EuroTrip 2016

June - July 2016
A 32-day adventure by Breanna's Blog Read more
  • 54footprints
  • 10countries
  • 32days
  • 219photos
  • 0videos
  • 41.0kkilometers
  • 37.5kkilometers
  • Day 3

    The Hooker Festival isn't what you think

    June 22, 2016 in Ireland ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    We made it to our firat stop, which was near the Dunguire castle which was erected in 1540. Each family/clan had their own castle. On the island, And there are currently 30000 ruines and castles on the island. It is said If you walk around the Dunguire castle counterclockwise you get your virginity back. If you Walk around castle clock wise you get to make a wish, and Ask a question in the doorway it will be answered by the end of the day.

    We stopped for a quick break in Kinlarry, a small fishin town half way between Dublin and Doolin. There is a celebration called the Hooker festival in kinlarry (fishing boat), which had to change its name because people were coming for the wrong reason. We Walked around and looked out at the pier, Grabbed pringles and some chocolate and headed back for the next stop.
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  • Day 3

    Cows are just Irish Zebras.

    June 22, 2016 in Ireland ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    While driving through the winding countryside, we noticed many houses with interesting pattern on their roof. Thatchwork roofs are signed withba signature which is associated to the builder or artist. The saying raining cats and dogs, want to know where it came from? Well cats and dogs dug into the straw to keep warm and when it rains they would fall out of the straw and people would say its raining counts and dogs.

    In 1169 when british (anglonormans) arrived on request of king dermot, he decided he Wanted to be high king of ireland and needed help. He sent word and spoke to king henry II to get help and aking Henry told Dermot to speak to a man named strombo - who agreed to help him out as long as he could marry dermots eldest daughter. He knew by marrying her he would be in some sort of power. Henry ii was the firat english king to come to ireland and convinced other kings to become lords and dukes.

    Anglo normans became irish and some would say they were more irish than the irish themselves. In the 1500s king henry 8 upset everyone. He was paranoid and a religious fanatic. He decided he wanted a divorce and the pope declined it, he saw it as an act against god and converted to protestant in order to be the head of the church andnget a divorce. The lords and dukes in ireland were not happy as they were roman catholic so he had to try to convert to protestant. Thats why northern ireland is mostly protestant now.

    1608 king james comesbinto power and he wrote the protestant bible. He put a tax and licencing on whisky. Started making own alcohol, made pocheen ranges from 60%-90% pure. Was the way around paying the tax.

    He made plantations to expand them into british protestant areas. Irish started to rebel and had the 1641 massacre. Got theb sland under control of roman catholic however in 1649 cromwell came across to restore british protestant control and slaughtered many irish people. Sent irish to caribbean islands and jamaica as slaves.

    We drove across the Longest coastal drive in the world which is over 2500kmblong. Canada has the longest coastline in the world, however it isn't connected by a road.

    Star Wars, the Force Awaken was mainly filmedbon the island. When the Disney company came over they thought many of the roads were too skinny and that there werr faster ways to get across the mountain, so they built new roads and widened roads in ireland. This is more work than the Irish government has done in years :P

    Gaelic and english are the 2 main languages in Ireland.

    Craic = (sounds like crack.)

    Means fun.

    That was good craic

    Whisky will make you frisky

    Ishkabada. Means water of life. Irish word for whisky.

    Stopped in to Doolin for lunch, got a coat of arms and we had the jelly sandwiches we made from the free breakfast the hostel had for us. After relaxing we boarded the bus to head to the place we have all been waiting for: the Cliffs of Moher!
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  • Day 3

    The Cliffs of Moher

    June 22, 2016 in Ireland ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    What can I even say about the Cliffs of Moher... Honestly they were breathtaking. Not only are they the steepest and largest cliffs in Europe, they are gorgeous landmarks and an amazing hike.

    We hiked from one tip to the other to see both sides of the ridge, and stopped for many photo ops (of course). I kind of wish I could add more than 6 pictures to the footprint (or that you could see the Cliffs yourselves!) but it was honestly an awe inspiring experience.

    Until I fell on my ass and bruised it.

    No, I'm actually totally fine, but I have one hell of a purple mark for a souvenir!
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  • Day 4

    Our Bus Driver is Robin Williams

    June 23, 2016 in Ireland ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Off to the Blarney Castle to kiss the Blarney Stone and get the gift of gab!

