Rainbows and Lambs

Sunday morning I was woken out of my morning daze by Maggie saying "guys there's a rainbow outside our window!" And that was just the beginning to the best day of the trip. 

The skies cleared up as if begging us for forgiveness for the crappy weather we had on Saturday. Breakfast went by in a whirl because yesterday we found out that BABY LAMBS WERE COMING TO THE HOTEL! And the best part was that we would be able to hold them.

We practically ran (in Ally's case she really did run) behind the hotel to where a local farmer had brought two week old lambs for us to hold and obsess over. Cameras were constantly clicking away and I bet within minutes those lambs were on facebook. They were so adorable though, I was finally able to cuddle with a little sheep :) I was lucky enough to hold both of them, one was really squirmy (the black faced one) and the other little guy just cuddled up to me and was content with just laying in my arms. I was so tempted to just slip away from the group and take him back to Cork with me. I don't think anyone would have noticed....

Emily trying to sneak away with the lamb

After about 10000 pictures of the little lambs were taken, drove to a spectacular viewing point. The day was absolutely gorgeous and I got lots of nice pictures from the bus, this time the trees loved me and stayed out of them. The view point we came upon was this:

I think the pictures to a better job at describing it than I would

 We listened to a guy talk about underwater diving in this area and how he's recorded the voice of Fungi, the resident dolphin. I didn't really ever want to leave this spot; but then they said we were going to another beach just down below this point and I was ready to go. We arrived at Derrynane Beach with the best weather you could ask for. All of us trooping onto such a small quiet beach must have been quite the annoyance to the few couples taking an afternoon stroll. I think I'll just put some pictures here instead of rambling on about how beautiful the beach was.

The sun is a welcomed sight

Love the waves crashing against the rocks

and an epic group jumping photo... we did one everywhere, I just didn't put them in my blog (sorry)

Then it was off to Ladies View in Killarney National Park. It was called Ladies View after Queen Victoria visited the site in the mid 1800's. Once we left the coast we also left behind the sunshine. Literally the second we passed through the mountains the sky turned black with storm clouds and it rained the whole hour and a halfish drive that it took to get there. Mary played some Irish music on the bus which was quite pretty to listen to driving through the wildest parts of Ireland. I loved seeing the amazing landscapes we drove through. It's like nothing I've ever seen before. The area is so desolate and full of agriculture land or sheep. Some parts looked like no one's ever even stepped foot on it.

Good bye Sunshine

Once at Ladies View, the rain cleared away long enough for us to enjoy the view which was incredibly picturesque. I felt like I had just stepped into a fairytale book and Once Upon A Time would be written across the entire scene. Everything was so quiet and pristine, there were hardly any houses around the area.

Another Group picture. All of us :)

The second to last stop of the trip was probably one of the coolest, Torc Waterfall in Killarney. I've never really seen a proper waterfall and this was everything I had anticipated it to be. Just see for yourself.

We didn't spend long at the waterfall... because what else do you do at a waterfall? The last stop was at the Killarney visitor's center where we ate lunch (ham and cheese baguette with Taytos). We had time to walk around the grounds. There was a big lake and a mansion, and lots of little walking paths which we explored after getting kicked out of the eating center because apparently we had to buy food from the restaurant. Anyway, the walk was nice, but cold and I was thankful when it was time to get back on the bus to head home.

We arrived in Cork at nearly 6 and it felt so good to be back. I needed to relax after that long weekend. It was definitely by far the best weekend I've had since I've been here though. I'm already looking forward to going back to Kerry. This time I'll focus on across the bay... at Dingle.

But for now, I best be getting some rest. I'm leaving in the morning at 8:30 for Edinburgh, Scotland for a weekend trip with API.