Live from Galway, Tania reporting

Your favourite terrible twosome have arrived in Galway. We pulled in yesterday after what seemed like a ten hour train ride (was four in total). We had to go to Dublin to catch a connection from Cork to Galway, so it seemed longer. And after two days with no internet, finding an internet cafe was our top mission this morning.

Our stay in Cork was really great - such a cute little spot. The BnB was excellent and our hosts were so sweet (and funny!). Kelly was offered a job washing dishes, should Canada not work out. Last time we posted, we were on our way to Blarney Castle. Truly stunning in person and the grounds are outstanding. The castle itself is intimidating - the stairs to the top were sooo narrow and I was sure I'd go sliding down them. A darling local we met at the bus stop was our pseudo tour guide and I'm sure he thought I was cracked as he dealt with my one-liners as I scaled the walls in an effort to not go rolling down. At the very top is the Blarney Stone. I thought it was a giant rock (much like the Cavar one, for family members), but it's actually just part of the castle wall. I wasn't about to touch it without proof of it being scrubbed so I supervised Kelly laying back and kissing this stone upside down. I couldn't really enjoy the top because I was so nervous that I'd fall out of any opening I passed (with my vise grip on the railing and all).

That night, our mission was to find some semblance of nightlife in Cork (pop. 125K)...on a Monday night. We met a lovely Belgian lad on the street with the same agenda. Our first stop was this cheesy bar where there was a DJ spinning (I win) mediocre music (everyone loses), but it was alright. Our Belgium friend, M, is a huge Cork fan and knows where the hot spots are, so he took us to this after hours joint (after hours in Cork is anything after midnight). It seemed questionable until we scooted to the back where the bar opened up to this venue type room where a Jimi Hendrix Experience cover band was playing. That was a gem of a find. Shout out to M-Nasty for being in-the-know.

We lost most of yesterday to travelling and unfortunatley, never made it to Kinsale. We're excited about seeing Galway today. I've 86'ed any hope of shopping and have focused on more important things, like finding the good restaurants and pubs. Today, we will organize ourselves for our trek out to the Aran Islands in the morning - Kelly K especially has been looking forward to this.

P.S. Some have enquired - no, there have been no U2 sightings. Mission aborted.