Ireland: Kinsale, Clonakilty, and Waterford

This weekend was full of day trips from Cork, starting on Thursday when Caitlin and I went to Kinsale, which is a small fishing town about a half hour away from Cork. We started the day by going to Charles Fort, which are the ruins of a fort that protected the coast. We walked through the fort, then walked along the coast into town, where we were able to see part of Druid Castle, which has been restored and turned into a winery. The town itself was completely adorable, with brightly colored houses and courtyards on almost every block. So far, this was my favorite trip outside of Cork.

Friday, we went to Clonakilty, which is the town closest to the beaches in Ireland. There wasn't much to do in the town itself, but we went down the the beaches, which were absolutely gorgeous. The waves were huge, and believe it or not, there were surfers riding the waves in the 35 degree temperature. We were freezing on the land, and I can't even imagine how cold they must have been!

Yesterday was Waterford, where we started at the Treasures Museum. The museum consisted of artifacts tracing Ireland's history from before the vikings landed until the present time. It was a really interesting way to learn about Ireland, and I'm sure a lot of the stuff we saw will be discussed in my classes. After the museum, we went to Reginald's Tower, which is one of the remaining towers that has been restored from the original city of Waterford. It was really cool to see an ancient tower in the middle of the city. Theree wasn't much inside, but it was interesting to see. To end our day, we went to the Waterford Crystal Factory, which was amazing. It was full of beautiful crystal, and it took us forever to decide what to buy.

I'm still loving Ireland, and next weekend I will be in Dublin, which I'm very excited about. There is a lot to do, so the weekend will be pretty much non-stop, but it will be fun! I'll be back with a full report of how it went next week :)