Ah, rolling green...

Well, Ireland is so beautiful. I don't think I have ever seen grass so green. The past week I spent in Killarny, Ireland. We toured a very large house called the Muckross House the first day. It was built very extravagantly in the middle of the famine and spent 6 years preparing for a 2 day visit from Queen Victoria in the 1840's...the next day we visited the Queenstown port (Cohb according to the Irish folk) in county Cork...a site where countless Irish emigrated out of the country due to the famine. Quite a contrast in the feel of these 2 sites. We also visited Blarney Castle. I kissed the Blarney stone! So now I should have the gift of the gab? We'll see about that one... Every night, we've eaten dinner at various pubs in the town of Killarny--the fish and chips have been amazing! Wednesday we hiked 12 kilometers through the Gap of Dunloe which was invigorating and, like everything else, gorgeous! Thursday we went to inch beach where 12 or 13 people in the group decided to be foolish and swim in the frigid Atlantic! That didn't last too long. I stayed out of the ocean, but it didn't keep me dry because it rains so much! The rest of the afternoon was gorgous though! We drove around the Dingle Peninsula and grilled a late lunch on a pull off looking over the ocean! Friday we climbed over 600 steps built by monks estimated around the 5th century up to a monastic site at the top of Skellig Michael. Then today we drove over to Galway after getting to see the cliffs of Moher. So, I'm pretty exhausted after the week, but it's exciting...we are now living in apartments in Galway...I'm with 4 other girls and tonight we cook for ourselves! Miss everyone and hope all is well!