Always Better With an Accent

A huge hug and big thank you to everyone who shared their opinions with me on this post.
In keeping with this blog's usual privacy procedures, no names have been used. The initials denote the contributor.
If you would prefer to have your name added or your initials removed, please let me know! 
Cheers! x

Undergrad consisted of some of the best years of my life. I made some fabulous friends, and looking back, it would appear that only those with positive attitudes and behavioral weirdness were allowed. The late night- early morning- midday- like all the time- ridiculosity  the junk food, the giggles. It really was the best. And though my friends' and my conversations were silly, we sometimes touched on some very salient topics. Such as the topic for this post:

Why are accents so sexy, though?

I've had this conversation with so many people - all of my college roommies, most of my Flava Fam, my study abroad family, and all of my friends here in Ireland now - and I'm sure you have to. We all have, let's be totally honest. Something about Jude Law or those boys from Our Lips Are Sealed (yes, I'm talking about the Mary-Kate and Ashley movie) has always got our tummies fluttering with foreign butterflies. But here's the bigger question: is love better with an accent?

Don't get me wrong. I'm not talking about role playing or anything. But there is definitely a level of attractiveness involved in foreign accents - at least certain ones for certain people. But what accents attract us and why? Is love better with an accent?

I asked a bunch of my friends their opinions on accents and whether or not they're sexy. Here's what I got:

"So sexy accents right?" TB

Haha
Just kidding. There's more!

"Accents can make or break the deal, Sarah," I was told. AG
Which might be one of the most shallow things a friend has ever said to me.

But when it comes to sexy accents, maybe we're all a bit shallow.

"I wonder if American accents sound as sexy to foreigners as theirs do for us." KM

(I can answer that one, as the official American living abroad. No.)

I know that I have a thing for accents, but an accent definitely does imply a certain language or cultural barrier. The stronger the accent (and let's face it, the stronger, the sexier) also means the harder to understand. And if your Significant Other has an accent, it probably means that the two of you are from a different place, and believe me, cultural barriers ARE a thing! That Aussie is going to say something one day to make you go WHAT?! no matter how many times you watched and memorized Our Lips Our Sealed. 

That being said, we seem to find accents attractive if they're somewhat similar to our own, aka if they're understandable.

"Pretty much all types of accents, but mostly English and Irish. I don't know what it is about them but they're so sexy amiright?"KM
"Most any foreign accent is attractive. So if you take a normal looking girl and then you find out that she has a British, french, [P]anamaian accent, they've just become so much more interesting/attractive she becomes." TB

Some people have argued that we're hardwired for genetic diversity-
"There have been studies showing that women find the smells of men who have different genetic codes more attractive than those that have codes that are more similar to their own. An accent is just a short cut for us to note that they are from a different gene pool. Mate with them and you[r] offspring will have more genetic diversity than if you mated with someone of a similar background. This... strengthens the group in case of hardship." TB

And an interesting way to think about accents as an indication of cultural diversity: cue the dialect!
"Depending on the dialect (if that's the appropriate term to use)." TE

I'll buy that. And then, of course, there's the air of mystery that comes with the accent...

"For me there is something about these accents that makes me want to know more about them." RV

"Similarly, people find the accents as a signal of exoticism, the unknown, which is attractive, somewhat forbidden. Another personal preference: I don't [...] find other types of American accents sexy, even Canadian. Maybe because I don't really identify those other groups as foreign?" TB

Also, just so you know, just because I have an Irish boyfriend doesn't mean that I'm honed in only on the Irish accent. As one friend so directly stated: 

"Moving on to the UK accents, which I'm sure you you're going to write about." (Quick pause while I correct my friend about his ignorance of the location of Ireland) "... Irish and Scottish accents always seemed more friendly to me, more approachable." TB

I totes agree with that one, but then again, sometimes I think I have a bit of an Irish "twinge" (actual word someone used to describe my accent once....).

"I like an accent, I'm a lot more likely to carry on a conversation I wouldn't normally entertain with a guy with an accent. But only if I can understand his accent. " CL

"British accents hold a connotation of intelligence to Americans. I'm not sure how that started but I'm sure it comes from the media or something like that. But companies always send out spokespeople with British accents as experts." TB

But the media exposure isn't always a good thing, in fairness:
"I find that people with an accent outside the USA or Caribbean ingesting. I think that has to do with the fact that I live in the Caribbean and all my media entertainment comes from America." DS

This thinking kind of explains why we thought the boys in Our Lips Are Sealed were so attractive... or why Mary-Kate and Ashley kept going to places where they spoke English, with a heavy accent....!

