Day 5: Castles, shopping, and exploring!

Day 5 was another amazing day for team Ireland as we travelled from Cork to Blarney, and then to Killarney for the next few nights! The day started off with a team breakfast at 8:15 am followed by room check at 9. We were all on the road by 9:15, excited and ready to see the Blarney Castle!

The bus ride to Blarney was a short 15 minutes ( which was perfect because I know I could not wait any longer). Once we arrived to Blarney, our bus driver, Joe, gave directions to the castle, and then showed us the shopping center nearby called The Blarney Mills. The Blarney Mills is a huge local shopping centre that ranges from authentic wool clothing, jewellery, gitfs, sheep socks, and so much more! After we were handed our tickets at the enterance, we had the option to do what we would like until 12. This meant staying either exploring the Castle, walking around all the beautiful gardens, and shopping at The Blarney Mills. Most of us were excited to see the Castle ( and of couse kiss the blarney stone), so many of us went there first. The Blarney Castle , being 600 years old, was used as a home to the Anglo-irish lords, and was such a cool experience. Each room was labelled with what it was known as, and what purpose it served. After reading all the signs, I know that I am glad that the bathrooms do not look like that anymore! In total, it takes 128 small narrow steps to get to the top, and kiss the famous blarney stone.

Above, we have three students, Dallas, Mckenna and Michelle walking up to kiss the Blarney Stone. And yes, all the enterances and exits where very short and narrow!

Above is what it looks like to wait in line to kiss the Blarney stone! It is all the way at the top in the open, and is a very popular attraction to many.

So, what makes everyone want to kiss the Blarney stone, and why is it so specicial and well-known? It is said that if someone kisses the Blarney Stone, then they will be granted “the gift of gab”. “The gift of gab” is a gift known to give the person who kisses the stone the ability to speak eloquently and persasivley. This means that the person will speak truthfully, and in a fluent and flattering manner. The stone was placed and built into the tower in 1446, and is something that many come to see and kiss. Most of us went up and kissed the stone ( and are all hoping that this legend is truth).

Above we have two students, Easton Armstrong and Addison Dollahan smiling with one of our parent chaperons, Laura Armstrong.

Michelle Kahe, Bri Yuzhi, and Emily Guo all smiling at the top of the castle.

Many many smilies where on faces throughout the whole time. As seen in the picture, the team all had an amazing time visiting the Blarney Castle, which can be seen in the back, and had a wonderful time shopping at the Blarney Mills. Personally, I bought some sheep socks because who comes to Ireland and doesn’t buy sheep socks! After all of our adventures, the team headed to lunch at 12 in a local restaurant called .The Muskery Arms. It was a great experience to eat someplace local! We all talked about how fun, but also a bit scary, it was to kiss the stone. I can personally say that the stone is a lot further back and downwards then it looks! After lunch, the group headed back on the bus for our drive to Killarney. Killarney is a smaller town around 1 hr and 15 minutes away from Blarney. Once we arrived to our beautiful hotel, we were told that we had some free time to go and explore the city before dinner, which was at 6:45. We went in groups of 3, or larger, and had the chance to see the shops, people, and culture of Killnarey . My team decided to take a Horse carriage ride through town and through the Killnarey park. It was such a lovely ride, and I know that we all shared some great laughs, and saw some great things.

Above is my group ( known as the dub squad), ready for our house ride! It was deffeintly an experience!

While many groups went off to do their own thing, all did amazing things. It was very nice to explore the town, and have time to walk around. Due to all of our amazing adventures, dinner was a blast. Hearing all the stories and places that everyone went was so fun! Team Ireland had such an amazing day, and we are ready for another day in Killarney. Lets see if the rumors are true about kissing the blarney stone :)! I can already feel a change, but let’s see how long it lasts!

For anyone wanting a cool picture of Dean Rasch, here is here bellow the Blarney Castle. The real question is, “What did Dean Rasch do to get in this position?”

• Norah Mahmood and Katy Jayne Hague

Day 3! Waterford- Cork

Day 3 was definitely a fun busy day, with a lot of history, walking, and some shopping! To start off the day, we all had team breakfast at 7:30, and then got ready and met at the bus by 8:40 to load luggage and head out to our first stop, the Waterford Crystal factor. The Waterford crystal factory is home to the production of the world-famous Irish crystal and the multi-step process of making such beautiful crystals.

Once our group went inside, we were greated by our wonderful tour guide, Sean. Sean has been working with the Waterford Crystal factory for many years, and gave us a detailed tour of the process. We all started our tour with the making of the crystals, and Sean explained all the steps. Sean explained that it takes a total of 8 years to become a master at crystal making!

Above, we have Leon’26 working with a staff member on dealing the crystal making! Making all the designs takes a lot of precision and accuracy, and was something that we all admired. After learning how the crystals were made, the team had some time to go into the retail center and take a look at the finished crystal products. Between bowls, glasses, ornaments, jewellery and so much more, the crystal factor had a lot to offer, and many of us enjoyed looking at all the crystals! Some of us even bought some beautiful pieces to take home with us!

