Ireland tour, day one

After a hot, loud and relatively sleepless night, we were up early to start our tour. It turned out that seeing as it was half term, there were two buses instead of one, and we were doing a reverse tour - heading south first instead of north. We jumped on the big green bus and settled in.

Our first stop was actually still in Dublin, at Phoenix Park and the Papal Cross. Phoenix Park is 712 acres in size and is home to fallow deer, some of which we saw. It's also the location of Aras an Uachtarain, the home of the Irish president. The Papal Cross is a huge cross that was erected when Pope John Paul II visited in September 1979, and said mass to over one million people. We were only there for a few minutes, and then Connor (AKA Conrad and El Capitano), our guide and driver, got us back on the bus to get on the road properly.

The next stop was at the Rock of Dunamase. Apparently the rock was first settled in the 9th century, but the castle itself wasn't built until the second half of the 12th century. It's all ruins now, but it's clear to see why it was a desirable position. It's perched up high, overlooking the wide green valleys, so would be an excellent defensive position. This was the stop where Team Nerd really introduced themselves to each other. Tamara and I first spoke to Jen and Dorothy as we got on the bus in Dublin, and we chatted to Nicola and Tennille as we wandered around the ruins. I'm not quite sure, but I think it started there when Tamara and I were insulting each other rather loudly and we were overheard... All fun and games!

After pulling out the Peter Pan pose, we stumbled down the steep gravel path back to the bus. It turns out, contrary to popular belief, that it's not such a long way to Tipperary after all. It was our lunch stop for the day. We weren't there for long, enough time to be fed and watered and to empty out the bladder ready for the next leg of the trip. Oh, and time enough to buy the obligatory postcards and souvenirs!

Once again we jumped on the bus and hit the road. Our stop for the afternoon was at Blarney Castle, home of the famous blarney stone. It had been raining on and off on the drive down there, but magically enough it stopped raining for us to wander around the beautiful gardens and to make our way up to the top of the castle to kiss the stone. The legend is, of course, that those who kiss the stone are given the gift of the gab. So, we made our way up the steep spiral stairs to the top of the castle, and lined up ready to be dangled head first over the edge of the parapet to kiss a rock. You know, because I really needed an increase in my ability to shoot the breeze. Apparently the blarney stone has been ranked as the world's most unhygienic tourist attraction - not hard to see why! It's only slightly terrifying to place your safety into the hands of an old man who is holding you by the ankles. Ok, so there are also iron bars in place, but you don't see those when you're dangling there, you just see how very, very far it is to the ground below!
After a further wander around the gardens it was time to board the bus for the final leg of our trip for that day. We were to spend the night in Killarney, and it wasn't a great distance between the castle and our destination. There was a bit of a tour dinner that night, so the whole group trudged across town to a pub for a noisy meal. After that we all trudged up the street to a local pub that had some traditional Irish music. We were there for quite a few hours before eventually wandering back to the hostel to get some sleep, ready for another big day.

The first Irish Guiness of the trip!