South Court Hotel Limerick

We got up early yesterday and drove down to Cork, stopping in Blarney on the way down. There Frank kissed the Blarney stone in Blarney Castle, ensuring him the "gift of gab"- we'll see!

We stopped in Cork and went to an art museum there and had lunch in the museum cafe. I must say we have been blessed with outstanding food on this trip.

From there we drove to Cobh, the port from which almost all of our ancestors emigrated from Ireland to the US, as ...

... cash. The manager had already sent a bottle of wine to our room (of course not knowing we do not drink). They have been trying to catch up to us for 2 days, with us off galavanting around the countryside.

The resort feels so bad that this happened here. Officer Buckley said it may be a staff member so they are eager to track it all down. As I offered my theories about ...

... as far back as 500 B.C. The picture on the main blog page shows the remains of one such hut. At the end of the day we also drove out to the end of the Ring of Kerry penninsula, ending up in the small fishing village of Portmagee where we had a terrific seafood meal at the Bridge Bar. I was remarking to Frank the ...

... to the directions since we had our trusty GPS and Iphones. When we headed back to Killarney, we used our electronic devices, stopped and asked strangers on the street and made a few circles in the downtown (unfortunately while there are many many signs to show what attraction is where there are precious few road signs to tell you what road you are on). We are nothing if not persistent- and I joked to Frank ...

Security came and found Frank's pants, his wallet and keys! Only the money was gone. That is a relief as we pictured a day spent dealing with these unpleasantries.

The resort has been nothing but kind. They have moved us into the Manor House. I believe this was an abbey originally. I will upload pictures. We had breakfast overlooking the formal gardens. We are off to Muckross House today.

... Reception at 8:50am. It's going to be touch waking up for that, but I'll make it and it'll be good to meet all the other study abroad students. Today is one of the gloomiest days I have had so far, but it's getting a little nicer out as I'm writing this. I'm excited to be picking out my classes and finding my way around campus! I'm sure I'll have more to write about once I'm in my classes and doing something more than sitting in my room!

... Directors and mention the staff that sorted me out. I've always flown with them when I'm in the States and I intend to continue this. So lessons learned from this trip next, well first and foremost when working out my budget I didn't factor in the amount of Taxi's I'd be taking all the time in and out to Airports from my hotels. This is something I must factor in next time and while I never ran our of cash etc I did have to restrict myself from ...

... Early Saturday morning in the city at the 'Milk Market' (getting some supplies for tonite's party...Brie, Berries ...

... the end of our tin whistle session, which sent everyone else into howls), as you can see from the videos. The card game I mentioned before is called "bida" (except it's Greek, so it's pronounced like vee-thuh). Mine and Philip's (my German roommate) friends Stelios and Nicos spent several hours teaching us this complex, but highly entertaining, game. They also cooked us some ...

... viewed with the same apathy. I know of a house which had all of its plates and glasses (supplied by the university, mind you) broken against the kitchen walls ... by the tenants of the house! They even contemplated throwing the TV out the window! And for what reason? Just in the name of senseless "fun." I don't mean to be a party pooper, but I think that what I've seen represents a deeper issue ...