Blarney Adventure

January 17th, 2016 | Uncategorized

The winter break adventures continued this Sunday as myself, Kelsey, my teammate Avril, and Niamh traveled to Macroom for the UL Huskies U14 match. Let me tell you, it was an adventure from the start of our trip, to the very end. Google Maps decided to take us the scenic route, which included very narrow, winding roads over the mountainous Cork terrain. The uncertainty of getting to the proper destination did not end until we physically made it through the door of the sports hall.

 

After the match was over, we decided to do some traveling of our own. Since we were already in Cork, we took a little detour on the way home to see the historical Blarney Castle and Stone. Being the tourist that I am, I was excited to see this historical landmark. Fortunately, Niamh and Avril, the two locals, hadn’t seen the Castle either, so it was a new experience for everyone! It really is true; locals never see the tourist attractions of their own country, until one of their foreign friends asks them to go. Hope you don’t mind guys 🙂

 

It was a typical winter day in Ireland. It was cold. It was wet. And yep, you guessed it, it was rainy. The rain didn’t stop us though; although, it did make climbing the steep, narrow, spiral staircase of the Blarney Castle a whole lot more interesting… and by interesting, I mean terrifying. The entire way up we were all practically crawling up the stairs in fear of slipping and falling.

 

Nothing but smiles and sighs of relief when we finally made it out of the stairwell and saw the beautiful scenery that the castle looked out onto. From there we made it over to the Blarney Stone. The Blarney Stone is known for giving the “gift of the gab,” or bestowing the gift of eloquence to anyone who kisses it. The catch is, in order to kiss it, you have to lean backwards over the edge of the castle, while holding onto a railing, as you lower yourself down and kiss the stone behind you. To say the least, it is a bit scary.

 

To make it even more interesting my faithful photographer, Kelsey, missed me kissing the stone. Yep, that’s right she missed the entire thing! As if it weren’t terrifying enough the first time, I had to flip upside down again to get a picture! After all, did it really even happen if you didn’t take a picture or blog about it? 😉 

 

After we all took our turn giving the Blarney Stone a big smooch, we explored the Castle grounds, which included waterfalls, caves to venture through, as well as awesome gardens, which I’m sure look even cooler when it isn’t the dead of winter.

 

We ventured around until we were completely soaked. At this point, it was our cue to leave. The fun didn’t stop there though; we went back to the car to find a flat tire. Fortunately enough, the car was able to make it to the nearest gas station where we could refill the tire with air. Thankfully, the tire wasn’t completely flat; we made it the entire way home without having to make a tire change on the side of the road. To say the least, it made the ride home pretty interesting, hoping that the tire would make it.

 

If these past few weeks of adventures are any indication of what this next semester will be like, I am in for an exciting couple of months! It is without a doubt that 2016 has started out with a bang, and I am so excited to see what else is in store. 

 

 

Victory Scholar: Sarah Benedetti

Present University: University of Limerick

US League: NEC

Club/Community Partner: UL Huskies

Alma Mater: St. Francis College 

Sponsored by: Teamwear Ireland

 

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