Four Planes, 9 buses, 2 taxis, 1 train, 3 tube rides, 3 Countries!

Hey guys, this weekend I went to London for a few hours and Cork, Ireland for the weekend. The trip was an amazing experience, one that I'll remember for a very long time. I left for Stansted airport in London on Thursday evening and arrived to be greeted by my beautiful girlfriend. I was able to meet some of the students from her program before sleeping on the floor with them while waiting for the plane to leave at 6 in the morning. The trip from London to Cork was a short one hour flight. Our landing in Cork was a little a nerving as came through the clouds, the fog, and the rain and set down immediately after a tree line (a little rough). Oh well I'll take a rough landing for an amazing experience. We arrived in Cork around 8 in the morning and went to eat before checking into the hostel. The hostel lacked what is said to be luxury but oh well who needs luxury when you're a poor student trying to make a dollar squeeze into a euro. On Friday we went to see the famous Blarney castle where each one of us separetely kissed the stone, which in return gave us the gift of eloquence. The castle, the history behind the castle and the stone as well as the surrounding scenary were all very beautiful, something only understood through standing in the middle of all of it. After going to the castle we ate lunch at a small diner in Blarney. The meal was pretty good until I ate something I had no intention of eating. We'll leave that for later but the meal was good all around and afterward we returned to Cork before taking a nap and heading out to a traditional Irish bar. The bar was a lot of fun, we didn't get too crazy with the 4 euro beers but I had two before we returned a little early to get some rest before the morning. I have to say Guiness out of the tap in Ireland could be better than finding a lake in the desert. Anyway before I fall into thinking about Irish beer again, lets continue the voyage. The next day we woke up nice and early to head out to Killarney National Park, my favorite part of the trip (besides seeing Ash again). Killarney was a two hour bus ride from Cork and was worth it. When we arrived in Killarney we went out to the park for a nice long walk around its beautiful lands. While we were there we were able to see streams, lakes, mountains, a waterfall, and an amazingly green setting. Hearing the natives speak was like being in a story tail, each and every word they spoke felt like I was being told to finsih some sort of life quest. After a beauftiful walk around the park Ash and I decided we were both Minnesotan and crazy enough to jump into the icey lake and go for a swim before we left. Hey we're only in Ireland once for the first time, and why not do something as rediculous as swim in a 45 degree lake. Well we did it, and I don't think I would take it back either. After the swim we continued back to the taxi which took us back to the city. In Killarney we ate at a traditional Irish pub and watched football (soccer) on tv and were quick to begin talking with the Irish couples next to us about why thiey were cheering for khazakstan. Lol yeah... well hey their opponent was an English team so I guess Khazakstan makes more sense than cheering for the English lol sorry Ash. That night we didn't do much more, I went out for another Guiness before we got some sleep for our 5 O' clock alarm clock in the morning. Ash and I left early on Sunday for the airport where we continued our trip into the big city (London). Sorry guys I think I'm going to have to tell you about London in another post, my fingers are tired and I don't have all night. Hope you're all doing well and I'll talk to you again soon.