My time in Ireland is quickly coming to an end…. In one week, I will be in the air on the way back to the states. I cannot believe how quickly the time has flown by, and how much I have learned and gotten to see the last few months.
My most recent travels took me down to the southern region of Ireland. I decided to take off to adventure around the Ring of Kerry, the Dingle Peninsula, and Killarney. I really do like all of Ireland, and there are so many beauties around this country, but this area might be one of my favorites that I have traveled to. Killarney is the town that I stayed in, and I found a small guesthouse above a local pub that had food, drinks, and live music every night. The pub was a great place to hang out in the evenings, especially for someone traveling alone since it gave me a bit of company.
I spent two full days in County Kerry, and the first day was spent on a tour to the Dingle Peninsula. I went on a group tour bus that takes you on a coastal drive and has many stops along the way. We stopped at Inch Beach, which is a beautiful little stretch of coastline that sticks out from the peninsula. The beach has stunning views of the mountains surrounding you on both sides, but the water is awfully chilly and I couldn’t feel my feet for about 20 minutes because I 
decided to put my feet in the water. While driving around the peninsula, there are beautiful overlooks and panoramic views of many different sights. At one point, we could see the Skellig Islands, which are these odd little islands off of the coast that have an old Christian Monastery on them,
and are also where the final scene in the most recent Star Wars was filmed. We then continued to drive on until we reached the most western point of the country, meaning its the closest I have been to home since I have arrived here. We also stopped in the town of Dingle, where I had some of the best fish and chips I have tasted, and made a stop at a little farm where I got to pet and hold a 10 week old lamb!
The next day, I took a tour bus to the Ring of Kerry and Killarney National Park. I really don’t know which day I enjoyed more, because the views and scenery everywhere were simply stunning. While driving around the ring, we learned some words in Irish, saw the Dingle peninsula from the other side of the bay, drove 
through villages with names that I cannot properly pronounce, ate lunch at one of the most scenic restaurants in Ireland, and I even got to see a dog riding on a donkey. The views were just breathtaking, and sometimes didn’t even feel real. I walked up to the top of a hill that we were stopped at for a little while, and I had spectacular views 360 degrees all around me. There was something so peaceful about just sitting right there, with no one else around except the views of the mountains and the sea. The views on the ring were quite impressive, but then we drove through Killarney National Park where there are lakes nestled in the valleys of all of the mountains, and I was yet again 
amazed. I really cannot put into words how much I loved this place, how beautiful it was, and as lovely as the pictures are, they will never fully show the true charm this place has.
This weekend I ventured back down to another area in the south of Ireland, and visited Cork and Blarney Castle. Cork was neat, and the accents in Cork are definitely something else. Blarney Castle isn’t too far out of Cork, and this is where the famous “Kissing the Blarney Stone” happens. It is said 
that if you kiss this stone, it will bring 7 years of good luck, and it is almost essential to visit if visiting Ireland. I got to kiss the stone, and then we walked around the castle grounds and gardens, and headed off into the village of Blarney. While walking around the gardens, we found the Wishing Stairs, which is said to grant any wish of yours if you can walk up and back down the steps backwards with your eyes closed. Of course we all had to try this, and I think the only reason I 
didn’t fall and break anything was because of those 7 years of good luck I must be getting from kissing the Blarney Stone. The rest of the gardens and the village were really nice, and I am glad I finally got to see the southern part of this country!
As much as I don’t want to leave this place that is beginning to feel like a second home, I really am ready to get back to my real home… So many things remind me of home and how much I miss it. I went swing dancing the other night, and it made me think of Dad and all of our dance sessions. The lakes in Killarney made me miss my lake view at home. The mountains everywhere remind me of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The beaches remind me of all of the years I spent at Sunset with my family. Even when I was packing the other day, 
my music playlist was on shuffle and played “Carolina In My Mind” by James Taylor. I’ve never left home for this long, and I think being away from it has made me appreciate it even more than I did before. Ireland has been great, and as thankful as I am for all of the new places, faces, and experiences, I have never been more excited to fly back home. Cheers to one more week here, and to this trip that I will forever be thankful for!
Just wanted to start off by saying that I am overwhelmed with the amount of love I have been given on my birthday this year! From all the sweet birthday wishes, the cards, the cakes, and the multiple celebrations, my 21st was definitely special and unforgettable. I am so grateful for everyone back home that made my birthday a special day, but also for everyone I have met here. I had all sorts of sweets and treats, and ended up having celebrations a week after my actual birthday. I am so glad I got to spend my 21st here, and I also got to do a little bit of traveling as well!
Last weekend, some of our group headed over to Amsterdam. Amsterdam is definitely much different than I expected…. I will say that the city is unlike any other. The city is simply beautiful, built around the canals, filled with bicycles rather than cars, and there are flowers, markets, and lovely pancakes and waffle shops everywhere. Also, lots of cheese stores and cheese museums. I loved all of this, and enjoyed walking around the city and getting to 
see the beauty of it. There are also parts of Amsterdam that definitely showed me the different culture of the area… It was a slight culture shock to me regarding some of the things that are legal in Amsterdam to say the least…. But it was still a lovely city, and I enjoyed my three days there. I got to stay in a little 
houseboat on the canal in the heart of the city, and looked out my window to a beautiful view down the canal. I also got to ride a hop-on, hop-off boat through the canal from different sightseeing areas, which I loved. Getting to see the city from the canal is a neat way to get around. The last day, we headed to a windmill in the city with a brewery, and enjoyed some good food and beer from the brewery at De Gooyer Brouwerij ‘t IJ. I wish I had more time to travel out to the countryside to see all of the windmills, but I am so thankful for my few days in this unique city.
