everyone kept asking me about the beer (jeeze guys!). Katie and I wandered around the downtown area looking for a place and finally settled on a place that had some nice looking specials. We sat down, ordered our meal and asked what kind of beer they had. "Bud in bottles," said the waitress. My first IRISH beer will not be Bud so I passed. My plans to have a delicious Guiness were foiled, not unlike my many plans to see Fuji or Mito. Still, dinner was delicious.

Shepherd's Pie

Bailey's Irish Cheesecake

Swans!

Pretty colored houses

Celtic crosses in the graveyard