"[U]nfortunately, sooo much judgement happens on how someone speaks. Different accents definitely mean different things but [I] really try to look past that and reserve judgement. An example ... I cringe everytime [I] hear a South African accent because [I]'ve watched blood diamond too many times and it freaks me out to hear it. I feel like a slave on the run (bizarre [I] know)... Don't really like Southern English accents because it is the accent of an oppressor (some of my best friends speak like it but [I] hate it). Something about posh [E]nglish people makes me want to slap them. They talk with such a superiority complex." EA

But still, I suppose some of us like those fancy-schmancy sounds:
"I think accents are sexy... I like a good d4 Dublin accent on a lady, or posh English. Or German. In fact, I just like women with accents.... I like women." JR

"I honestly melt at a Southern accent because it reminds me of a southern gentleman, riding a horse in a green valley, with the Blue Ridge mountains ahead and clouds overhead with an endless amount of territory to explore. Southern accents show that a man has mystery, kindness, subtle intelligence, confidence, etc. Plus, a southern accent reminds me of westerns and John Wayne and my family. Cigar smoke and campfires. Jack Daniels and cowboy boots. Singing and guitar-picking. The list is continuous." BH

Sometimes accents just make us harder to understand; it's like a mini language barrier.
"I find [accents] initially attractive and exciting because they are different, but I would get annoyed after while." BH

"Girls with accents from different languages are terrifying and indicative of a communication problem I will probably have. native English speakers with an accent, be it from the south or Scotland, are super attractive, as long as it isn't a northern Baltimore accent. That accent is just atrocious." DF

"And I'm probably in the minority, but I actually like Boston accents a lot! And growing up so far into the north, there's something endearing and charming about a little southern twang." PM

And please note, the Southern accent isn't for everyone... 
It's a cult classic -- it seems either you absolutely love it, or you absolutely, totally hate it.

"Southern accents make me want to punch babies in the face." TE

Life's funny ways will probably have those of us who feel this way married to Dolly Parton's great grand-daughter.

"Girls with accents are more attractive. Except for too much of a southern accent I can't handle." WE

The theme here seems to be Americans, Irish, Caribs, we all seem to love the Irish one....

"Northern Ireland especially makes me swoon. Remember those bachelors from Belfast?" RM

"Agreed, those [B]elfast boys, only two of them were good looking but its something about the accent... the moral of the story is yes accents do attractive make." KA

Guess I got lucky.

It's okay, y'all. Just come move with me to Ireland for a while!

Thanks again to everyone!
Cheerio x

On meeting an accented stranger:
"So yes, if a man has an accent I will have a physical attraction, and if it is in Trinidad I hear it, [I] want to know what they are doing there!" DS

"I don't know any [accents]. But when [I] daydream of talking to Australian girls they sound really good in my head." JL

"In sum, most of the time, any girl with a foreign accent becomes more attractive. It's not a silver bullet, but she definitely gains an edge." TB

"I think the smiling faces play into the accent...if their smiling, drunk, and happy. Stereotypical. Women love the company." SC

Getaways: Edinburgh

This post is part of a monthly installment. Check out the first here.

Not only do I have another Getaway post for you, I have some news for you as well. Edinburgh was featured on my bucket list only a couple of weeks ago, and I've already checked it off. Pretty productive travelling, if I do say so myself ;)

I visited the scenic capital of Scotland a couple of weeks ago for nearly a week, and though I gave Scotland so much time, Edinburgh for the weekend would still be epic.

Edinburgh is a quick jaunt from Ireland and England, but I know some of you from the States and elsewhere might not find it the best option for a weekend away. But if you ever find yourself in the British Isles, make sure you add Edinburgh to your bucket list.

Edinburgh

Edinburgh's city centre is split into two parts: Old Town and New Town. Both are UNESCO World Heritage sites. Old Town is a huge medieval frontier whose main pass, the Royal Mile, connects two castles. Edinburgh Castle sits at the top of the city as a huge medieval fortress, while the Palace at Holyrood Park -- still a Royal residence -- lays at the base of Holyrood Park and Arthur's Seat, an extinct volcano.

