Day 1 - Cork, Ireland

We landed in Dublin just before 5am and caught the 7am train to Cork, Ireland, located about 2 hours south. Adding Cork as a destination on this trip was pretty random but we wanted to see the Blarney Castle and kiss the Blarney Stone which are only about 20 minutes outside of the city of Cork so we booked are first night at The River Lee Hotel, sitting on the river running through this beautiful city.

 A power nap was a must after not sleeping since waking up for our flight the morning prior in Houston, so we squeezed in 3 hours of rest then caught a bus to Blarney. Even with the light rain we had most of our first day, the Irish countryside and the views from the castle were absolutely breathtaking. The Blarney Castle is estimated to have been built in about 1450 and is situated on a small river and surrounded by several gardens, to include a poison garden composed entirely of poisonous plants. After a tour of the castle and gaining a lifetime of eloquence by kissing the Blarney Stone we made our way back to the city.

The next stop, of course, was a pub. We walked from the bus station to city center where many shops, restaurants and pubs are located, and followed the sound of music through an alleyway to a group of students who were performing all kinds of songs, from The Strokes to music from Disney's Aladin for anyone that wanted to listen. Nearby we found Jim Cashman's Pub for our first beers in Ireland. While walking around this most central part of the city we came across some street art I'm almost positive is the work of Banksy. 

For dinner we walked to Market Lane, a top rated restaurant in Cork on TripAdvisor. This trendy, two 

story gastropub has incredible cocktails and a menu any foodie would absolutely love. After dinner we went back to the hotel to watch the sun set from the patio bar on the river and celebrated a successful first day over a bottle of Prosecco. With a second wave of energy, we decided it was too early to go to bed despite our extreme lack of sleep so we walked towards city center to find another pub. At The Bailey we made friends with some fellow American travelers and bonded with the bar owner, ironically named Ollie. He recommended another more crowded bar for our next stop and we made our way to Rearden's. I had a good chat with the bouncer who happened to be a huge ZZ Top fan and loved that we were from Houston where Billy Gibbons grew up. At midnight the pub closes and club opens at this two-part bar. Because there was a €15 cover we decided to leave when the club fired up, but upon hearing this the bouncer said "follow me!" and walked us right back into the club without paying the cover. We danced until the lights came on and after a jam packed and extremely successful first day in Europe we called it a night.