A Little Exploration

Hello all!

            It’s hard to believe that it is already my third week in Ireland. There’s definitely still a part of me that doesn’t believe it myself. I find myself doing something interesting every day, whether it’s at Park Lodge in the cottages or otherwise. This last weekend, my friend group and I decided to spread our wings a little bit and head south to Cork. We left last Thursday, and we came home on Saturday. Thursday morning, we got a taxi and headed to the bus station in Galway. It was all a very new experience for me because I had never been on a public bus before (Yes, I know I live a sheltered life). The bus ride was a little longer than I expected it to be, but I was able to see a lot more of the country in the 3 hours that I was on the bus. Once we got to Cork, we looked for our hostel. Michael, Jessica, Regan, and I originally booked a 14 person mixed dorm because it is so much cheaper than doing it any other way. However, to our surprise when we arrived, the hostel gave us a 4 person private room without the extra cost. That was a nice surprise because we didn’t have to lock our things up. I can’t say that I wasn’t a little disappointed in the night life in Cork. On Thursday night, we met up with the other group of people that travelled to Cork at Bru. This bar had a pretty nice, laid back atmosphere and the beverages were wildly cheaper than any other bar I was at in Cork. However, the group wanted to experience a little bit more than just Bru so we made our way out to Oliver Plunkett Pub. I loved this pub. In the basement, there was rock music, but upstairs they had traditional Irish history and *insert swoon.* However, there was a drawback; the drinks were extremely expensive. I got two drinks and it almost cost me twenty euros. Ouch. Anyway, we tried to go back to Bru, but it closed down at 11:30—and I guess so did every other bar on Thursday night. Reluctantly, Regan, Jess, Michael and I headed back to our hostel grabbing a few pizzas on our back back. Instead of going to bed early to prepare for the adventures for the following day, we decided to stay up. Thursday was definitely a turning point in my relationship with Jess and Michael--we are a wolf pack. The next day we decided we wanted to do a little bit of shopping and do some touristy things. We started walking around and Michael spotted a building that towered over the rest, and we decided we wanted to check it out. We had stumbled upon St. Fin Barre’s Cathedral. If any of you get the chance, it’s absolutely stunning. After that, Regan and I headed back to the hostel and Michael and Jessica explored on their own a bit. We ended up back at Bru--the drinks were cheap and the atmosphere was good. I, however, wanted to cut my ears off Friday with the live music that was playing. It was awful. Anyway, we headed home at about 2:00 that night. Originally our bus tickets were for 5 the following day, but we managed to get on an earlier bus and I am so glad that we could. We made it back to Galway and ate there and from there we grabbed another taxi home.