Hollandmoon: County Cork part 1

We left for Ireland on Thursday morning from San Diego. Our flight left around 11am and we had a layover in Philly that was just long enough for us to have dinner and get buzzed before our red-eye flight to Dublin that would land Saturday morning. The flight was pretty miserable especially since we were already feeling the effects of changing time zones and there was a screaming child behind us but we'd finally made it to Dublin. We were able to navigate from the airport to the train station and get on a train to Cork City for our first destination of the trip. 

There are no pictures of any of this because we were so wrapped up in figuring out a new country, exchanging money/getting through customs and were incredibly sleep deprived that we were pretty much like zombies. The train ride took around 3 hours and after getting a bit of sleep on the train we decided to hike it up the hill to our hotel after sitting for so long. We stayed at The Ambassador Hotel and really enjoyed the 3 nights we stayed there. Instead of taking a nap (which was really hard to resist) we decided to make something of the afternoon and headed to our #1 must-see of the trip, Blarney Castle. 

A trip to Blarney wouldn't be complete without the tradition of leaning over backwards to kiss the Blarney Stone so of course we partook. We wandered the castle, marveled at the stone work, were in awe of the castle grounds and Blarney House, walked the Wishing Steps with our eyes closed, and absolutely froze. Needless to say we weren't quite dressed appropriately for the weather and it just so happens that that first night was the only time we got down-pouring rain the whole trip. 

After sleeping until noon the next day (something neither of us EVER does) we made our way to pick up our rental car and explore the southwest. Driving on the left of the road, on the wrong side of the car while shifting the manual car with your left hand was incredibly complicated and I'm so thankful J was the one who drove us around. Our destination of the day was the city of Kinsale and it didn't disappoint! 

We stopped at Charles Fort and took a guided tour of the grounds. It was incredible to hear all the history of the military fort and imagine how life must have been back then. Our tour guide was full of knowledge and kindly informed us that no, moats never actually have water in them. Apparently Warner Bros made that one up (and the crocodiles that live in them too). We headed into the city center and enjoyed the best fish & chips dinner I've ever had before continuing on with our journey.

Be sure to stick around for more Hollandmoon recaps! 

There's plenty more gorgeous sites to be seen.