Cork, Dublin, London, Paris, Nice, Marseilles!!!! Just too much...

Alright, this blog post is going to be about as much of a whirlwind journey as my travels have been!!! In about 2 weeks I have been to 7 major European cities!! Can you understand the difficulty I have had to keep up!? Don't worry though, with a bursting journal, I will be able to impart these incredible experiences with more detail than I can here...

So, I left off on my last post mentioning my visit to Cork (a city on the southern coast of Ireland). ...I will talk about the other places in other posts... To be quite honest, the little town does not have a great deal to offer for the tourist, but is a great home base for visiting some of the most interesting parts of Ireland. My three Aussie companions and I arrived a rather dingy, but comfortable hostel, and began our combat planning. Site-seeing, like many other things in life, takes a great deal of foresight and strategic focus...

Anyways, we visited two very interesting contributors to world history... the Blarney Castle and Cobh. Now, these two names may not be very well-know to you, but they have had a major impact on the world that you know today. The Blarney Castle, an old (small) castle, served as the home of the McCarthy clan and is best known for housing the Blarney Stone. Not very interestng yet?? Well, the famed Blarney Stone, which can only be reached by hanging upside-down over the side of this 6-story castle, has gained notoriety for imparting the gift of eloquence to those who kiss it. This stone has been kissed by millions of people (I kissed it, so I guess I have as well) :), but most notibly by Winston Churchill himself, and as many of you know Churchill is known for his oratory magnificence, specifically in leading the UK and influencing several other western powers during WWII. Thus, perhaps I will return to the states a little bit more eloquent than before. :)

Later, in Cobh, we saw memorials to the two events that this small fishing town is best remembered by. This sleepy Catholic village is the port from which the Titanic sailed and just off the coast the American passenger-liner, RMS Lusitania, was sunk by a German U-boat in 1915, perhaps the cause of American involvement in WWI. Beyond this, the tiny town houses a gorgeous cathedral, seemingly far out of proportion with the modesty of the village. A great visit.