Today I met up with Alan from the college town of Maynooth. He showed me around and we had a nice bite to eat at a local pub. We then did a little trek through the woods were he got to see his first deer! Afterwards we went to his home for tea and hung out with his house mates. After Maynooth I returned to Dublin to get drinks at a music venue called Whelan's with Paulina. It was nice catching up with a fellow American about our experiences abroad so far.

I turned in the car this morning and all together it cost me about $1000 for the rental. Next time I come to Ireland I am only going to use public transportation! Upon returning to the hostel I got some laundry done and then set out to wander around Dublin. I had lunch in temples bar at a nice restaurant/bar called the Porterhouse. The food was delicious especially the bourbon/jack daniels pecan pie served warm with ice cream. After walking around a bit more I st...

The day started off innocently enough. I was going to drop by the Galway hertz to have them fix the headlight but decided I wouldn't really be driving at night anymore anyways so I just drove toward Clonmacnoise (the place in the picture). When I got there I was locking the car when I noticed that the rear driverside tire was flat. I was annoyed but I grabbed the paperwork and thought I would call the roadside assistance number and they could fix it while I was c...

After leaving the hostel in Killarney I went to Ross castle which was a much better preserved castle than Blarney. I went on a little walk around the grounds before driving towards Bunratty castle. Bunratty was in even better condition however they had converted it and the grounds around it into some touristy theme park so I didn't actually fork over the 15 euro to go in. The picture is one of the little buildings near the castle (I thought the thatched roof was ...

Today I started by contacting hertz. They told me to just bring the car in and they fixed it in just a couple minutes (using zip ties!) Next I went to Blarney castle to kiss the Blarney stone. It was really beautiful there and the grounds were lovely as well. My next mission was to go to Charles fort and Dunboy castle before heading to Killarney. I started south to Cork and, following the signs, thought I was traveling towards Charles fort. I ended up in Rathcorm...