    We are on the bus with our driver for the day, Darren! He looks EXACTLY like ROBIN williams and sounds like him if Robin haf an Irish accent! I'm having phone battery issues today, its draining like crazy so I probably won't update as much as I like until I figure it out. Either way, off to Blarney we go!Read more

  • Day 4

    Rock the Cashel

    June 23, 2016 in Ireland ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    First stop on our tour was the Rock of Cashel! It is said that when Saint Patrick returned to Ireland to rid the land of the devil, the devil threw a giant rock at Saint Patrick which he evaded with the help of a Shamrock. On this site, a large castle was built between the 11th and 13th Centuries that house a variety of high nobles and religious figures from Ireland, and the tomba of many of these people still rest in this place.

    Walking the grounds was a very sombre affair, with crows overhead and the ruins of tombstones surroubding us, but the importance and history of the monument was definitely not lost.

    Up next, Blarney Castle!
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  • Day 4

    My first Kiss (with a giant lucky rock)

    June 23, 2016 in Ireland ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Well we did it! When you come up to the Blarney Castle and grounds, you could honestly get lost in the mazes and gardens that lay before you. But obviously we didn't look around when we got there... We headed straight for the castle to make the climb to Kiss the Blarney stone.

    The Blarney Stone was said to be blessed (or cursed, depensing how you think of it) by a witch a long, long time ago and that any person who kisses it develops the "Gift of Gab". For those of you who don't know, that is the ability to talk... And talk... And talk... And talk. (Like the Irish do)

    So we walked into the castle and climed the very very tall spiral stone staircase (that gradually closed in on you as you went... Honestly) until we got to the top of the castle to the barricade lookout. Once there, you had to lean out over the edge of the castle to reach the wall to kiss it, while being held by a friendly tour attendant. If you are on the shorter side (like me), you have to scoot out so far that it feela like only the tip of your bottom is touching the floor and the rest of you is literally hanging over the open hole. There are no nets and no safety features except for the handles you see in the pictures. And I absolutely loved every second of it.

    On the way down we explored all of the rooms and nooks/crannies that we found, but I think we were all too distracted riding the high from kissing the Blarney.
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  • Day 4

    Don't go Chasing Waterfall(wishes)

    June 23, 2016 in Ireland ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    After coming down from kissing the Blarney Stone (both literally and figuratively), we wandered through the gardens to see all of the other magical spots. Firat up, after walking through a small tunnel in the rock, was a waterfall which acts as a wishing well, of sorts. We took turns tossing pennies over our shoulder while making a wish.

    What did I wish for?

    Yeah, right... I know how wishing works. I'm not telling.
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  • Day 4

    Wishing not to fall down these stairs

    June 23, 2016 in Ireland ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    After making our waterfall wishes, we headed through the garden again to see all of the places where witches are said to reside or frequent. We found the Dolman rocks.. Simply one rock balancing awkwardly on top of another that no one knows how it got there or why it is that way. It is said that passing through the opening below can unlock magical things... It magically allowed me to get from one side of the rock to the other!!

    Next up, the witch's kitchen. There is a witch who lives here at night and burns fireword that was paid for by the wishes of the wishing steps (see below) in order to keep warm. We went and checked it out, she has a very low-tech kitchen.

    The witches stone is a stone which looks like a witches face. Yup.

    And finally, we camebacross the wishing stairs! Another witch blessed/cursed object, it is aaid that if you walk down the stairs backwards with your eyes closed while simultaneously thinking of your deepest wish, it will come true. To be extra magical, the threebof us walked down like this andnthen back up with our eyes closed, also.

    So many wishes coming true!!!
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  • Day 4

    We are the QUEENS of sing-along

    June 23, 2016 in Ireland ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    To continue on with the story of how our bus driver is Robin Williams...

    The bus is brand new amd definitely a very high tech one. At one point, the heat was blasting and no one (including the bus driver) could fivure out how to turn it off. Enter Taylor with a little help from me... After some tinkering and quick thinking, we fixed the heating problem and saved the bus from melting! Yayyyy!

    Afterwards, while trying to pass the time, we led the bus through a few rounds of sing-along songs. That's right, the commercials are true... Find a Canadian and good times will follow.

    The bus driver decided to reward us by seraniding us with the fiddle, playing old Irish songs for us while we waited for the rest of the group to get back on the bus. He is AMAZING and definitely a man of many talents! Our last stop of the day was Cork, which really is indistinguishable from Dublin except that it's called Cork. And that my family is originally from there. Which is pretty cool.
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  • Day 6

    I have Paper Towels in my shoes RN.