This past weekend, a few of us headed to the wonderful city of Barcelona in Spain. After a rough flight due to a sinus infection, we got to our airbnb in this wonderful little apartment in the middle of the city. We walked around the city for a little while, went to the La Boqueria market, saw the Sagrada Familia, Casa Batlló, and ended the day with a spectacular fountain show at the Font Màgica de Montjuïc. The next morning, I took off to the mountains about an hour outside of Barcelona by train. I left pretty early and got to spend most of my day in the beautiful area of the mountains called Montserrat. When I arrived, it was pretty foggy and hard to see, but I still started hiking up around the top regardless. It was kinda neat just sitting on the edge of a mountain, and slowly watching the fog clear and reveal these beautiful panoramic views. I really needed a day to unwind and to destress, and being in Montserrat was exactly what I needed. The little monastic site was one of the neatest places I have visited so far, and my visit was complete by hearing the Boy’s Choir, L’Escolania, perform in the Basilica. I took a cable car up and back 
down the mountain, and I got the entire cable car to myself on the way back down the mountain, and had the best views all around me. When I got back to Barcelona, I met back up with my group and we all hiked up to the bunkers and had amazing views of the city around sunset. The last day in Barcelona, we shopped around, got some coffee and pastries, walked around the park at Park Güell, and enjoyed one last Sangria from Spain before heading back to a cold, rainy Dublin.
For now, I don’t have anymore out of country trips planned, but I am just trying to enjoy the last three weeks I have in this country while I can… I am definitely ready to come home and see my family and friends, but I do love Ireland and will miss this place so much. I’m so grateful for the friendships I have made here, and also for the experience to work over here. I have learned so much, been given lost of wonderful opportunities, and I have really enjoyed being part of a community health organization. I have the most amazing, supportive coworkers, who are so much fun to be around as well. Here’s to a great last few weeks in Ireland!
I’ll start with an update on the work I am doing over here. I
everyone was fine and all of the food was great. The class had decided the week before that they wanted to make pizza and chips. I thought this was a little strange because in the states, I do not typically think of pizza and french fries being served together, but it is common here and it was what the class wanted to make. Since I am supposed to incorporate nutrition and healthy eating into the class, we made healthy pizza and chips. In Ireland, zucchinis are called courgettes, so we made courgette chips (aka zucchini fries) and everyone in the class really enjoyed them!
Rebecca. Rebecca and I are both southern girls from small towns… We thought Dublin was a huge city, and then realized that London makes Dublin seem small. I really did enjoy London, but 3 days was the perfect amount of time because it can be a little overwhelming. The first day, we got settled into our hostel and then decided to walk around for a few hours. We walked through Hyde Park, Kensington Palace and Gardens, saw Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and just explored around in the heart of the city. We took a bus to Oxford the following day, and spend some time 
walking around the city and the campus. The campus is absolutely beautiful, and it was a really neat little town. From Oxford, we decided to go to Blenheim Palace, and saw the palace from the outside, but then walked around the park and gardens. This place was SO MUCH FUN. The gardens have the second largest hedge maze in the world, and it is supposed to take 25 minutes to get through… We made it out in 16! Along with the maze, they also have these life-size game boards that have puzzles to solve… These puzzles had us spinning in 70 circles in a 
row, running across the game boards in frustration, and we spent at least 30 minutes collaborating with other visitors trying to solve these little games. Eventually we figured them out, and realized how much fun we were having with something so simple. The park around the palace had beautiful views and a neat walking trail, but also sheep in the hills that Rebecca and I hopped an electric fence to try and pet. 
Turns out sheep do not like people as much as we like them. Our last day in London, we attempted to figure out public transportation, and ended up at the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. We walked around this area, saw St. Paul’s Cathedral, enjoyed some beautiful views at a rooftop bar, and then headed to the London Eye for the ending to our trip. We decided to do the Champagne Experience on the London Eye, and enjoyed a bubbly glass of Pommery Brut Royal 500 feet in the air, taking n the best views of London while watching the sunset. The London Eye was a great way to end the trip, and London was a really neat city!
mountains, and there are lots of trails to hike around that have scenic views of mountains and lakes, along with a cool Monastic City to walk through with old church and building ruins, and a tower that reminded me of something from Rapunzel. Glendalough was absolutely marvelous, and the sunny weather only made it better. I 
definitely want to spend some more time in the Wicklow mountains, and hopefully I will get lucky enough to have weather as great as this weekend!
character, with coastline hikes that had stunning views, where we spent a good few hours hiking up some of the hills. We
The following day, we took the train down to Bray, a coastal town south of Dublin. This day was mostly spent doing the Bray to Greystones Cliff Walk, and while the views were absolutely amazing, it was a pretty long hike. We walked around 9 miles just that afternoon, but had a very scenic walk along the coastline with some historical sights along the way.
This past weekend, two of the other girls and I took off to Galway, a coastal town on the western coast of Ireland. Galway is much smaller than Dublin, is equally as beautiful, and I wish I had more time to spend there. We spent Friday just walking around the city, explored the beautiful college campus of NUIG, enjoyed some local pubs, and listened to some lovely Irish music on the shop streets.
The next morning, we headed off to the Cliffs of Moher. While the bus ride up left us all car sick, the views were worth
Kori's Stories 