At this point I was starting to realize why it was called the “Long Trip” as we were only halfway through by the time we left for Blarney Castle on Thursday morning. But no time to be tired now, it was time to push on! Blarney Castle is the home of the famous Blarney Stone, which legend has it will grant you the Gift of the Gab if kissed. The power of persuasion was waiting just a short, uncomfortable walk up a flight of castle stairs for all those brave enough to lean, upside-down, at the top of the tower to kiss a rock. While that is undoubtedly the reason to visit the castle and something that I definitely partook in (I am a business major after all, its worth a shot) my favorite part of the Blarney visit was the Poison Garden. Tucked into the back corner of the grounds, the Poison Garden came with a warning label of “Do not touch, eat, or smell anything in the Poison Garden. Thank You.” What an encouraging thought, don’t smell anything in the Poison Garden. Reading descriptions of the mandragora, wolfsbane, yew, cannabis, and various other plants to understand their modern and historical uses really interested me, particularly as during medieval times several of these poisonous plants were used for wild reasons. Mistakenly used as medicine so the sick would not transform into werewolves, wolfsbane only made the sick worse off, and legend held that an uprooted mandragora plant would emit a scream powerful enough to kill, a la Harry Potter.
The days and events started to run together at this point, but I think the order is generally accurate. We were able to do a lot of sightseeing around picturesque Dingle Peninsula which was incredible. Gently sloping hills, dotted with brightly colored houses, connected the powerful mountains to the raging ocean. It was at this place that I realized those places they use in movies are real. A fiercely calming place, it was interesting to see the balance of serenity and power of the area, and I am unlikely to ever see two such opposing forces coexist in that way again.
Late that afternoon we were also able to wander around a national park in Killarney and it wasn’t hard to see why this place is so special to the country. A heavily wooded area, it reminded me so strongly of Minnesota. Shaded rocky paths twisted and turned up a steep hill, wrapping around a waterfall and accompanying river, the sound of birds all around us. On our walk up to the mouth of the river there was a break in the trees and several of my friends and I were ripped away from our quest to reach the top, simply to stare at the lake across the way. Floating towards the ledge off the path as moths to a flame, we were rendered speechless at the pure natural beauty. Towering Irish Pines framed the scene more perfectly than any photograph could, the sinking sun danced upon the shimmering face of the lake as a family of duck travelled from one side of the lake to the other. Looking down on this area with a gentle breeze tickling my face it was almost as if the countryside was reassuring me and reminding me that despite being halfway around the world from where I live, I’ll never be too far away from home. After shaking ourselves out of our stupor, we continued to the top of the falls and it was the...high point of the day without a doubt. A stone bridge overlooked the mouth of the river, as well as the funneling point into the falls on the other side, and with a quick slide down a hill it was possible to stand in the river itself, which shouldn’t surprise anyone that I was the first, and on second thought only person to stand in the water. There was something about the rolling up my jeans and standing barefoot in the mouth of a water fall that made me feel like nature is supposed to be interacted with, not merely observed. Rinsing my face and hair off in a river that had just started to pick up speed as it traveled down the sharp rock face, feeling the cool water soothe my aching feet, listening to the river itself, and smelling the freshness of the place put me so at ease, and I’ll never forget how I felt so at peace with the earth at that moment.
To end the Long Trip, the class did something really touristy. Typically I HATE doing tourist things, I much prefer to live like the locals do, and really experience the country, as opposed to traveling according to a checklist of “things to do and see”, but I have to admit, Bunratty Castle was a lot of fun. Traditional style feasts are held inside the castle, with performers dressed up according to medieval times and speak middle english, we ate with our hands because no one used forks then, listened to ancient Irish songs from long dead poets (The Star of County Down was my favorite-The High Kings have a nice version of it) and we were served honey mead. Honey mead is an ancient recipe that was served to all the high-born people of the castle during that time period and the drink is very sweet, incredibly tasty, and deceptively strong. We were warned to “mind the mead!” because many a student has become quite inebriated not realizing that just because you can’t taste the strength of the drink, doesn’t mean its not going to town on your judgment capabilities. There is also a cool story behind the name honeymoon for newly married couples. Tradition holds that the freshly committed pair would spend the first month, or moon, drinking honey mead all day and all night together alone, hence the term honeymoon. This is a tradition that should have never died out and I move to reinstate it immediately! With a belly full of mead, spare ribs that literally melted off the bone, chicken, and an incredible vegetable soup spirits were high in the castle that night. The desert for the night, a small cheesecake, was called “lovers kiss” due to the practice of two people feeding it to each other, and no one would eat a bite from their own spoon and I was feeling quite friendly that night, and one exchange of the lovers kiss cheesecake turned into two, and three, and four, until finally the last bite was all that remained, and there were no lovers left at the table. Unbeknownst to me, my professor noticed this, and to great applause I was able to finish my desert in the spirit of its name with him.
Some quick highlights of the trip!
Three other male students and I thought it would be great fun to go swimming in the ocean while visiting Inch Beach, and we were mostly right. We spent the next few hours on the bus wet and cold but it was a bonding moment for the men of the trip and made a good memory.
At a pub in Killarney there was a live band who played covers of Mumford and Sons, Old Crow Medicine Show, MGMT, The Lumineers, The Killers, ACDC, and countless others, and not only were they surprisingly good, but invited several of the Americans on stage to dance which I have to say was quite a lot of fun.
We stopped for lunch after a long day of travel, and too many hours after breakfast, and a few friends and I saw a burger place and became irrationally excited. I hadn’t had a cheeseburger since January. The size of a double whopper and covered in grease this gorgeous creation tasted like George Washington fighting off the Redcoats.
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