Dingle weekend

Finally getting around to updating this thing!

Friday we left for Dingle around 11:30 and stopped at Bunratty Castle and Folk Park.  We wandered around there and toured the castle for a while then had lunch in the Folk Park.  It was pretty neat and I was happy to stock up on some more mead.  Bunratty Castle is where the mead is actually made.  After that we just drove on towards Dingle.  I took several naps on the bus since it was such a long drive.  Our hostel in Dingle turned out to be really nice! I was expecting a big room with bunk beds in it and a big community bathroom.  I shared a room with Libby and Ali and we each had our own bed...mine was even a full size!  I was definitely very pleased.  After we chilled out a little we headed out into the town to look around and eat dinner. Dingle is really nice and reminds me a lot of Galway, except smaller.  Everything is kind of situated around the harbor there.  After dinner we went back to the room for a little while and then changed into cuter clothes for going out.  We went back to the pub we had dinner in to listen to music and have a pint...cheapest Guinness I've found!  Definitely slept well that night...beds were soooo comfy compared to the one back at the apartment.

The next morning we had a hot breakfast at the hostel complete with cereal, yogurt, juices, bangers, rashers, fried tomatoes, eggs, and toast.  It was so delicious.  Our first stop of the day was along the coast where we saw early Christian round huts, or "beehive" huts.  These huts were made entirely of stone and we stood in the largest in Ireland.  The next stop was Coumeenoole Beach.  It was gorgeous with moss/grass covered cliffs all around.  Afterwards we went on to the Blasket Cultural Center.  There we watched a short documentary about the islands and looked around at different artwork and stories about the people that lived there.  One girl had too much to drink the night before and threw up right behind me on the carpet in the movie theater.  I was so ashamed that she was part of our group...and she should have gone to the bathroom if she was feeling that sick.  Some people...anyway, we ate lunch there and then headed to see the Gallarus Oratory.  It is a monastic site that is about 1300 years old and is the oldest specimen of dry rubble masonry...really well built and is still water proof...or so they say.  Either way, it's still a really cool old building and it was neat getting to go inside...I love imagining how things were back then.  The next stop was Kilmalkedar church, the largest and most prosperous church of County Kerry in its day in the 12th century.  Probably the neatest things I saw at this site were the oldest sun dial in Ireland and an ogham stone.  The sun dial dates back to the 8th century I think.  The ogham stone is just a vertical stone with slash marks in it indicating different letters.  The one we saw was a tombstone.  It also had a hole in the top where ceremonies might have taken place for engagements and marriages.  It's thought that the couple would each place a finger in the hole, joining them.  By this time I was soo ready for a nap.  All of us took one when we got back to the hostel and then headed out into the town again for dinner and more wandering.  We stopped and had homemade icecream too....the Bailey's flavor was soo good.  Since we spent money on kind of expensive ice cream, we skipped out on having a pint and headed back to the hostel to watch The Saint and chill out. 

The next morning we had the same big spread of deliciousness.  That hostel has set the bar high for all hostel experiences to come!  My friend had to room with the girl that puked at the Blasket Center and her friend.  Turns out the other one got trashed the night before and puked all over the bathroom...and left it for the hostel staff to clean.  I was so upset when she told me about that.  It not only makes her look like an ass but the rest of us too.  The staff were incredibly nice and welcoming and she left them with that??  I really wish I had been near those girls to tell them off.  Two days of unacceptable behavior is ridiculous.  If they're going to be dumb enough to get sick from drinking the least they can do is clean up the mess.  Aaand three weeks into being here...the crap needs to stop.  Stepping off my soapbox now.  We headed off out of Dingle and stopped for lunch in the village of Adare, Co. Limerick.  It was a cute little village...I had french toast for lunch.  It was ok but definitely not on par with Cracker Barrell  or IHop :-p.  We grabbed ice cream after (this is becoming a trend) and just chilled out until time to get back on the bus.  After we got back to Galway I just relaxed the rest of the night and had some peaceful alone time.

Yesterday I went to class and then was lazy most of the day.  I thought about working on my paper that is due on Friday but I got a call to come out with Libby, Rachel, Rachel's dad, and his girlfriend.  We had dinner and then did some pub hopping, compliments of Rachel's dad (I definitely enjoyed the treat).  We went to Taaffe's and enjoyed some traditional music for most of the night. 

Today has been lazy.  I may wind up working on that paper after all and writing to Grandma.  Then later I'm getting together with the girls for True Blood!