    June 25, 2016 in Ireland ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    This is going to be a long post... And full of shenanigans aplenty. If you're not in the mood to read a novel OR are sensitive to situations that are obviously super fun, stop reading NOW!

    Yesterday, after getting back from the Blarney Stone, we needed to eat. We met these two AWESOME friends from the US named Ricarrdo and Azerae and we decided that after we both got back to our respective hotels and ate, we would meet up for drinks later in the night. Taylor, Shaunessa and I had a delicious meal of McDonalds (which is way better here, honestly) we got a message from Ricarrdo saying to meet him at kareoke at a bar called Woolshed and that Azurae wasnt feeling well.

    After adventuring what seems like all over to try and find the bar, we got there and immediately got some beer. Im not going to bore you with all of the details, but we submitted a song to sing (Shania Twain, obv.) and the kareoke DJ DENIED us saying that he would rather Shoot Himself then listen to Shania... HOW RUDE. so obviously, we decided to leeave because no one needs that sort of negativity in their lives.

    Ok, no, actually the bar closed at 130... WHAT KIND OF BAR CLOSES AT 130 ESPECIALLY IN DUBLIN?? ISNT THAT ILLEGAL?? We were making plans to head to another bae when Ricarrdo said he was TIRED and wanted to head back to sleep... Because CANADIANS GO HARD, man.

    So we decided to adventure through the city and find another place to procure some alocoholic beverages. On the way, we happened upon a gentleman who looked lost, holding a map. He asked us for directions and, being the helpful Canadians we are, decided to lead him in the right direction. Also he promised to buy us each a beer. So Taylor grabbed the map and we forged along.... Except none of us had any clue where we were going and we kind of lead the poor guy arouns in circles.

    After a while, we asked a local and he decided to take pity on our drunk, lost, tourist selves and take us to the bar. Once we got to the bar, our new friend (the lost one) introduced us to his 2 brothers, let us know they were from New Jersey and bought us each a pint of Guiness. We were at this bar called Pygmalion, and it was closer to 230am at this point... And the bar was closing down.

    LIKE SERIOUSLY WHAT THW HECK DUBLIN HOW ARE YOUR BARS CLOSED DOWN SO EARLY? IT WAS THURSDAY AHHHHH.

    So we ditched the boys from Jersey and wandered off again to find a bar that was open later. Im not going to go into specifics here... But on the way we were caught off guard by a rick shaw and ended up nearly peeing our pants 😏.

    As we rounded a corner... Guess who we ran into... THE BOYS FROM NEW JERSEY. LIKE WHAT ARE THE CHANCES??? As we stopped to talk to the one who we originially brought to the bar, we noticed his 2 brothers had ditched him completely and he was lefr alone. Again. With no clue where he was or how to get to his hotel. Oy.

    Obviously, being the great Canadians we are, we had to help him get to his hotel safely... And for aome reason HE TRUSTED TAYLOR WITH THE MAP AGAIN. LIKE DID YOU NOT LEARN YOUR LESSON RHE FIRST TIME?? Fortunately his hotel was in an area that we knew pretty well, so we actually got him there in one piece and without incident.

    When we areived at the hotel, it was neaely 330am and he invited ua up foe aome snack and to hang out. We headed up and walked into the room where his 2 brothera already were, sitting and eating a weird Doritos salsa dip (wtf?!) and Doritos! We chatted for a bit, making them laugh harser than little girls when they decided we needed more chopa. The youngest brother went down (with his brothers credit card) and came up a few minutes later woth 2 salsa jars, 2 bags of chips and a drink... Tellingbus he had spent 50 euro on it. Excuse me? How the heck did that cost 50 euro???.... Oh... He dropped 2 jars and they shattered and the front desk made him pay for all 4 jars. We were absolutely dying of laughter, and realized it was nearly 430am and we should probably head back. Taylor used the bathroom before leaving, and we headed into the stairwell to exit.

    When we got to the stairs, Taylor pulled some shampoo and soap out of her purse and said she had taken it from the brothers' hotel... To which we immediately collapsed in the stairwell and died of laughter.

    After nearly an hour walk home (full of snap chats, singing, and making more friends in the street) we made it to the hostel and settled into bed at 530 am.

    We had to get up at 830 to go to the guiness factory.

    Canadians go hard.

    Quick note about the morning of the Guiness factory, it was raiNing quite hard on the way there ao the three of us hadbour ponchos on to stay dry. Of course we looked like we were wearing sperm suits and acted accordingly.

    Never a dull moment.
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