Greetings from Ireland! Our group arrived in the country a little after 10am on Saturday (for those of you in the States, we're five hours ahead after Daylight Savings time). After we exchanged our dollars into euros at the airport, we arrived at the Marine Hotel in Howth. We had dinner at a small coffee shop and settled in for the afternoon.
After a short rest, we took the Dart (the Irish version of the Metro/Subway) into Dublin, meeting John O'Connor and his wife, Mary, for dinner. The pub was named the Winding Stair, and the dinner was absolutely delicious! Many of us had chicken or mackerel for dinner, but we couldn't stop sharing the variety of foods across the table: fried pig ears, parsnips, black pudding...it was endless. That still didn't stop most of us for going for dessert afterwards!
We were able to see some of Dublin after dinner on Saturday, but we will be back for three days this weekend to do even more sightseeing. It hasn't stopped raining since we got here, but we all brought our raincoats and are adjusting just fine. What we haven't adjusted to is watching our drivers driving on the left side of the road!
Sunday morning, we left Howth for Cork and met our wonderful coach driver, John. We went to the the Rock of Cashel, a castle that dates back to the 1200s. There, we took a lot of pictures and admired the gorgeous countryside. Then we were off to the Blarney Castle, which has the famous Blarney Stone at the top! Many of us climbed up the steps and kissed the stone, which is much harder than it sounds. You have to sit down facing the other direction, grab the handle bars beside you, and bend over backwards while someone holds you so you can kiss the stone.
Needless to say, we are having a fantastic time here. We'll update you on our activities throughout the week!
-Team Ireland
Some pictures from our journey so far:
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