One Centricher

The epic trip of trips around Ireland already happened. Poo you because you missed it. There were good times, laughing times, oh-my-gosh-we-almost-crashed times, good times licking hands, good times getting hands licked, and so much more. Yup!! If you missed it you REALLY missed out on a super great trip.

For those of you who want to know more so they can vicariously relive through the epic trip via this blog post, my ex-friend Taunya and Nicole came to visit for a week and Leo and I took them around the whole island and went to as many places as we could. They arrived in Ireland Monday morning and took a bus from Dublin to Belfast where we picked them up. The plan was to get them and head straight on to sites in the north and stay the night in Londonderry. Just before we left a certain husband checked his due dates for his last project for his summer class and found out it was due Sept 11th. Too afraid of not having good internet connection we skipped what was planned for the first day and stayed the night at our place. It ending up being a good thing we did because Taunya was so jet lagged and tired she didn't know what one centricher meant. Nevertheless, I took the tired two up to Scrabo Tower and then to Bangor for a seaside walk before coming home, playing two crazy games of Uno, and making dinner. Taunya kept saying silly things  to me like, "I can't understand you're accent," and "speak like a normal person." It's clear as poison that I totally have an American accent, dug Tauyna! Nicole could understand me!

The next day we were up early and headed off to the Marble Arch Caves. They were super cool and looked like something you would see at disneyland because the walls had this fake man made look to them but it is all just years of water erosion. From there we made our way down to Galway. The traffic in Galway was a nightmare. We were stuck at this one round about for close to thirty mins because traffic was so insane. Our hotel was a nice hotel/bar right next to the ocean. It was my first time in Galway and it seems like a fun city. Our American zombies were still a bit jet lagged so after some live music at the bar we headed off for an early night sleep.

Wednesday we headed on to Cliffs of Moher where we encountered our first strong winds. Unlike my sisters we had great visibility and were able to get great views of the cliffs. No puffins in sight sadly. From there we moved onto King John's castle in Limerick. That was fun to see a big castle from so long ago. Taunya liked it so much she decided to take a nap. I was a bit weary of being in Limerick because it is suppose to be a pretty dodgy area but I didn't think it was that bad. That night we drove through Kerry to our charming b&b in Kenmare. If you are ever in that area I would recommend the Belveder Lodge to anyone. Our host, Julia, was very nice. Taunya and Nicole both agreed they hope someday they can be that nice. We all know how nasty those two are so wouldn't it be refreshing if they were finally pleasant?!

The next day we went to a stone circle dating back to 2500 BC and then took a lovely luxury stroll down a country road in search of Dunkerron castle. The ruins were pretty cool and I think it was worth the walk but then again I'm not the one that got stung by nettle, this time. The Blarney castle was our next stop, or Little America as Leo liked to call it. It was so weird walking into the grounds because all you could hear was Americans. That's something I definitely am not use to anymore. The Blarney castle has pretty cool grounds and we did a bit of walking around them before making our way to the castle to kiss he Blarney stone. The only one who didn't kiss it was Leo. Who knew a crazy downhiller racer would be afriad to kiss a super smooth stone. Speaking of which, some of the people who kiss that stone must have course sandpaper for lips because that stone was way too smooth for lips as soft and sweet as mine to smooth it. Even Nicole conquered her fears and kissed the stone, after immense peer pressure from my ex-friend Taunya. That night we stayed at a b&b I was sure was haunted but it didn’t seem it once I went to sleep.

Friday was the drives of all drives for Leo. It was the longest he has ever driven as we made our way from Cork to Newtownards. We broke it up with a stop at Newgrange where we saw the neolithic burial site Knowth. It was really interesting and cool to see a new one because my parents came we saw Newgrange. We made another stop at Tullymore Forest park. I love that place! It is so great! We took them on the walk along the river and they really liked it. When we got back to our place Nicole, the nice person that she is, cut Leo's hair while Taunya and I got dinner. Later Nicole also cut my hairs. Thanks again Nicole!

After Taunya blew up her plug, we took a jaunt to Carrick - a- Rede rope bridge. Everyone did that one, even though an Australian had fallen off the bridge earlier this year. Way to go us for surviving! Then we went to the Giant's Causeway and learned about Finn McCool the giant. When we got back Nicole and Taunya were our guinea pigs for this video Idea I had. Watch that idea here. Sunday we dropped them off in Belfast and sent them on their long way home. I managed to save all my tear till after they got on the bus but alas I shed them in error! We got home and thought that our adventures were over but we were wrong. Under the blow up bed was none other than the infamous Lambo! Friend I think not! And then as we were going to bed Leo found a letter under the pillows.

It was a super great trip and time. I haven't felt so normal in a long time. With the culture and people so different I haven't felt myself for a long time so it was nice to feel normal even for a week.  Other big news is I got my passport back with my residence card in it. That means I can leave this island! Wahoo! The last big news is that Barbara isn't doing so well. We got a call Tuesday night from Leo's grandpa saying that the doctors didn't expect Barbara to make it through the night but she did. We heard from Ronnie last night and he said she is looking a lot better so hopefully things will be alright.

That’s all that is new with us. What's new with you? That was rhetorical. Bye folks!