Ireland in a Nut Shell

Well, today is my last day in Ireland. Although it's a great country and I have a list of places to go when I return, I'm ready to push forward through my agenda. I came down here to Cork on Friday morning, through the absolutely beautiful Irish countryside. I instantly liked Cork. It's much smaller, cleaner and more charming than Dublin. Everyone is really nice. Asking for directions is not a problem, but understanding them is a different story. My hostel is on the north side of town, if you look at a good map you'll see that Cork is built on land divided by two strands of the same river. Some maps only show one branch which is incredibly confusing!!! It's pleasant, clean and there are actually solo travelers here, so that's a big plus.
Yesterday I went to Blarney Castle and ruins, Kinsale (small tourist trap fishing village) and Charles Fort, which apparently was the inspiration for the shape of the Pentagon. When I got home I met up with these (40s) women who were staying in my room. Both Americans from southern Florida, Dixie and Elliot were great friends who decided to rent a car and drive around Ireland for a week or so. They had incredible energy and invited me to come out to a pub with them. So off the three of us went with the addition of a sweet Canadian girl to find a happenin' place. Once at the pub we got some drinks and the fun started rolling. Some guy named Pauly (he pronounced it like Pooly) came and joined up with us along with a couple of Swiss. The pub closed at 12, but Pooly would have none of our going home, so we followed him to the central part of the city to a night club. Well, he was rejected from the first two that he tried to get into, but the third one - Bodega - saw that he was with four women, so they let him in. Let me tell you, no one in Ireland can dance. It was so funny. Out of the 50 people on the dance floor, only 4 of them, maybe could keep a beat. Greg could make a killing off teaching them how to do some killer moves. Greg, keep that in mind in case DC doesn't work out for you! It was nice though, no men trying to grab any part of skin possibly showing, much better than Adams Morgan or frankly, any other dance club I've been too. Afterwards we went to get some late night snacks and hit the sheets. Not a bad night. I only had 3 guinness and managed to have a blast. No shots this time which was also a plus.

This afternoon I spent the day walking around eastern Cork. So beautiful. I had the chance to walk around the grounds of University of Cork County, which is nearly as beautiful as UCSD. Ahh, it was amazing. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take as many photos as I wanted to because my battery died, but it was an amazing blend of natural beauty with modern and classic architecture. AHHH! Once again you'll have to wait for the photos because I don't have the right technological tools to get things up and running now. I've got to get more organized.