the motherland

We made it here safe! For the first week of my trip I am travelling around Ireland a little bit with my mom and brother Ryan. We are starting our week in Cork for two nights, then Kenmar for two nights, and Dublin for the remainder of the time where my dad will join me before my program starts on Monday.

The flight was pretty brutal, but we all got a little sleep. Ryan and I sat next to an extremely friendly Irishman named Greg who insisted on showing us pictures of his vacation to Arizona and playing card games. And, when we all went to sleep, he asked if he could rest on my lap. Well, we always heard the Irish were friendly. 

Someone got sick on our flight as well, so the stewardess was asking for a doctor on flight. Turns out he was okay, but it was a little bit of a scare.

We got into Dublin, rented a car, and drove four hours to Cork. My mom was a mad trooper, being super jet-lagged and driving on the wrong side of the road. We decided we had to take a nap on the side of the road for 15 minutes to rest our eyes and we stopped by a field full of sheep. We all passed out for a solid ten minutes, and when we woke up about 50 sheep were staring at us in the car on the other side of the fence. They were all just standing there. My mom got out of the car to stretch her legs and they all booked it. It was by far an entertaining sight. 

We made it to Cork and are staying in the Garnish House, a cute little bed and breakfast across the street from the University College of Cork. It's pretty large but very personal. We all took a nap, and woke up to have scones and hot chocolate in the dining room. The man who runs the place is really helpful (although I suspect he's German not Irish) and legitimately waits anxiously to help you with anything. 

We decided to walk around Cork a little bit. It's a pretty decent-sized city, which surprised us all. We saw more pubs and churches than anything else, with kegs lining the streets. Welcome to Ireland. We climbed a large hill with a church on top to see a spectacular view. However, with the luck of the Irish failing us, my mom forgot her camera and my decided to die. We'll have to head back again later. 

Ryan had his first legal beer. Pretty big steps for the baby bro. 

Weather is super wacky, makes me miss Ohio a little. Rain and sunshine every 15 minutes. It should seriously be diagnosed with a personality disorder. 

Looking forward to exploring the city a little more tonight and seeing some of the small Irish villages and the blarney stone tomorrow!