Day 2 - Late Post

Yesterday, after we picked everyone up at the airport, we went to Bunratty castle, which was between the airport and the town that the directors and I stayed in the first night. They have the castle and then some other houses, farms and things that are supposed to be like what was around at the time. We went on a tour of the castle and our tour guide was hilarious! He was this little old man and he was teaching us how to Irish dance, and was just really funny the whole time. I got some video of him, so I can show it to anyone interested. Perhaps I’ll post it. After that we got on a bus and drove to this little village called Adare. Our bus driver/tour guide-ish person said that it was his favorite little town that showed the blending of history and modern living. So there were still some thatched-roof houses as well as more modern ones, but it was all so quaint and perfect. Will, another student, and I went to this little park where we saw a plaque saying that the town had won the “tidy towns” award. Haha. We got on the bus again and were driving to Dingle, a town and a peninsula, and the sights were magnificent! We were driving right up against the coast line most of the time, which could be a little intimidating in a big tour bus. The roads are also super tight the whole time, so it was kind of nerve-racking when cars were coming the other way. We stopped in Dingle and had some fish and chips, which were amazing and you could tell that the fish was really fresh. Will and I also shared a fried Mars bar. Amazing! If you ever get the chance, you should try it. We continued on to our hostel in Dun Choain (pronounced Dun Quinn or Queen) which is also just off the coast. The sunset was amazing! It is also quite hard to sleep next to a window here because currently the sun doesn’t go down until almost 11 p.m. and comes up around 5 or 6 a.m. Right now it’s 7:30 and I’m wide awake, though I thought I’d still be asleep. Must be those twelve hours I got last night…
Everything here is so perfect. The land is GORGEOUS and the people are wonderful. Everyone is so gracious and friendly. It is a little hard to get used to driving/seeing cars driving on the opposite side of the road, so we have all had near-death experiences crossing the streets because we don’t think to look to the right for oncoming cars. It was a little rainy yesterday, but even with that the weather has been amazing. I’d say average 70’s, but I can’t really tell. Oh, I was going to say that it is a bit strange to see the coast line with little to no beach. The land just comes right up out of the water, which doesn’t sound really strange, but when you’re used to seeing miles of beach before the ocean, it looks almost like someone took a cookie-cutter and cut out the islands. Today we’re going to go see some more pre-historic ruins and things and then end up in Killarney for the next couple of nights. I’m quite hungry currently, but the sign says breakfast isn’t until nine. Hopefully I can make it. P.S. – Our bus driver is amazing. He is always telling us all these facts and things about the coast and he even sung us a song about the Dingle Peninsula. We’re all grateful that we were lucky enough to have such an amiable person with us for the next week.