Erin goes and goes

I drove home from Ashland on Friday night and mom kindly helped me re-pack my bag to include all the birthday goodies for Emmet's party and drove me to the airport for my Aer Lingus flight on Saturday afternoon. After a pretty good flight (only on screaming baby and I was able to get some sleep), my met my high school roommate Sarah (and her sister) at the airport in Dublin and we took a bus (and the subway) back to her house for an episode of Father Ted and a short nap before walking around her neighborhood. Then she took me to the bus that would take me to Clonmel (she even packed me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for the trip with lots of black currant jam). The bus ride was good (and I got to sleep for a little while). I was worried (only a little) about meeting Bridget in Clonmel but as luck would have it, she and Orrin (and the boys) were only their way back home and were right behind my bus! On Monday, Bridget and I visited Cahair castle and then returned home to decorate for Emmet's birthday party. I think that everyone had a good time (there were about 30+ kids!). So after unwinding a bit on Monday night (and watching a few episodes of The Office). Bridget dropped off Orrin at work and went to the Rock of Cashel (where I saw St. Patrick's Cross) and to Kilkenny castle (which was updated during the Victorian period so it really only looks like a castle from the outside, the only way you can really tell is the thickness of the windows). And today we went to Blarney Castle were Bridget, Silas, Emmet and I climbed the 127 steps to the top and Bridget and I kissed the Blarney stone! We also walked around the gardens of the castle (which were beautiful) and stopped for some gelato (and a patch for my bag) before heading to Cobh on the coast. Cobh was the last stop of the Titanic before it crossed the ocean (and sank) and an emigration point during the Great Famine. There is statue commemorating the first person to immigrate through Ellis Island who left from Cobh. This sounds like a lot, but we don't have too much planned for tomorrow morning, so we will relax a little bit.

And Bridget will be posting pictures soon!!