After all the crystal learning, we all got on the bus at around 10:20, and headed out to our first stop for lunch Youghal, which was in On our way, we all spotted a nice place to stop, and take some pictures before the rain picked up.

We all took many pictures, and all say the natural beauty of Ireland. ( and of course how bright green the grass is ). Our lunch was in a small town named Youghal inside of Cork. For all those movie lovers, Moby Dick filmed their harbour scends in 1956! We all had may options, and one of the more popular choices was the breaded chicken and fries. As Jayden Hall’ 24 said, “they were delicious and crispy.” After our lunch, we all jumped back on the bus for another 45 minutes and headed to the Cobh heritage centre. Cobh has a wonderful titanic museum, due to Cobh being the last place the Titanic stopped at before it sank in 1912. Many immigrants from Ireland have a history with the titanic ( like our very own Dean Rasch!)

When we all entered the museum, each one of us got a ticket with a travels name from the Titanic, and at the end we got to find out if we “lived or died”. Above is Matthew Holtan’ 26 standing next to his person with his ticket.

Above is a group photo we took right outside of the museum! We al learned allot, and ofcouse had time for the giftshop :). After our visit, we had a quick bus ride to Cork, where our hotel was located. Once we arrived, we realized we had some time before diner, which was at 7:30. One group, with Coach Whitaker, took a few of us to walk around the town, and see all that Cork had to offer. Deacon Mike took another group to a church service at 6:00pm. Both groups had so much fun, and had roaming time before dinner. My group went to some shopping places, got some sweet treats, and even checked out some small markets. We all meet back for dinner at the hotel, and had a very fun night. Alot of laugher was in the air, and many smilies where on faces! We all decided to get a early start to bed, sense we have a busy day tomorrow in Killarney!

• Norah Mahmood and Katy Jayne Hauge

Day 2! St. Patrick’s day and more!!

We started this day off with a chill morning with a slow breakfast and some sleep in time to adjust to the big time change. We met in the lobby at 9:50 to start off our walking tour of the town. Our tour guide, Jack, was so funny and great at explaining all the cool history and stories that go along with different parts of the town. Something Jack told us was that Waterford is the oldest town in Ireland!

Matthew Hotlan and Jayden Hall posing in an alley with apartments on the way to an Irishmans tower where there was a wooden cut out for pictures…. Dean Rasch loved it!!

On the tour, something we noticed along with the amazing history stories was the architecture. The buildings are mixed with new and old, bright and dark, bland and big, so many different things to look at while on this tour. Jack gave us such an amazing tour and the Viking stories that gave Ireland the rich history that it has today!

After the tour we got to split up into groups, each had chaperones, and explore the town before the St. Patrick’s day parade. Our group went to a coffee shop down the street from one of the first Cathedrals in the town. The cafe had amazing latte’s and parties, we had some great chats and it was nice to sit after walking all over the town. After getting the energy boost from the coffee we moved on to shopping for some “St. Patty swag” as coach Whitaker said. Found some headbands, fake hair, and green shirts so we couldn’t get pinched. After all the shopping we headed down to the parade and found a perfect, front-row spot to watch. The parade was SO cool, there were so many different cultures pictured: Indian, Ukranian, The Philipins, Pakistan, etc. We also learned how many football (soccer) clubs they have here, which are so many.

#dreamteam

While at the parade we saw these guys with beards and hats on…. we had to ask for a picture. They were more than happy to take them with us!

After watching the amazing St.Patrick’s Day parade, the team went to Midevil Mueseam of Waterford. We got a tour guide, named Jamie, who took us through the museum, and told us the history of the town.

We all had such an amazing time in the museum, and we all learned a lot! After this tour, we all walked to the Tower Hotel, and ate an amazing dinner! We all sat together, and had amazing conversation. Stay tuned for day 3 to see our visit to a special place in Waterford, and our journey to Covh and Cork.

– Katy Jayne Hague and Norah Mahmood

Day 1 in Ireland! ~ From Dublin – To Waterford

After a 7-hour and 15-minute plane ride, team Ireland has arrived at The beautiful Emerland Isle! After our arrival at Dublin Airport, we meet our fantastic bus driver, Joe, who will be along with us throughout our trip, and inform us of all the history and information that we need to know! After the long plane ride, Dean Rasch and the adults found a great traditional Irish breakfast place to get on an excellent start for our trip.

This is what a traditional Irish breakfast looks like! It was perfect after a long plane ride for our hungry stomachs! There were some beans, sausages, homemade hashbrowns, scrambled eggs, ham pieces, and some black & white pudding(blood sausage).

After our delicious breakfast, our team got back on our bus and headed to Waterford, Ireland. During our 3-hour car ride, we saw some amazing scenery on the bus. Joe drove us through the countryside, and we saw some great scenery on our way. Between sheep, houses, green grass and mountains, we noticed that Ireland has so much to offer, and we cannot wait to explore more!

That was our day 1! Can’t wait for more tomorrow with the St. Patrick’s day parade and tour of the town! Cheers!! (That’s how they say goodbye in Ireland)

Norah Mahmood and Katy Jayne Hague