St Patrick's Day in Ireland- Cork- Spring Break Part II

This is part II to my Spring Break blog. Kendal, Matti, Reagan, Gunnar, Jake, and I flew into Cork from London and were immediately greeted with a whole different environment compared to such a big city. It was a very beautiful day, and you could only see fields of bright green grass for miles. Our first day in Cork was spent traveling and exploring the city around our hostel and taking a much needed rest, for London was very busy and it was nice to take a break for a while. That night, we went to a restaurant and bar in order to get some Irish beef and watch the Arsenal versus FC Barcelona game, which was an awesome game to watch in such a great environment. I also discovered a beer called Carlsburg that is still my favorite to this day. One of the coolest parts about going out in Ireland, besides the nice people, was that every bar seemed to have live music that added to the experience of going out. Whether they were playing old Irish songs or contemporary music, it made the overall experience more enjoyable and really gave off an amiable vibe.

The next day was Saint Patrick's Day. We came prepared, having bought green hair dye and sporting our green decor, ready to celebrate such a big "Irish" holiday in Ireland. We had planned on going to watch a parade through the city and enjoying what was sure to be a lively atmosphere. To our disappointment, however, we quickly learned that the parade was merely a few people parading through the city at a time and that most of the locals only celebrated St Patrick's Day by going out to the pubs at night. Instead, we traveled to Blarney in order to visit the Blarney Castle, which was very cool in that it had a large garden area that included several waterfalls, a poison garden, and numerous hiking trails. We got to hang off the side of the castle and kiss the famous Blarney Stone for good luck, and we spent the rest of the day enjoying the castle grounds before heading back home and celebrating St Patrick's Day with the locals while enjoying live music and eating Irish beef.

The following day, we went to my favorite spot just outside of Cork, Charles Fort, where we had a picnic while having an amazing view of the Irish cliffs and got to enjoy frisbee as well. The weather was nicer than it had ever been since I have arrived in Europe, and it was an amazing day. The best part about being in Ireland was the fact that we were able to relax and never had to worry about being in a rush to go places or see things. It was all about enjoying the amazing views and weather and enjoying good times with great friends. We even ran into some of the Viz kids and celebrated a birthday! I am so glad that I am getting to go back to Ireland after Paris, and I can't wait to return to such a beautiful country. Until next time, I am out!

Here are a few pictures from the trip: