I eventually arrived in Cork on the bus in the early afternoon and after checking in at the hostel and resting for a little bit, I went to couchsurfing and tried to find some people to hang out with as there wasn’t much happening at the hostel.

We actually ended up getting a pretty large group of people at a local bar.  I think we ended up with 12 people from 7 different countries which was pretty cool.  After a while of hanging out at the first place which had a DJ a few of us wanted to see if we could find some more traditional music and i had read a few places in town that could provide that.  Most of the people were heading home so there was just the final three who made it to the last bar.

It was a fun night, but I couldn’t make my night too late either as I was taking a tour of the ring of kerry the next day.

When I asked people about what I should see and do in Ireland, the Ring of Kerry popped up in many recommendations and it was almost impossible to do on your own unless you were up for an epic bike ride or rented a car.  Both of which weren’t really feasible.  Therefore I booked a tour and jumped on the bus in the morning.  The Ring of Kerry is basically just a road along a peninsula that has beautiful coastal views, mountains and even some waterfalls so the tour drove along the road stopping at a few of the main viewpoints along the way.  The annoying part is that we were not the only tour bus on the road and almost all of them do the same route around the same time.  There were constantly a large number of tours from both our bus and others at almost every lookout point which was pretty annoying but there wasn’t much you could do.  Additionally, I really hate the drive down the road, stop for 5 minutes get out and take a photo then jump back on the bus to the next stop.  I have complained about this before and I am sure I will again.  Also, my guide was really boring and un interesting, so there was that as well.

Anyways, there isn’t much to say about the tour itself, so i will let the photos speak for themselves.

This is what I mean

While we were driving through a small town, we were stopped for about 15 minutes while a tractor parade went through town.  It was awesome as it seemed like every farm from anywhere in the general area brought out their tractors to show off to the local town.

At one of the stops we found a cute little visitor.

Despite my complaints, it was a very beautiful drive and the stops we did make were very scenic as you can probably see from the photos.

The tour was pretty decent despite the annoyances and I am glad I did it.  I would certainly recommend the ring of Kerry on any trip to Ireland but if you can get a group together to rent a car, that would be a better option.  It would also be easier to do the trip from Kilarney as it is much closer, however all of the hostels were booked so i had to continue to cork.

The night I headed to a few of the breweries in town.  Franciscan Well brewery had a sweet beer garden with a live band and delicious pizza.

About halfway through my meal, a few people asked to join me at my table and we got to talking and they happened to be travelling extensively as well.  We shared travel stories and had a great time.  They had somewhere to be so, we parted ways and I ended up heading back to couchsurfing to see if i could find some people to hang out with.  I found a crew who were planning to meet up at a pub and see what the Cork night life had to show.  There ended up being 4 of us and we had a great time doing some bar hopping.  One of the problems with writing these blog posts in January when the event took place in August is that certain details start to get fuzzy

The next morning, it was already time to move on, but before jumping on the bus to Dublin, I had to head out to Blarney Castle to kiss the Blarney stone.  It seemed silly to be so close and yet not enhance my gift of eloquence by kissing the Blarney Stone, so i hopped on a city bus and headed out to Blarney Castle.

I figured that the lineup to get up the castle would be pretty long and the earlier i got in line the better it was, so as soon as i arrived i joined the line.

It was out the door and the sign said that it would take about an hour to get up to the stone.  I started my watch and began to chat with the people around me in line.  The people just behind me in line consisted of a minister from the southern united states, his wife and a local who was guiding him around this area of Ireland.  He was very very nice and Sarah and I got into a friendly banter match which was very very fun.

Eventually I got to kiss the stone!

The final ammount of time it took was 59:15 so the sign was pretty accurate.

The view from the top of the castle was pretty nice and the grounds of the castle were pretty extensive and beautiful.

I liked this bench.

I continued to wander the grounds and found a cave.  I had to take a picture so I could send it to John Lee who seemed to be obsessed with my exploration of caves.

After finishing up at the castle, I jumped back on the city bus to Cork and then made my way to the bus station to catch the bus to Dublin.

Onward and upwards!