If this combination of royalty and volcanoes isn't enough to impress you, don't forget about New Town.  Don't be fooled by the name. New Town is Georgian, built as an extension of Edinburgh in the late 1700s in an effort for the nouveau-riche to escape the tiny streets of walled Edinburgh. New Town is all about space, clean lines, and parks. The architecture is gorgeous, the parks are rampant, and the shopping is pretty good.

I could have easily spent weeks in Edinburgh. With a million nooks and crannies, the Highlands at your doorstep, and some really cool new friends, Edinburgh is my new dream home. And obviously, everyone is going to agree with me. We're all going to visit Edinburgh for weeks at a time, fall in love, and stay forever together.

But just for arguments sake, let's just say for some weird reason we only have a weekend to spend in this epic capital. How should we spent our time?

1) Visit a Castle (or Two)
This may seem very cliché for some locals who've never forked up the £10 to go inside Edinburgh Castle, but this massive medieval fortress is a village in and of itself and definitely worth the visit. Plan to spend a couple of hours in the Castle -- they even have a very nice tea rooms with traditional tea served all day. Prepare for a bit of a hike to get up the mountain, but don't worry, there are plenty of pubs along the way.

If you have the time, also go check out Holyrood Palace at the bottom of the Royal Mile. Still a royal residence, the Palace tour is extremely well-orchestrated (which might make it a bit more sterile than Edinburgh Castle). No pictures allowed inside though, so beware. You might have to buy a couple of postcards on your way out, then ;)

Edinburgh Castle, up there looking all majestic.

Palace at Holyrood

2) Take a walking tour
Sandeman's New Europe Walking Tours offers a free walking tour of Edinburgh at 10 o'clock every morning. THAT IS NOT A TYPO. Yes, it's a free tour. No it's not bad! It was actually fantastic. It was a huge group (which is somewhat unsurprising, considering its general freeness), which they split into four smaller groups. The tour lasted about 3 hours, and in that time we got an incredible amount of history about Scotland and Edinburgh especially. Our tour guide was absolutely fantastic-- thanks Sabela!! -- and it really helped me get my bearings in the city.

Edinburgh has hundereds of "wynds" or closes branching off throughout the city. Though these are usually tiny (you could touch either side as you walk through them!), we learned that these were what most streets in Old Town would've been like when the city was walled. There just wasn't enough space! Even now, Edinburgh residents will describe Old Town and the Royal Mile as the skeleton of the fish -- with one main, hilly road (spine) and hundreds of spikey bits poking off in a general downward fashion!

If walking is not your thing, check out Edinburgh Bike Tours as well!

One of the many "wynds" in Old Town, Edinburgh. 

3) Be quirky
Edinburgh is quirky, don't let anyone tell you any different. As an example, the city hosts the biggest Fringe festival in the world every year. People have inscribed the names of characters from Harry Potter into tombstones, and often graveyards are treated as public parks. Take advantage of the quirkiness and get your feet dirty in Edinburgh a little bit.

Ideas:
Greyfriars Churchyard
There is a statue to a dog here called Greyfriars Bobby. His grave is just outside the churchyard. Bobby was an officers dog for two years from the day he was born, and he and his officer were never apart. One day, sadly, his officer died. Bobby attended the funeral along with everyone else. But when everyone went home, Bobby stayed. Bobby stayed for 14 years by his officer's graveside, before he too died. People still bring sticks and other gifts to Bobby's grave.

Greyfriars is also said to be home to some pretty famous characters. Buried here is a Thomas Riddell, a Peter Pettigrew, as well as a few other names such as Moodie and McGonnegall. Nearby is the now-famous Elephant House Café where J.K. Rowling allegedly wrote a great deal of the Harry Potter books. I wonder where she got her inspiration.

The Writers' Museum
Nestled in one of the closes near St. Giles Cathedral (which is also worth a visit!!) is the Writers' Museum, housed in a medieval mansion and home to exhibits on Edinburgh's three most historically famous writers: Robert Louis Stevenson, Sir Walter Scott, and Robert Burns. The building is adorable, and if you love writing as much as I do, it's definitely worth a trip to this little museum.

Greyfriars Bobby, probably Edinburgh's most famous resident before Harry Potter

If you visit the Elephant House Café for some tea and cake, be sure to visit the bathroom.
It was literally one of the coolest and inspirational things I had ever seen.
Thousands of HP fans had inscribed their thanks to the authoress.

