Ireland in a Nutshell

It rained.

It was windy.

It was surreal.

It was expensive.

It was, perhaps, more than anything else, too late. I had been travelling for such a long time (for me) that I was tired. It did provide something that I had been looking forward to, as I got to visit with my college roommate and her husband for a few days and they took me touring around, but because of the rainy and windy bit (oh, also not to mention the whole "you don't look like people who book ahead" comment made when we came to see Santa, who apparently, only sees people who book ahead) it was weather-wise not as wonderful as it could be.

Because of it being off season, I spent most of my time in cities (I would loved to have gone hiking, but it just wasn't the time of year to do so) so I mostly window shopped.

In Dublin, I got to fulfill something I've wanted to do for a really long time--see the medieval Book of Kells. I also was able to check out some other sites, none of which were Bono-related I happy to report. The weather was the best on the way from Cork to Dublin and while I was staying in Dublin, which may also be why I liked it the best. On the way to Dublin, the bus passed by several cute towns with castles and the charm of the place made itself more recognizable, instead of the dripping cold barren land that I had known it as.

I think that if I ever get the chance to return to the Emerald Isle, I will go in the spring or summer, along with everyone else, and will probably have a much better time as a result.