"Can we just move to Cork?"

A few weekends ago I was lucky enough to travel to Cork with a few friends and stay in a B&B overnight. We took the bus out to the city and got to explore the English Market, which reminded me a bit of Buffalo's Broadway Market, except about three times the size.

 The city itself is really gorgeous. It's busy and fast paced, but not overly crowded or tourist-y. We had a lot of fun exploring side streets and checking out the different shops!

I found this little guy in an Asian market and originally bought him as a souvenir to bring home for my boyfriend Scott, as part of an inside joke. We spent a big chunk of the weekend putting Panda in funny places and taking pictures of him, and the joke has snowballed a bit... Anyways, he's a world-traveler now!

 Saturday morning we visited Blarney Castle and kissed the Blarney Stone! My roommate Kelly was probably the most excited out of our group, and it was great to see her get to do something she'd been dreaming about for years. (Don't worry, Panda kissed the stone too.)

The castle grounds/park were honestly a bit more appealing than the castle itself to me. The stairs to get up to the top of the castle (where the stone is) were really tough and a bit scary to be honest, so I was happy when we got back on solid ground and got to explore the park.

The White House! Our B&B in Blarney, the town just outside Cork. We were able to walk to the Castle, and to the local pub, which was a lot of fun. There was a fantastic band playing and we all got to hang out with the locals for a bit.

All in all it was a fantastic weekend with a lot of bonding time among the girls. Definitely made some great memories to take home!