The Writers' Museum, in an old medieval mansion house

4) Be alone
I actually booked this trip alone, and though it didn't seem odd to me at the time, I realized once I was on the plane that it was the first time I'd ever travelled alone before. Yes, I have travelled around loads before, but usually it was with a friend in the adjoining city or just a day of wandering around alone with my friends back in the hostel. Though I've always talked about travelling alone, I've never really seemed to do it!

Edinburgh is a fantastic city to visit alone, probably because it's just that, a city. There's plenty to do, lots of walking and exploring to be done. There are some wonderful cafés and pubs with nooks and crannies to get lost in and people watch while you have your evening tea.

Walk around alone for a while, even if you've gone with a friend, just to get your bearings and to stand on your own two legs in one of the most beautiful cities.

My evening tea in an alleyway of a teashop.

5) Meet people
That being said, being alone will probably become a magnet condition for meeting new people. I stayed alone in my hostel, and met some of the coolest girls, with whom I celebrated a rather epic Halloween night. Eating alone in pubs and cafés, I met locals and foreigners who all loved talking about why they moved to Edinburgh. I even ended up friending some of them on Facebook (which of course makes it official).

I even realized (AFTER booking my flights, how dumb am I?) that my cousin lives in Edinburgh! Totally forgot. We met up for a couple pints and had a blast!

Whether you're alone or in a group, one of the greatest things about travelling anywhere is meeting people. But Edinburgh attracts some of the coolest. So go ahead, chat to the locals - the bartenders, the tour guides - and have lunch with fellow travellers.

Me 'n' cuz

A kindly and random fellow American helped me with this one.

Scottish Poppy Memorial outside Scott Monument

Did a little shopping too, of course :)

I hope this has inspired all of you to start saving now. I'm already saving for my next trip to Scotland. :) Enjoy xx

Welcome to Getaways and Dublin!

As a full-time student and current working girl, my weekend getaways have been limited. But as an American living in a foreign country, I have always wanted my weekend getaways and extended travel trips to be a constant presence. 

A few months ago, I shared some of my Favorite Irish Adventures to date. When my dad and brother visited, I got to take a few more adventures around Ireland and another weekend to Munich. 

Though I don't get to travel as often as I'd like to, there are many trips in my arsenal that I'd like to share with you on the blog, from weekends to weeklongs and from real-life, actually-happened adventures to it's-gonna-happen-just-you-wait-and-see ones. 

Welcome to Getaway! In these posts, we'll share some of my favorite short-trips.

There are few Getaways that stand out to me, whether for the epicness of the place visited itself or for the epicness of the time I personally had there. And there are a few places that I've got my eye on for near-future weekend getaways as well!

So here you go,  check out Dublin and the first of many Diva's Getaways!

Dublin

My most recent jaunt to Dublin last March featured an epic Jason Derulo concert and the boy (an adventure for another post), but I've been to Dublin many times.

A small enough city, the Irish capital is like a teaser trailer of real Ireland for tourists who haven't gotten into the countryside yet and bigger cities for expats missing their homeland. Dublin has a big pub and club scene and enough shopping to satisfy a desire for retail therapy. There are so many little nooks and crannies to explore, but every time I go back all I want to do is wander the streets, visit the Queen of Tarts (best tea shop ever!), and soak up the city life. 

Components in a good Dublin Getaway:

1) Hostels
Used to the luxury of a hot shower, we are often turned off by the idea of hostels. Hostels get a bad rap from films and our parents' stories of backpacking across deserted islands. But you can rest easy in an Irish hostel. The standard of living here is fairly high, and that often translates to lovely little hostels. The hostels outside of Dublin are undoubtedly better, but in the big city, they are better than most you'd find outside of Ireland. So go ahead, book a hostel, you (probably) won't regret it. Check out Kinlay House Hostel near Christchurch and Temple Bar.

2) Bus It
Dublin City has a good public transport system, which includes a tourist option. A hop-on, hop-off bus tour may sound ridiculous, but there is no better way to see Dublin. With no grid system and a sprawl of about 45 square miles, Dublin can be difficult to master your first time. Dublin Sightseeing Tours offers an inexpensive and easily accessible bus tour. Buy a ticket for the day, do the full route (45 minutes to an hour), get your bearings, and then start picking places you want to stop on the second round. Some favorite Dublin landmarks to explore include Christchurch, Dublin City Gaol, Trinity College, Grafton Street and O'Connell Bridge, and, of course, the Guinness factory!

