Doolin

We arrived in the tiny little coastal Irish town of Doolin Monday evening. It was a short walk from the bus stop to our hostel, and when we arrived we were greeted with the coziest scene. Our hostel was a little stone cottage right on the edge of the Aille river, with two red Adirondack chairs perched at the water front and smoke billowing from the chimney. After settling in I put on my coziest sweatpants and made a cup of tea. Luke made a hearty dinner of potatoes and roast vegetables, and we sat at one of the communal tables and ate our dinner while making some interesting new travel friends. The hostel had such a great environment, it felt like being at a seaside cabin with family. That night, we drank tea and played cards in the common room until we were too tired to continue.

The next morning, we put on our hiking shoes and headed for the Burren trails toward the cliffs of Moher. We stopped and perused a few of the local shops on the way. There was the sweater shop, full of the coziest hand-knit sweaters I’ve ever seen; there was also a music shop and the famous Doolin chocolate shop. I was in heaven.

The Burren hiking trail meanders along the Cliffside through a series of farmland. At times, we were right up close and personal with cows, horses, and donkeys. The ocean views were amazing, but just as amazing were the views of the rolling green hills criss-crossed by little stone walls. I knew Ireland would be green, but I didn’t know just how green. Even in the midst of summer the countryside is so lush and full of life. The only other colors dotting the landscape are the grey of the stone walls and little speckles of red and purple wildflowers. What I’ve missed most during our trip has been nature. The cities we’ve seen have been great, but more than any grand churches or monuments I love the rolling green hills of the Irish countryside. A little part of me wishes we had been here the whole time.

When we finally came upon the cliffs of Moher we were impressed by the sheer height. We sat on a ledge overlooking the ocean and ate our packed lunch while taking in the views.

After noticing the great black cloud headed out way, we decided to forgo the hike home and caught a bus back to Doolin. Once there, we took some well-deserved naps.

That night, we headed up the road to one of Doolin’s classic Irish pubs for dinner. McGann’s was full to the brim with Irish charm, as well as customers. We downed a few pints of different Irish beers with our meal, and followed it up with a rhubarb crumble topped with vanilla ice cream. Yum! Somehow in the span of the evening I managed to lose my eyeglasses, and despite our best efforts of searching the bar I wasn’t able to recover them. Normally I’m very good at keeping track of things; I can remember precisely where I, or even Luke, set something down two days before. But for some reason, I have been an absolute disaster on this trip when it comes to keeping track of my stuff. Along the way I have managed to lose our iPad (eventually got it back), my debit card (didn’t get that one back), and now my eyeglasses, as well as a few other near-losses. It’s really quite frustrating. But, as usual, I came to a point where I had to just say “oh well” and get on with it.

Afterward, we walked back down the road to Doolin’s most popular pub, Gus O’Connor’s.  The pub was full of Irish music and happy travelers. We sat at a table and played cards while sipping our pints of Guinness. We learned on this trip that it’s a good idea to take cards wherever you go, because you never know when you’ll want a little extra fun!

Once the pub cleared out a bit we went and watched the live musicians . We were surprised to see that the beautiful, lively voice that had been serenading us all evening belonged to a gray-haired man who must have been in his mid-seventies. In fact, the entire band was a group of old Irishmen sitting around a pub booth, drinking pints in between each song. It was exactly the kind of authentic Irish experience we had been looking for!

The next day, we were both sad to leave the magical little town of Doolin. We were tempted to cancel the rest of our destinations and just stay there, but we didn't. Looking back, I wish we had! Doolin was the perfect culmination of everything we came looking for in Ireland: Music, food, culture, and greenery abound. There were many activities we wanted to try while there and didn't get a chance to, so I guess we'll just have to go back some day! ; )

Best. Pastries. Ever.

This tiny guy was all over our breakfast, so I gave him a little extra snack before we left

Goodbye Doolin!

Cork, Ireland

From London, we took a series of trains and a ferry to get to Ireland. We left London around 7:30 p.m. and didn't arrive in Cork until 9:35 a.m. It was the most restless and uncomfortable night I think I've ever had, but the outcome was the best I could hope for: Ireland!

When we got to Cork we were so excited for the new atmosphere. We couldn't check into our hostel until 2 p.m. so we dropped our bags there and set out to explore the city. I loved Cork because while it was technically a city, it still had a small-town Irish feel. The first thing we did was hit up a cute little farmers market, where we got coffee and the yummiest cinnamon rolls in the world. We sat by the river and ate them in the early morning sunshine. After that, we explored St. Patrick's street which contained many shops and cafes. I have to say, Cork put London to shame as far as shopping went. Cork had store after store of cute clothes. I was just so sad that I was too broke to actually buy anything! But man, were they cute. We also found the English market and discovered all that it had to offer. There was such a wide variety of local goods in the market- the fish were particularly interesting!

After four trains and a ferry, we had arrived!

Beautiful Cork

English Market

I sure wouldn't want that for dinner!

After exploring the town we rested up a bit at our hostel. That night, we went to dinner at a great Irish pub. Unfortunately, I was feeling pretty terrible. By this point I was certain that I had caught whatever plague-like disease the children on the train to Munich must have had. Our dinner looked delicious, but I literally didn't taste it. I couldn't smell, couldn't taste, and couldn't focus because my head ached so bad. It was even starting to hurt to breathe. But, we were in a new place and I didn't want to miss out on a minute of it!

So after dinner we went for a lovely walk on The Banks of the Lee Walkway. It gave us a taste of what we were really in Ireland for: the nature.

Nothing like a good Guinness 'stache

My yummy Irish stew (yummy according to Luke)

Not feeling so good : (

That night, I barely slept. I tossed and turned all night long, and was continuously woken up by my sore throat and aching lungs. My lungs hurt so bad that it actually made it hard to breathe. I finally caved and vowed to do nothing the entire next day so I could actually get a day of rest, and hopefully get better. I spent the day reading, drinking tea, and counting the minutes until I could take my next dose of cough medicine/ibuprofen/medicated throat lozenges (not to mention cursing that damn family on the train!). But thankfully, after a day of rest, I went to bed feeling a little better. And when I woke up the next day I felt even better again. I could breathe! I was so happy, and even though I was sad to have missed out on new experiences (and getting to see the Blarney Castle) I knew staying in bed all day was worth it. Our hostel was actually quite cozy for a change, so it wasn't a bad place to spend my sick days. So thanks, Cork. Hopefully I'll be back someday to get the full experience!

View of the city from our hostel window