Remember the group of Irish boys we met at our hotel in Ibiza? We stayed in touch with a couple of them and decided to go visit them in Cork, so Saturday afternoon we hopped on a 13 euro bus ride from Dublin so we could bar hop, or in Irish (potentially just tourist) terms “pub crawl,” with them that night.
After checking into our hostel and grabbing dinner, Maggie and I met the boys at a pub down the street. There were two floors of live music (aka heaven for me) and I nailed every line of Ride Sally Ride and Sweet Caroline while trying to follow the choreography of the locals who were twirling us in circles. We hopped to a couple other places before ending at a club-like place where all of us were a year short of the entrance age. In America I thought after turning 21 I was done with that, and in Europe I thought I was three years past it… Finally after convincing the bouncer I was turning 22 in a couple weeks, Maggie blurts out she won’t be 22 until next July… and the kind sir let us in. Thank you Maggie for your honesty, I initially thought you blew it, “and that’s showbiz baby!”
The next day Maggie and I visited Blarney Castle which had a lot of history… and most importantly for my Bachelor fans, it’s where Kaitlyn Bristowe and Jared Haibon had their one on one date, ha.
On a serious note though, the views here were stunning and the town itself was so charming and quaint. At the top of Blarney Castle is the Blarney Stone, which according to legend if you kiss it you are given the “gift of gab.” I’m pretty sure I would talk to a wall if it could talk back so I don’t know how much of an extra boost I needed, but I went ahead and kissed it for good measure.
After the castle we ate at a cute little cafe right outside that happened to be doing its last day of business where I had one of the best pieces of apple pie second only to my grandma’s.
That night Maggie and I stumbled on a little Irish pub where a bunch of local Irish men sat around playing string instruments and singing old songs. We sat by the fireplace and had a drink, and it was honestly one my favorite moments in Ireland. We then walked back to our hostel where the most talented musician was playing an acoustic set, I wish I had caught their name.
Since being home people keep asking me what my favorite country was and Ireland is definitely a contender! I cannot wait to go back!
As always, thanks for reading! I promise to finish up the rest of my travel posts… eventually, ha! I cannot believe how many people have been following along. I say it every time but I really do mean it, all the kind comments and support means so much and has made sharing this experience so worth it. So seriously, thank you!
1 comment
I love Ireland too! Love the musicians just doing what they do in the pubs!