3) Pub Culture
Pub culture is a colloquial term often used by Irish and Irish connoisseurs to describe the insatiable desire of Irish and Ireland lovers to congregate in a cozy pub and laugh and tell stories for hours and hours over a few good pints. Dublin's pub culture is no different. Many of the pubs in the city are very well decorated and include (often loud) Irish music every night. From mid-afternoon to early evening, pubs in Dublin can be chill and relaxed, a great atmosphere to unwind after a long day of touristing. After 8PM, Temple Bar area is alive with tourists and the music can be heard echoing up and down the cobblestone streets.

4) Nightlife
The pub scene might not appeal to you - perhaps you've had your fill of pubs elsewhere or perhaps you've just spent too much time in them this afternoon! In this case, the Dublin nightlife might satisfy in other ways. If you're up for a nightclub of adventures, check out Coppers - but just beware, it gets a little crazy. You have been warned.

5) Do Something City-Like
Whether Dublin is your first or only stop in Ireland or it's your weekend away from the Irish countryside, one of the best parts about experiencing Dublin or any other city is living the city life. Each city has its own aura, its own culture, and it is an awesome thing to explore. Do something super normal in the city you're visiting. Go to a show, go shopping, visit a museum, or just walk around the neighborhoods. Get down and dirty in the city and enjoy not only the novelty of a new place but also the buzz that is city life. 

Best Things About Living Abroad

As my month-long trip home comes to a close, it's time to start thinking about returning to Ireland. And though I'll miss my family, friends, and Costco, there are some awesome things about living in Ireland. I rarely admit that - that Ireland can be awesome, too - so I figured I'd document it now lest someone argue that I am only ever complaining about missing the peanut butter and such I can't find in Ireland. But Ireland really is lovely, and some of the best things about living in Ireland have everything to do with the fact that I am simply living abroad.

Like so many others, I love traveling. But living abroad has given me many things that simply traveling - no matter how lengthy each trip - has not. Living abroad has taught me to love both where I am every day and to love where I've been, my home, my family and friends. It has given me the opportunity to travel and to explore, and it has allowed me to meet some amazing people.

Allow me to share five brilliant reasons why living abroad is epic, in case you didn't already know!

1) Learn to Love

Living abroad has taught me to try to love every single moment. When I'm outside of my comfort zone, sometimes the most comforting thing is to remember to look around and enjoy where I'm at. Thousands of miles from home, I've learned how to love a place by challenging myself to explore it, to find my niche that feels like home, to reach out to people and really pay attention to the kind of friends I'm making rather than just accepting people I've known forever.

2) Connect with the Motherland

Living abroad makes my homeland seem a million times more awesome than it probably is. I have American flags hanging all over my room, and I am sure to celebrate every patriotic holiday with my Irish friends. Every time an Irish person recognizes my accent, I get to have a ten minute conversation about America, which often ends in a new self-deprecating reflection from myself. Living abroad gives me the opportunity to really think about an identity when at home I only took being American for granted. With a picture of all the things that I would take advantage of if I were living at home hanging in my apartment - such as my puppy and my parents' house - living abroad once again teaches me to love and appreciate every small thing.

3) Different Foods

There will always be things about home I miss. I always miss my mother's cooking and good Mediterranean food, but there are certain foods that are just more common and more interesting in Ireland. Scones, sausages, and millions of potatoes, it's the home of comfort food. It's no okra, but sometimes those potatoes are just darn homey.

4) International Friends

Something about being a foreigner makes it incredibly easy to find and connect with other foreigners. Not to mention all the locals. And I'm always missing my friends back home and around the world! People think I'm good at keeping in touch. This is false. I'm better about keeping in touch simply because I'm so far away. I don't live near some of my dearest friends, and therefore I very deliberately try to keep in touch. When I don't live near everybody, when I know I won't be living near my currently near friends forever, I never take a conversation or a friendship for granted.

