Misty, drizzly Ireland (Part 1)

So as most of you already knew, I chose Ireland as my next big trip over here in Europe. Having a bit of Fightin' Irish blood in me, I thought I should at least check out the place and see what it's all about! I went with the sister tour company of the group I did the Scotland tour with back in September. They're really organized and show you the major highlights. Just like the Scotland tour, this one was 3 days in total and took us all around the western coast of Ireland - the most scenic part of the country. I've decided that the big cities really don't impress me that much, and that I much prefer the scenery and countryside of the countries I visit.

My trip started when I flew into Dublin on Thursday afternoon (my actual plane is pictured above). Had heard what I cool place Dublin was and couldn't wait to explore. My first stop of course was the Guinness Brewery where they brew the famous black (and VERY stout!) beer. Barely made it there in time for the last tour, so I kinda had to rush around a bit - but I saw the highlights. At the end of the tour, you go up to the 7th floor to the "Gravity Bar" and receive your complimentary pint of the black stuff. I was expecting it to be absolutely wretched, but it's actually not bad! Everyone that has had it in Dublin says that it's like no other. Just to give you a clue - you literally let the stuff sit there and "settle" for AT LEAST 5 minutes before you can even drink it and get the full effect! HA!

I then headed over to Christ Church Cathedral and that was really lovely as well. Built in 1038 - it's truly amazing!

The next morning was when the tour officially started. I got up super early to get loaded up and everything and of COURSE it was drizzling and cold, which I knew was NOT a good sign. Everyone was really friendly though and guess what??!!! There was a Class of 2008 Aggie from Fredericksburg onboard!!! His name was Paul, but we all referred to him as "Tex" for the rest of the tour. A true red head himself, he said he fit right in! Talk about a small world though - we were buds from that point on... Also made friends with two girls from the States that are studying abroad in Denmark, Kimberly (from Mississippi) and Kristen (from Ohio). So the 4 of us hung out pretty much the whole trip.

In the afternoon, we went to Locke's Distillery - the oldest pot distillery of whiskey in the world. Pretty cool b/c we got to sample and everything - talk about some STRONG stuff though - whew!!! Then we went to the "Barren Plateau", which is where icebergs drug a bunch of silt through the area thousands of years ago and left behind a barren limestone landscape with huge cracks in the ground. Looked pretty cool!

Further down the road, we came across this area with a "fairy ring." Basically it's a slightly wooded area circled by trees with a mini "valley" of sorts in the center (see pic). Irish legend has it that you're never EVER allowed to walk within the fairy ring or evil spirits and forces will enter your body and possess you forever. You're allowed to walk along the top of the "ring" and you're supposed to make a wish while doing so. Some of the Irish take them VERY seriously and our tour guide was one of them. She was paranoid about one of us falling in an! HA! A girl accidentally tripped on a tree root when we were walking around the circle and all of us were concentrating on making our wishes and not entering the center that we all screamed when she tripped! Was quite comical...

While trying to pass the time on the bus while driving later in the afternoon, our guide had us play this REALLY strange game. Didn't really have a name, and I'd never heard of it before but basically it consists of handing out matchsticks to everyone to hold in between their teeth like a straw. Then there are two teams and two lifesavers (obviously with holes in the center). The object of the game is to get the lifesavers to the end of the line on each team WITHOUT the use of your hands! So it's kinda like a modified version of ring toss. Talk about invading someone's personal space though! HELLO!!! The couple pictured in the picture was actually a true couple from Australia, but there were MANY people that were a bit squeamish about the whole thing (myself included!). There were two Australian guys seated next to each other at the back of the bus that flat out refused to do it b/c it was too "homosexual" for them - we were all dying laughing b/c they were dead serious and didn't think it was funny at all! :-)

The afternoon was topped off with a trip up "corkscrew hill" and as the name suggests - it was quite an experience going up it in a HUGE coach bus with a stick shift. Frank (our driver) did a great job though and no lives were lost. We made it back to the hostel (in Doolin) safely that night, and then all headed down to the local pub for some of the BEST Irish stew in the world. Fell from the clouds of heaven I'm tellin' ya! There was a local Irish band playing that night and they even had their kids playing - was very cute!

It was a very exciting first day - even though the weather was less than ideal... :-)