Taking out the Bucket List and checking things off!

They say the Ring of Kerry is one of those "places you have to see before you die"... well, I'm not saying I plan on getting destroyed by a meteor thats crashing into Earth anytime soon, but I had to check it out for myself.

See what I'm talking about?

The Skelligs.  The largest was home to a Monestary centuries ago.  Really livin' on the edge, eh?

Um, wow.

That weekend, a small group of five of us from Limerick (+ our honorary Galway guy) set off for a tour of the Ring of Kerry and the surrounding area of the peninsula.  PB&J's were packed, classes on Friday were "taken care of" (don't tell the 'rents I didn't go...), and my camera battery was charged.  I'm such a good little tourist.

Fast forward to us meeting up with 40 Cork students in Killarney and Allie getting the VERY back seat of the bus.  Next to the toilet.  Yep.  Did I piss someone off in a past life or something?  Ugh...  But we did stop to check out some Irish wolfhounds and bog ponies and peat, plus, we were guaranteed a ginormous dinner at the end of it all.  So, I put on my big girl panties and I dealt with it ;)

Dinner was delish, but the evening wasn't over yet.  A wonderful local woman (gosh, I can't for the life of me remember her name, only that her last name was Coffee.  Go figure.  THAT'S what I retain) came to speak to us about life in the bog growing up in the 60's.  Oh jeez.  She was just presh.  Cutting bog all day harvesting peat, milking the cows, sewing her own clothes, getting electricity installed at home, dating boys with cars, getting packages from America... talk about knowing what "a hard day's work" is!  It was amazing to listen to her and watch her relive all of those memories.  Now I'm not saying we milk cows in Wyoming every day, but listening to her really reminded me of home.  It must have been the reminder of rural living... gosh I miss it!

After the presentation, the party really started: can anyone say Irish Dancing???  Check #1 off of the bucket list!  Weeeeee!  To Martin, my partner, you were fab.  To the Irish man who dragged me out to center of the floor as an example, if you spin a girl any faster I swear her head will pop off.  Regardless, it was a blast.  And after just watching Leap Year a few days ago, I realized that one of the dances we learned was the one they perfomed at the wedding scene.  Cool huh??

Then it was more chillin' in the hotel pub with our new Cork friends, two of which were from Boston and wasted no time in giving us the full run-down on Whitey Bulger.  Very good stuff.  Between Sarah and my secret new handshake and Irish Mob stories, it was a swell night!

Early wake up call - rise and shine to a wonderful breakfast (COFFEE) and then we were on the tour bus again, heading up the Skellig Coast and over to Valencia Island.  Having a local as a tour guide turned out to be a great advantage because we were able to travel "beyond" just the typical Ring of Kerry experience.  Valencia Island was just gorgeous.  We were climbing around abandoned castles one minute and hiking in the pouring rain the next. 

The afternoon was free for us to explore Cahersiveen, the village we'd been staying in.  Small, but very inviting and fun to explore.  Between the old British Barracks, whose building plans were mixed up with building plans meant for India (your bad, England) and the Daniel O'Connell Cathedral, which is the only one in existence NOT to be named after a recognized Catholic Saint (it even had to be "ok'ed" by the Pope), there was plenty to see and explore in Cahersiveen.

I'm no architect, but this def out of place in Ireland

Downtown Cahersiveen

That evening, after another amazing dinner (can anybody roll me outta here?), we were given a crash course in Gaelic Football.  Okay, you thought Rugby was rough?  This is just ridiculous.  I don't know what's in the water here, but Irish guys are out of their freaking minds!  Morris Fitzgerald came to speak to us about the sport, and I guess that's a pretty big deal here.  He's kinda famous apparently.  Very cool.  Meeting a celeb? Check #2 off of the bucket list.

Then it was time for the Table Quiz!  Basically, Ireland's version of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader.  Only, it's more like Are You Smarter Than an Irish Man Who's Already Had A Few Pints.  Limerick vs. teams from Cork.  Oh, we dominated.  Yes, the Sun is the closest star to Earth.  Yes, the Flanders do live next door to the Simpsons. And yes, Panama is the name of a straw hat and also the name of a canal.  And when it came time for party tricks, reciting the 50 states in alphabetical order in one breath earned me some Skellig's chocolate (which is now considered very rare seeing as the tiny little factory had tragically burned down the night before... )

Another early morning wake up call, COFFEE, and we were off!  This time, exploring forts built thousands of years ago, touring Daniel O'Connell's home (the man who brought religious freedom to Ireland), driving past golf courses only Tiger Woods can afford to play on, and a gorgeous bus ride home through Lord of the Rings territory.  Very, very epic. 

And what's an amazing trip without a few great quotes to remember it by???

...."Harry Potter is on TV! Harry Potter is on TV! "
           "Did you just SPIT on me?!"
...."I can vibrate my uvula" (really...?)
...."Allie, GET ON MY BACK."

So all in all, a very successful weekend.  Traveling to the Ring of Kerry?  Check #3 off of the bucket list.  I would say 3 checkmarks in one weekend isn't half bad :)

What have you checked off your bucket list lately?