I figured while I am uploading my pictures from my trip so far, I would update everyone to what’s happened since I met Jannette in Dublin…

After staying up for over 24 hours, I arrived in Dublin and Jannette quickly found me (surprising considering we had not established a place to meet). We headed off to our hostel, St. John Goggarty’s Hostel, Bar, Pub, Restaurant, and Live Music Hall. Not a bad place to start your first day in Ireland.

We checked out the train schedule for our trips to Killarney and Cork and then went to the spot where every good Irish Man and tourist must be. The Guiness Storehouse… The sacred grail of all proper stout drinkers. After a fantastic tour of the brew process, the history of Guiness and its advertising, we proceeded to the top floor and enjoyed our complimentary, fresh, well-poured glass of Guiness Stout….No sooner did we settle in to our pints, that a girl shatter her perfectly poured glass all over the table next to us. A MAJOR party foul, if I have ever seen one… Luckily there was no damage done to our brews and we were able to fully enjoy each and every sip.

We then familiarized ourselves with the Dublin area, specifically Temple Bar which is the district our hostel was in. Also, we checked out the campus of Trinity College (NOT Hartford). Man, to go to a university with such history….After a brief power nap, we trekked to a local Irish Pub to grab our authentic Irish Pub Fair. After a couple Guinni (plural for Guiness) we then went to the Goggarty Pub next to our hostel for sweet sounding Irish tunes. The end of the night came and we retired to our warm hostel beds.

Awaking early the following day, we grabbed our breakfast and headed out to hit the tourist sites of Dublin. dublin castle was certainly nothing to write home about, but the Charles Beatty library had a fantastic display of ancient religious documents and artifacts. It also contained a neat collection on Sir Charles Beatty’s personal antique and art collection. Ancient, samurai uniforms, Chinese writing tools, and more interesting artifacts.

After the library we went back to Trinity College to check out the Book of Kells. But a long line and an unneccessary admission fee, sent us straight to the gift shop instead.

After the college, we headed to the train station, and just made our train (2 min to spare) to Killarney.

We arrived in Killarney 3 hours later and after searching shortly for our hostel, checked in and dropped our bags. We then toured the quaint little town, and found ourselves a nice wine bar and cafe to grab dinner. After dinner we met our fellow suite mates from Minnesota and Boston. After listening to Minnesota’s sob story about his beautiful Polish maiden, we snuck off to the pub next door and watched Poland lose to Ecuador in their World Cup opener. Being around many Poles, it was a very depressing night for them. But we did discover Murphy’s Stout, the true stout of Cork, Ireland.

The next day, we went to the Killarney National Bike, via cyclic transport (good ‘ole bikes). Checked out the Ross Castle, Muckross House, Torc Waterfall and Muckross Abbey. The Muckross House a mansion from the 17th century, that certainly would not be a bad place to live. After continuing our trek through the fields of Muckross demense (The grounds belonging to a mansion or country house) and seeing beloved cows, we trekked back to the hostel. After finally getting my photos on cd, being uploaded now…we headed to the train station and took our train to Cork.

Arriving in Cork that evening, we headed to dinner first at a place called Mardykes (similar to Jillian’s, pool tables, bowling, beer, and good music), grabbed a bite to eat and played billiards. of course, we watched the World Cup as well, as Argentina defeated Ivory Coast, 2-1….good game from the IC, as it is their first world cup experience

After Mardykes, we headed to the Franciscan Well brewery, a local pub that brews 6 different beers. While watching rugby (Ireland v New Zealend Maori) we sampled Rebel Red and Blarney Blonde. I have to say, Blarney Blonde is probably one of my new Top 5 Beers.

Today (Sunday) we headed off to Blarney to kiss the fabled stone. After touring the Blarney Castle and each having our opportunity to kiss the stone, we toured the rest of the grounds including dank caves and the Wishing Steps.

After grabbing lunch in Blarney, we took a bus back to the city of Cork to wander around before catching our train back to Dublin. All the tourist traps in Cork were clsoed on Sunday, so we could not be separated from our Euros….The train ride back to Dublin provided an opportunity for sleep…watching cows battle it out for blades of grass as well..

Now I am back in Dublin uploading my pictures for your enjoyment….please visit http://public.fotki.com/structure/eurotrip06/

I will upload more when I get back the states, the Internet cafes won’t let me upload on certain sites, so it is difficult.

Miss you all…I am off to Paris tomorrow!