5) Treat Life as a Daily Adventure

Every day is a once off gift. Too often, people seem to spend their time doing jobs they don't really enjoy, studying subjects they're not really interested in just to fulfill what we all feel are our life duties. But our life duty is not to be miserable, to just fill the days. I think that a lot of us wait around expecting to have a life-calling revelation or something, when we suddenly realize exactly what's going to make us sublimely happy. But that won't happen. We have to find our own happiness, we have to work at being happy, and loving what we do, and at finding the adventure in every day. Living abroad has taught me that; no matter how miserable and homesick I am, I am still on an adventure. You just have to treat it that way!

I freely admit that I complain about living so far away from home often. Homesickness is real, and there will always be things that are better in either my home country or my adopted one. Sometimes it feels like by living abroad - and particularly studying for a Masters degree abroad - is just a shorthand for avoiding reality. But I'm living the dream right now, and I've learned so much about myself and the world from living abroad. This is as real a life as working 9 to 5 back in the States. But unlike a lot of people, I've chosen my path.

And never let it be said that living abroad means chasing pipe dreams or constant homesickness. We're chasing adventure!

Coast to Coast Bloggers

So here I sit in Cork City, Ireland, as you all well know. Today, I've been making the daily wage and drinking copious amounts of coffee around town. Though it's not really divided evenly at this time, technically I'm still dividing my time between my lovely blue mountained Virginia and hilly green Ireland. With the world at my fingertips, one would think it'd be easy enough to connect with bloggers around the world. To a degree, this is true. But with so much on my plate and with the entire virtual world within reach, it's easy to get lost on the great map of the World's Web. As a blogger, finding that niche audience in my respective countries is hard enough. Finding other bloggers doing cool things - near to me and farther away - is nearly impossible. So when I heard about the Coast-to-Coast Bloggers campaign, I decided to hop on the bandwagon.

Basically, the idea is to connect bloggers all around the world to other bloggers in their area. Shane at Whispering Sweet Nothings put together a Google Map on her site locating each and every blogger that follows her or contacts her.

It's a fabulous idea, one that I almost wished I'd thought of myself. (But then again, that's tons of work, so props to Shane for putting it all together!) Anyway, check it out if you're blogging, and even if you're not! It's a great resource to connect with similar bloggers - both similar geographically and in content and style! Even if you're not a blogger yourself but rather an avid reader, check out the database. Who knows! You might find some new favorites to follow!

A blog is your own little piece of the World's Web; with Shane's great database, you're physical piece of the world is mapped out, too!

A Summertime Bucket List

It's that time of year again! Even in grey, green, rainy, cold Ireland, the sun is out and all sunshiny. Busy working, hanging out with friends, and looking forward to my trip back to Virginie, I put together a little bucket list of Summertime Schtuffs that are definite must-dos. There are three editions: Irish, American, and a generic one we'll just call Summertime ("Generic" sounded awful!). 

Enjoy!

Irish

1) Host a Fourth of July party/barbeque

2) See Cork City at sunrise

3) Start a DIY project (I have a couple of little ones in mind)

American

1) Host a beautiful bridal shower and bachelorette party for one of my best and loveliest friends

2) Go hiking in the Blue Ridge

3) Visit a Vineyard

4) Go to an amusement park

5) Weekend at the beach

6) Visit New York City

7) Host a patio tea party

Summertime

1) Take a roadtrip (or several)

2) Have a pool party

3) Surf (as much as possible!)

4) Camp out for a night under the stars

5) Attend an outdoor concert

6) Make margaritas

7) Have a bonfire beach party

8) Go horseback riding

9) Eat popsicles

10) Visit a farmer's market

11) Go to a carnival

12) Hang out with friends and family

What about you, guys? Any fun summer plans or wishful thinkings? I'd love to hear them x

Bestie Travels Part Three: Blarney Castle and Adventure

This is part three of four posts on Bestie L's spectacular stint seeing the land of the green.

After an epic road trip of galavanting around the country, L and I were pretty exhausted. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), we had a party at the house that night for all the gang to meet my American friend that I'd been talking about for weeks. Giddy from exhaustion, I think we made a good showing, but honestly, we were so pooped I don't remember that much. I might have been asleep after all that... 

Anyway, the next day we decided to stick around Cork a little bit. We slept in, took a walk, headed to town, and eventually, hopped in the car for Blarney Castle.

For all of you American readers, I certainly hope you've heard of the infamous Blarney Stone - by kissing the stone you're gifted the gift of the gab. Basically it just means that if you're brave or nutty enough to bend over backwards over a great height and put your lips on possibly the most slobbered-upon thing on the planet, then you will be as talkative as some of us are naturally. Good luck! 

Blarney Castle, Co. Cork

The boy came with us girls for the evening because, though he's lived in Cork for ages, he's never been to Blarney. So the three of us hiked through the castle, crawling over fading limestone and into narrow windows. We crawled through dungeons and caves and enjoyed hunting through various poisonous plants and potions in the poisonous garden. L and I threw some imaginary boiling oil over the boy's head through the hidden gate, and it was just generally a great day. 

Though L didn't make it quite to the top (in fairness, it's a pretty awful staircase, and it was wet from recent rainy footsteps...), the boy and I waved to her down through the floors of the open castle!

Peace out, L

And we ended the day by romantically gazing at a beautiful sunset (my idea) and an epic high five session. 

The moral of the story? Blarney Castle is beautiful and a great visit. But it is much better exploring it with friends x

Get ready for the best high five ever - note how L never looks at me and how somehow I can't stop laughing. 

Bestie Travels Part Two: The Cliffs and the Rock

This is Part Two of a Four Part series on L's overwhelmingly adventurous week in Eireann.
(Sorry for the delay! But SEDiva is back with a vengeance!)

We woke up gloomy and early on Monday morning (gloomy only in weather, not in spirit!) and hit the road after a quick cup of coffee in the cozy and wonderful Aille River Hostel in Doolin, Co. Clare. We drove the scenic and quick route to the highly-touristed Cliffs of Moher about 10km down the road where we were greeted with knock-you-down strength winds.

Now, I have been to the Cliffs a few times now. It's Irish iconicity makes it a beautiful tourist destination, and I've brought lots of people there. I have heard legends of people who've seen the Cliffs in sunshine, but never have I been so lucky. I doubt the existence of such days. The general storminess and breakneck windiness add to the romance. However, I have never, ever experienced winds like those L and I did that day back in March. Please see the video to truly comprehend. L and I hid behind the lookout tower on the far end of the Cliff walk in order to escape the wind and not go tumbling into the sea. It was quite adventurous walking back to the car. (See second video!)

Anyway, despite the wind's anger and obvious aversion to our poor Virginia selves, we had a lovely morning. The Cliffs are highly-touristed now, and as soon as we left, several bus-loads pulled in. But they're worth the trek and the almost disgusting level of comfort provided (if you can stomach a warm gift shop and café) just for the absolute beauty.

Our safe-haven, our rock in the hurricane, our shield from the storm

The beautiful Cliffs - can you spot the Harry Potter cave, hiding the false horcrux?

Our gratitude to this tower knows no bounds!

With many hours left on our car rental, we headed back toward Cork City via Tipperary. One of my favorite overly-touristed destinations in Ireland (another one that I have overly frequented myself) is the Rock of Cashel in Tipperary. The Rock was the Cathedral and seat of the Bishop of Munster for hundreds of years and is now a national heritage site. With a small admissions fee, visitors are free to roam around and explore or wait for a guided tour. Having taken the tour several times, I employed myself temporarily as L's personal tour guide, and we treked around the ancient castle.

Like a giant castle, the Rock is magical and historical all at once. The history behind the place, the stories surrounding every stone and every hollowed out room, the myths and legends whispered by different tour guides create an air of superstition, a bygone era, a world of legend that is often still glimpsed in Ireland.

However, the Rock has been under restoration for a number of years in order to restore and preserve several aspects of the site that are particularly historical as well as endangered by time and the environment. The development has made the Rock even more historical but also more touristed. So roaming over to a nearby field, I showed L the crumbling monastery of [Dominican? Benedictine?] monks who were ousted by one of the most recent historical Bishops of Munster only for fear of a dream the Bishop had in which the poor monks were plotting his death. The Monastery occupies a giant, nearly abandoned field, as many ruins do around Ireland, but the presence of a friendly neighbor and her dog reminded us we weren't lost in a gothic novel. Wandering around in the gloom, L and I took as many fun photographs as we possibly could. Truly, two Southern girls playing castle.

I barely remembered a story about this cross, so L decided to take its advice and hop on one foot backwards around St. Patrick's Cross three times. She'll be engaged in a year, we think.

The view of the Rock of Cashel from the field below.

The monastery in the field below.